Even When The Lights Shut Off, Everyone Still Wants A Piece

Posted by on Sep 21, 2015 in Digital Estate Planning, Elder Law, estate planning, Probate, Special Needs Trust, tax, Trusts, Wills |

Robin Williams

It’s not all glitz and glam once the lights turn off, something that Robin Williams’ family is quickly discovering. The beloved star, who passed away last year, is having his estate  administered through probate, and fighting among family members is beginning to plague the process. Although Robin Williams had an estate plan, much of his assets were unaccounted for, leaving his children from prior marriages, and widowed spouse in disagreement over who is entitled to what. Avoid this hassle, and spare your loved ones the stress and grief that accompanies a contested probate process. It is imperative that you not only have a prepared and updated estate plan in place, but also that you speak with your family members to discuss these plans so that there are no surprised, or even worse, angered members once you’re gone.

Avoid some of the more common Estate Planning Mistakes:

Top Estate Planning Mistakes

  1. Thinking That You Have Plenty Of Time To Get To It:  No one has a crystal ball and tomorrow is not promised to any of us.  I have clients that have hired me to draft their estate plan and then they died prior to being able to sign it or fund it.  There are other people who die too young to even sit with the attorney.  Estate planning is necessary for everyone and you should sit with your attorney as soon in life as possible.
  2. Drafting Your Own Estate Plan:  There are so many moving parts with a trust-based estate plan that attempting to do it yourself is the equivalent of trying to take your own appendix out.  There are legal requirements in drafting, executing, funding, and updating.  If you miss any of them, it could invalidate your entire plan.  An estate planning attorney doesn’t sell you documents, they provide the service that goes into making sure that those documents are correct.
  3. Not Knowing Where All the Assets Are: A scattered estate plan by a secretive decedent may cause some assets to be left uncollected, undistributed and even lost.
  4. Not Updating Your Estate Plan:  It is imperative that your estate plan is reviewed on an annual basis to avoid unintended results.
  5. Not Communicating with Trustees and Beneficiaries:  It is important to let the people who are named in your estate plan know what role you are asking them to play.
  6. Leaving the Living Trust Unfunded: A living trust is merely a vehicle that allows you to pass your assets outside of probate.  However, if there are no assets in the trust, nothing has been accomplished.  You can buy the most expensive safe at the store but it wont protect your valuables unless you put the valuables into the safe.
  7. Leaving Assets Outright to Beneficiaries: Assets that are left outright to heirs and beneficiaries are exposed to creditors, predators and divorcing spouses.
  8. Not Having a Living Will:  A living will gives guidelines for your physician to follow in the event you are in a terminal, end-stage, and persistent vegetative state.
  9. Not Having a Durable Power of Attorney:  A durable Power of Attorney allows you to designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf, in the event that you become incapacitated.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation

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It’s Always The Right Time To Think About Your Estate Plan

Posted by on Sep 15, 2015 in asset protection, Business Plan, Elder Law, estate planning, Probate, tax, Trusts, Wills |

Many people mistakenly believe that estate planning is something done only for the wealthy. In reality, a basic estate plan is essential for everyone, regardless of income or net worth, because we all would like this process to be as seamless and easy as possible to reduce costs, delay and stress for our loved ones. The topic of estate planning, or even one’s mortality is a stressful one to discuss, but an important one. Without proper preparation and documentation, assets—like houses, retirement plans and savings accounts—can end up in limbo for years, sometimes requiring expensive legal assistance to straighten matters out.

Everyone should have the following items in place:

 

  1.  Living Trust –A trust can be more expensive to set up, but it provides benefits that a will cannot. First, when they’re structured properly, trusts will help avoid probate, which helps beneficiaries gain access to assets more quickly as well as save time and court fees. Depending on how it’s structured, a trust may also reduce estate taxes owed and can protect an estate from heirs’ creditors. 
  2. Assignment of Property – place all of your property into the trust, and avoid costs & headache associated with probate.
  3. Last Will & Testament – used to distribute property to beneficiaries (or a trust), specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.
  4. Durable Power of Attorney – A power of attorney is a written authorization that allows someone else to make financial and legal decisions for a person if that person should become hospitalized, disabled or otherwise incapacitated.
  5. Combination Living Will & Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – gain control by making important healthcare decisions in advance.

This will allow you to ward off:

  • unnecessary taxes
  • costs and headache associated with the probate process
  • creditors and outsiders who may have claims against you
  • any undesignated individual making legal or healthcare decisions on your behalf in case you become incapacitated

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or www.wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

 It’s a Wild world. Are you protected? SM

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Asset Protection… Are you protected?

Posted by on Sep 10, 2015 in asset protection, Business Plan, corporate formation, Digital Estate Planning, estate planning, Limited Liability Company, Real Estate, tax, Trusts, Wills |

Are you protected?

Are you protected?

Don’t leave your assets vulnerable to attack. Much like a goalie, asset protection planning will help to shield your assets from attack.

Asset protection is a broad term, encompassing many different techniques, but here at our South Florida law firm, we focus our asset protection on two areas: estate planning and business formation. In the area of estate planning, the main approach is to use trusts to dispose of your assets rather than a will. A trust protects your assets by first avoiding probate and all of the costs (both monetary and time) associated with that process. Secondly, trusts protect your assets by keeping them in your family. With a will, the asset is no longer yours to control following the first disposition, a trust allows you to control the asset for multiple generations. This makes sure that the inheritance will never be taken by divorce or remarriage. For example, if you want to give all of your estate to your daughter and then to her children, a trust allows you to do this without giving any to her spouse. Furthermore, a trust protects your beneficiaries from themselves, if they are either too young or not fiscally responsible. Because they are the beneficiary and not necessarily the trustee, you can name a trustee who will make the financial decisions for them. Finally, trusts offer asset protection by being creditor protected. Assets that are in a trust can not be reached by creditors, assuring that the inheritance remains with the beneficiary.

Choosing the proper business form also works as asset protection. If you own a business as a sole proprietor or even in a general partnership, you can be personally liable for all of the debts of the business. Limited partnerships, LLCs, and corporations can protect your asset from business debts. A limited partnership consists of two classes of partners: a general partner, who manages and is more active, and a limited partner, who is more like an investor. The limited partner’s liability is limited to whatever they have put into the company, whereas the general partner remains liable for all the debt. An LLC offers limited liability as well, while allowing for more active participation. The manager of a multi-member LLC makes the decisions and runs the company, but is still afforded protection. If someone sues an LLC, they can only recover the company’s assets. Subsequently, if a person sues the manager of an LLC for a personal matter, the assets of the LLC are protected from this personal creditor. Finally, a corporation offers protection to all of its shareholders while also offering increased flexibility with the management structure. A corporation allows for different classes of stock with different voting abilities. Corporations also allow you to raise capital by issuing stock.

Regardless of what business form you end up choosing, you must also engage in business succession planning. Because all of these business forms are separate legal entities, they will survive after you are gone. Therefore, you must plan for what happens to your companies or you risk them dying. If you have multiple members or partners in your company, you can arrange a plan beforehand in which they buy your shares at a predetermined price. The company could then purchase life insurance in that amount to make sure that the company does not have cash flow issues and does not have to sell off company assets to buy your stake.

Whether you are looking at asset protection from an estate planning or business formation standpoint, our attorneys can help be your goalie and protect the assets you’ve worked so hard to acquire.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation, or visit our website at www.wfplaw.com

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

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Football, Concussions, and Planning For Incapacity.

Posted by on Sep 8, 2015 in asset protection, estate planning, Special Needs Trust, Trusts, Wills |

PROTECT YOUR FUTURE, TODAY.

Another football season is upon us and with it, undoubtedly, another controversial discussion regarding concussions and the trauma inflicted on player’s brains. Getting your bell rung is no longer considered a badge of courage, but rather, a grizzly reminder of the potential ramifications of life after football.

Plain and simple, estate planning helps protect your family in the event that something bad happens to you, and yet, 55% of Americans don’t even have a last will, leaving them vulnerable to costly court fees and legal battles.  Even though it’s predicated on incapacitation or death, estate planning doesn’t have to be morbid. In fact, it can actually be life-affirming, because the process will allow you to take a closer look at the people you care most about in life—and ensure their future happiness.

Whether you choose a will based plan or a trust based plan, your planning should also include a power of attorney, a designation of health care surrogates, and HIPAA releases. These planning tools may be overlooked, but their importance cannot be overstated. The power of attorney and designation of a healthcare surrogate will allow important healthcare and financial decisions to be made for you in the event of incapacity or death, while the HIPAA release will make sure your healthcare surrogate will have access to whatever he or she needs to make informed decisions. By planning for the future and using these various techniques, your family will be better protected from creditors and other hassles when the time comes. Get ahead of the other 55% and get an estate plan today. It’s never too early to plan ahead.

To be better prepared for sudden and unexpected sickness, incapacitation, or death, you will benefit from the following documents:

  1. Living Trust – the best way to maintain control over all of your assets and distributions, while avoiding the hassle, expense, and lack of privacy associated with probate.
  2. Last Will & Testament – this is your traditional will that is used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.
  3. Durable Power of Attorney – this allows you to designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf, in the event that you become incapacitated.
  4. Combination Living Will & Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – this outlines important healthcare decisions in advance, and appoints a healthcare surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to do so yourself.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation, or visit our website at www.wfplaw.com.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected? SM

 

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