Category Archives: Orlando Estate Planning Lawyer
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 »
Deciding Whether to ‘Gift’ During Your Lifetime, And How Best to Do It
Giving away assets while you are alive has typically carried with it a number of benefits, one of them being helping to lower estate taxes when you pass. However, the federal estate tax exemption is currently very high: at $11.4 million per person–and increasing every year–this exemption ends up being applicable to very few… Read More »
IRA Trusts Could Soon Become an Estate Planning Nightmare
If Congress decides to eliminate the stretch IRA, estate planning could become a lot more complicated, as we discuss below. This is unfortunately a real possibility, as the House recently passed the “Secure Act,” which eliminates the stretch IRA and replaces it with a 10-year payout for most non-spouse beneficiaries, including trusts. Stretch IRAs… Read More »
It’s Not Enough to Simply Form a Trust, You Also Have to Fund It
Most people who have put together an estate plan have also established a trust. Trusts are especially appealing because they allow you to bypass probate. However, in order to do so, you must title all of your assets correctly. This includes such items as bank and brokerage accounts, business shares, real estate, and more;… Read More »
Do I Need A “Revocable Trust”?
As attorneys who focus on estate planning here in Florida, we receive a number of questions from clients as to whether there is a difference between a revocable living trust in a regular trust and whether couples should create a will or a trust or something else, etc. Note that revocable trusts – also… Read More »