Category Archives: Estate Planning
Using Life Insurance to Strategically Plan Your Estate Post-Divorce
As estate planning attorneys here in Florida, we frequently encounter clients who are going through or contemplating divorce, we regularly receive questions regarding whether or not there are particular estate planning choices that can help protect families and divorcees. For some clients, life insurance can help address some of these concerns, and you can… Read More »
Distinguishing Between Probate and Non-Probate Assets
The process of administering and probating a last will and testament involves figuring out what assets are estate versus non-estate (or probate versus non-probate) assets. And executor must make this distinction in order to properly address with estate taxes. Probate/Estate Assets The general rule is that all probate assets are assets that must pass… Read More »
What’s The Difference Between a Trust and A Trust Fund?
Trust funds sometimes get a bad rap because they are often associated with the wealthiest of the wealthy, however, there truly isn’t a huge difference between the kind of trust that most families establish during estate planning in order to ensure that their assets pass onto their heirs without having to go through probate… Read More »
Make Sure That Your Beneficiary Designations Do Not Mess Up Your Estate Plan
Unfortunately, even though beneficiary designations are an important part of estate planning, they are frequently overlooked. And yet, an estate plan is not simply a will and a trust; you have to make sure that your beneficiary designations go along with the rest of your plan, because if they do not, these designations can… Read More »
Estate Planning for The “Modern,” Non-Traditional Family
Given that only approximately 35 percent of today’s families are “traditional,” making the nontraditional family the “norm” when it comes to estate planning, there are a number of things that you may want to do differently when it comes to approaching estate planning if you do not have a traditional family. Below, we describe… Read More »
What Financial Advisors May Not Know to Advise You On for Estate Planning
While financial advisors have been overseeing asset management and estate planning for clients for many years, in recent years, new asset types and laws have made it important for clients to consult estate planning attorneys primarily because international law is changing things at such a rapid pace. In fact, some finance professionals may very… Read More »
How to Carefully Choose Your Trustee(s)
As estate planning attorneys here in Florida, one question that we frequently get is how to select a trustee for your trust, and whether it should be someone who has personal connections to the family or a third-party professional. Below, we discuss some key considerations you will want to take into account in making… Read More »
If Your Child’s Special Needs Trust and Related Estate Planning Is Not Done Properly, It Could Spell Disaster for Your Family
If you are a parent of a disabled child, setting up a special needs trust takes very careful planning and experience from the estate planning legal team setting it up for you. The attorney(s) that you work with should know about all of the various charitable nonprofit programs – as well as local federal… Read More »
What You Absolutely Do & Do Not Need to Take Care of Your Elderly Parents or Other Loved Ones
As attorneys who focus solely on estate planning here in Florida, we regularly receive a number of questions concerning what kinds of plans should be made to care properly for elderly parents and other relatives. The best way to carefully craft a plan based on your particular circumstances is to meet with a professional… Read More »
Using Estate Planning to Protect Retirement Accounts from Creditors in Florida
We have previously (briefly) discussed how you can ensure that beneficiaries do not have to pay creditors out of their own pockets, however, what about ensuring that retirement accounts are protected from creditors? Degrees of protection differ significantly when it comes to IRAs and 401(k)s, and this is something that your estate planning attorney… Read More »