A Mother’s Love

Posted by on Apr 29, 2014 in Legal News |

 

 

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Mother’s day, some say it’s the best day of the year to show our mothers how much we love them, others say everyday should be mother’s day, Hallmark calls it a payday. Regardless of your feelings on the “Holiday” don’t we all feel the need to take care of those who took care of us? So for this mother’s day get the one you love a gift that will last forever and more. Estate planning offers methods to protect yourself and those you love for the long term

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.  Assignment of Trust – this is exactly that, assigning your property to your trust. In other words, placing your property into the trust. This includes both real & personal property. A trust does not do anything for you if there is no property in it.

 3.  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.

 4.  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.

 5.  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 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.

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

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Probate: The Eleventh Plague

Posted by on Apr 15, 2014 in Legal News |

passoverIf the bloody water, locusts, pesky frogs, and blackout darkness had failed to convince Pharaoh that it was time to release the Israelite slaves, we are pretty sure the 11th plague, probate, would have had Pharaoh hosting a go-away party with swag bags full of matzo.

Probate is the process of administering an estate, and validating a will. Sounds harmless? Well, it has many features in which you may recall from Exodus 12:

  1. Water into blood – probate can take a perfectly simple distribution of assets, and transform it into a substance that renders the estate worthless; as months of attorney and court fees drain the estate of its resources.
  2. Frogs – you thought frogs were pesky little creatures? They’ve got nothing on the claims of contesting beneficiaries and third parties. The process of probate provides a broad opportunity for creditors and other third parties to claim an interest in the decedent’s property. This prolongs the process, and increases the costs of administration.
  3. Lice – You can’t quite see them, but each itch is a constant reminder that they are there, and you’ve got to scratch. This is much like probate procedures. From one moment to the next, you are having to deal with a different notice (scratch), filing (scratch), hearing (scratch), etc. (scratch, scratch, itch, itch).
  4. Flies – A day of swarming flies is much like a year of probate; at the end of it, you are so bitten up and exhausted with swatting, that even when it stops, you have a long recovery period to look forward to.
  5. Dying Livestock – you’ve got valuable livestock keeling over left and right, just like you would have estate assets dropping in value during the probate period. Through this administrative process, that cash cow might not be managed correctly. If you had, however, put it in a trust, with a trustee managing it, you would cashing in – not dropping out.
  6. Boils – we know a couple of things about boils: (1) painful, & (2) ugly. Yes, that pretty much sums up probate.
  7. Storms of Fire – Hail and fire destroys everything in its path.  A couple years of dealing with the stress of determining the appropriate distribution between family members has the same effect, often leaving family dynamics in a heavily damaged state of affairs.
  8. Locusts – Pharaoh tried to negotiate when it came to the 8th plague, saying that all of the men could leave, but not the women and children. We know that did not work out so well for foolish-Pharaoh. This big-fat-fail is a common feature of negotiations regarding property distributions during probate administration.
  9. Darkness – probate effectively prolongs the time that families have deal with the darkness associated with the loss of a loved one, as it can last for years, and serve as a daily stressor to grieving family members.
  10. Death of First-Born – before this final plague, God instructed Moses to mark lamb’s blood over the doorposts as a protection from the “smite” of the plague. A trust based estate plan is much like this protecting method that spared the people from the “destroyer.” Such a plan incorporates a pour-over will and trust into your estate plan.  A will coupled with a trust effectively bypasses probate. The pour-over will takes all of the property that passes through the will, and funnels it into the trust. The property is then distributed to the trust beneficiaries pursuant to the terms of the trust.  This effectively removes all of the property from the Last Will & Testament, thereby leaving nothing to be administered through probate.

 

In the spirit of passover, don’t be a foolish-Pharoah; plan ahead, and avoid probate! 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.

 

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

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“Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”

Posted by on Apr 3, 2014 in asset protection, estate planning, Legal News, Trusts, Wills |

1The lucky Power Ball winner claimed his prize on April Fool’s day however his price of $425 Million was no joke. Apparently the idea of being a millionaire has not affected his judgment, he kept his big win a secret until he had his financial and legal plan in place. Now that he has come forward to claim his prize it is important for him that his identity remains a secret from the public.

But why should we all wait for a strike of luck to plan ahead? There are plans you can set in place to ensure that you maintain control in the event of life’s unexpected surprises. An estate plan can give you piece of mind even if you can’t predict when your lucky stars will align in your favor. Whether your priorities are privacy or protection of your loved ones, with the right attorney you can ensure that your plans live on.

By utilizing estate-planning techniques, you can protect yourself and your family from unnecessary hassles, while safeguarding your current  assets and any other asset your lucky stars  brings your way.

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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