One way to think about a trust is that the trust itself is a book of instructions. A grantor authors the trust, and provides instructions concerning the use of the grantor’s assets while the grantor is alive, including who is permitted to access the trust assets, and what will occur at the grantor’s incapacity and [...]
Marriage does not cancel a will in Florida, but a spouse acquired after the execution of your will may receive the same portion of your estate that he or she would have received had you died without a will (at least one-half). If you have moved to Florida from another state, it is wise [...]
A personal representative should always engage a qualified attorney to assist in the administration of the decedent’s probate estate. Many legal issues arise, even in the simplest probate estate administration, and most of these issues will be novel and unfamiliar to non-attorneys. The attorney for the personal representative advises the personal representative on the rights [...]
The account statement, stock certificate, title or deed will make some reference to the trust or to you as trustee. You might also elect to fund your trust by naming the trust as a beneficiary of life insurance or other similar arrangements. Your attorney and financial advisor may assist you with the transfer of assets [...]
Your plan hasn’t been updated to take into account the never-ending Estate Tax changes. Currently a single person can leave up to $5.6 million, and a married couple can leave up to $11.2 million, free of estate tax. Over the years, the estate tax exemption has gone from $600,000 per individual (in 2000) to its [...]
Probate administration applies only to probate assets. Probate assets are those assets that were owned in the decedent’s sole name at death, or that were owned by the decedent and one or more co-owners and lacked a provision for automatic succession of ownership at death. For example: A bank account or investment account in the [...]
If the decedent had a valid will, the judge will appoint the person or institution named by the decedent in that will to serve as personal representative, as long as the named person or bank or trust company is legally qualified to serve. If the decedent did not have a valid will, the surviving spouse [...]
A trust is a fiduciary relationship where a trustee is tasked with investing, protecting and managing property as well as the income that the property generates for a beneficiary. There can be more than one trustee and more than one beneficiary in a trust. The intent of the grantor, as expressed in the terms of [...]
One of the primary purposes of probate is to ensure that the decedent’s debts are paid in an orderly fashion. The personal representative must use diligent efforts to give actual notice of the probate proceeding to ‘known or reasonably ascertainable’ creditors. This gives the creditors an opportunity to file claims in the decedent’s probate estate, [...]
No, in most situations. A trust may be used in addition to a will. This is because a trust can handle only the property that has been put into it. Any property of yours that is not placed in the trust either during life or at death in most instances escapes the control of the [...]
