Consider the following scenario: you have a Durable Power of Attorney (“DPOA”) which was validly executed by your elderly mother two years ago. Your mother needs assistance with her banking so you take the DPOA to her local branch. Upon requesting that you be added as...
Complex Legal Challenges
Firm News
Deciding the “Who” in Estate Planning.
When working with clients to set up their estate planning documents, we often tell them that some of the most important decision-making involves deciding the "Who." Typical estate planning documents include the following: Revocable or Living Trust Last Will and...
POST-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS IN FLORIDA
This blog discusses the major issues which arise upon entering into a Post-Nuptial Agreement in Florida. As a preliminary matter, you must understand that upon entering into such an Agreement, your spouse and you are waiving, or at least modifying, certain rights (and...
Verbal Intentions Do Not Count in Estate Planning
In our estate planning practice, we regularly have new or prospective clients who will meet with us, give us their information, and ask that we prepare estate planning documents for them. We then will prepare draft documents to send them for review. Once the documents...
Can alimony payments be deducted on your income tax return?
One major issue which must be addressed in a Florida divorce involves alimony. In simple terms, alimony is money paid by one ex-spouse to the other to assist with that person’s support and living needs after the divorce. Prior to December 31, 2018, alimony payments...
Lifetime Gifts: Do They Satisfy Gifts Made in a Will?
When an asset devised in a Last Will and Testament has been gifted to the beneficiary during the decedent’s lifetime, an ademption by satisfaction may occur. The concept of ademption by satisfaction is that a lifetime gift to a beneficiary may satisfy a gift to that...
Intestate Estate: Which Children Will Inherit and Who Gets Left Out?
When a person dies without a Last Will and Testament in Florida, he or she is said to have died “intestate.” The decedent’s estate is then distributed according to Florida’s intestacy statutes as set forth in Sections 732.101-732.111, Fla. Stat. In simplest terms, the...
What does it mean that Florida is a No-Fault Divorce State?
In Florida, a spouse does not have to allege or prove fault in order to have their marriage dissolved. The only element required in order to get divorced in Florida is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken." In addition, the reason the marriage is irretrievably...
Misuse of a Durable Power of Attorney
In Florida, a commonly used estate planning instrument is known as a “Durable Power of Attorney” (“DPOA”). This instrument is executed by a person whereby he or she appoints an agent to act on their behalf on personal, business, and financial matters. The DPOA is...
Protecting a Beneficiary who has a Substance Abuse Problem
In our estate planning practice, we regularly have parents or grandparents who are concerned about leaving an inheritance to a beneficiary who has a substance abuse problem. The concern is real in that a beneficiary who suddenly comes into a sum of money could use it...