NBA free agency is in full swing this week, with multi-million dollar contracts being signed and players finding a new home for next season. Heat fans are still waiting to see who will be bringing their talents to South Beach, to see what sort of long term planning team President Pat Riley has in store for the team. You may never be a superstar athlete, but you too can plan for your future by meeting with one of our South Florida probate attorneys and making sure you have a proper estate plan in place.

If you die without an estate plan in Florida, the laws of the state will decide how your property is distributed. You have worked too hard to earn what you have to let someone else dictate what happens to it when you are gone. Having a validly executed will assures that your assets will be passed according to your wishes. However, all wills must go through a process known as probate. Probate involves the validating of a will and the subsequent distribution of the estate assets. Probate can be a time-consuming and arduous process. Depending on the size of the estate and complexity of assets, the process can take between six months and a few years. During this time, accounts are frozen as ownership is changed from the estate to the beneficiaries. This can lead to bills going unpaid, companies going broke, and even houses being foreclosed.

One of the best ways to avoid probate is to use a trust based estate plan. Trusts have multiple advantages over just avoiding probate, such as increased control over your assets and creditor protection for your beneficiaries. Using a will to distribute assets allows for you to decide on your beneficiaries, but once it is distributed, you no longer have any control. The asset belongs to the beneficiary. With a trust, you can dictate where the asset goes for multiple generations. This ability allows you to protect the assets from any creditors, divorce, or remarriage. Just as you worked too hard to let the state control your assets, you want to keep your assets in the family, instead of letting them go off to the family of your child’s spouse or a step-child. In addition to protecting where your assets go, a trust protects the inheritance from any creditors of the beneficiary.

Other assets beside those held in trust can be passed without going through probate. Bank accounts and retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401Ks pass using beneficiary forms. In fact, beneficiary forms will trump any contrary bequest in a will. For example, if you wanted your estate to be split 50-50 amongst your two children and had it that way in your will, but your beneficiary forms all only named one child, that child would receive all of the money and would be under no obligation to give any to the other child. Jointly owned property will also pass outside of probate.

Don’t just watch as NBA players and teams plan for their futures. Follow their lead and contact our South Florida estate planning attorneys today.

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)

Yesterday, after one hundred and twenty one minutes of play, the US Men’s National Team was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup by Belgium. Despite the loss, US goalie Tim Howard had a historic performance, recording a World Cup record 16 saves. Because of Howard’s outstanding plays protecting the goal, the USA was in the game until the final whistle was blown. Protection is the name of the game, whether it’s soccer or your assets and our attorneys can make sure all your goals are met.

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.

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