Today, President Barack Obama kicked off the annual White House Easter Egg Roll with First Lady Michelle. Youngsters had a blast participating in the traditional egg-rolling races, obstacle courses, as well as other fun-filled sports and crafts. While egg hunts may be fun on the South Lawn, what your kids will not have fun doing is hunting for important estate planning documents once you are gone.

For those in South Florida who are not interested in playing hide and seek, it’s important to have original estate planning documents such as your will, stored in a safe and accessible place. Somewhere in your home or office that is protected from fire, floods, and South Florida hurricanes is suitable. A personal safe is commonly used; however, be sure to entrust the right person with the location of the safe and combination to the lock.

However, if you plan on using a safe deposit box, you might want to consider retitling it into the name of your Revocable Living Trust if the box is titled in your name only. This way, your successor trustee will be able to gain immediate access to your box without having to obtain a court order to open it. You can also include a trusted joint owner to the title to carry out your estate planning wishes.

Finally, your South Florida estate planning attorney should retain signed copies of all your estate planning documents. In the event your original documents are accidently destroyed, the documents can be recreated and everything can be resigned. This will destroy the presumption that you intended to destroy the documents if the originals cannot be found at the time of your death.

What might work on the South Lawn might not work in South Florida. Save your loved ones the trouble of hunting down your original legal documents and contact your South Florida estate planning attorney for more information today!

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 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

This holiday weekend many South Floridians will be getting together with family members to celebrate Easter and Passover 2012. Organizing family gatherings, preparing lavish meals, and participating in special songs and customs will be the focus of attention. Children in particular will be anticipating customary gifts.

If you’re struggling in preparing the perfect Easter basket for your little ones, here’s something to consider. There is nothing sweeter than the types of gifts that come from thoughtfully planning your South Florida estate plan.  For example, your will and living trusts are ideal vehicles in properly transferring assets to your children. Not even chocolate bunnies or candied eggs can compete with that.

There is so much to consider in such legacy planning that only a highly experienced and knowledgeable South Florida estate planning attorney can effectively guide you through this complex process. You might have family-owned businesses, retirement plans, and a life insurance policy. What about asset protection from creditor claims, special needs planning, trust administration, Florida probate and financial planning? You are not alone. Help is just a phone call away.

However, once you set up your solid estate plan, assets must be titled into trusts and periodically updated to reflect life changes such as marriage, birth of a new child, or divorce. If you already have one in place but neglected it for a few years, then it is time to resurrect your estate plan and review it with your attorney to account for all necessary changes, both personal and legal.

The best part is that estate planning is kosher and chametz-free. Sitting at the Seder table with the knowledge that you have provided for the future financial needs of you loved ones and ensured that your assets are ultimately distributed as you intend is a satisfying and rewarding feeling. After all, you never know when you will be having that Last Supper with your family. 

Time is never on our side so taking immediate action is a key ingredient to estate planning. Contacting your estate planning attorney not only gives you a peace of mind but also can reduce estate taxes for your family thus leaving them more and less to Uncle Sam.

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 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world.  Are you protected?

Bruce Willis, 57, and his wife Emma Heming, 33 welcomed their new baby girl this weekend after being married for three years. Mabel Ray Willis is the Bruce’ s fourth child and Emma’s first. Willis has three more daughters from his 13-year marriage to first wife Demi Moore.

Willis has experienced substantial life changes that he should account for in his estate planning.  After all, one day he might just “Die Hard.” Protecting his new wife and baby should be high on his priority list.

With Willis’s divorce from Demi Moore in 2000, new marriage to Emma Heming in 2009, and the recent birth of his new baby, Bruce should consider updating his estate plan if he has not already done so.

Following the dissolution of marriage, it is easy to neglect one’s estate plan especially amid emotional and economic fallout during property division, child custody, and spousal support.

Bruce should begin his estate plan modifications by revising his will. He should reconsider his asset distribution and personal representative appointment. He should include Mabel Ray in his will otherwise he could unintentionally disinherit her. He can rewrite the terms of his will or execute a special addendum called a “codicil.”

If his estate is more trust–based, he should review the terms of any trusts established before or during his marriage to determine what changes will be necessary in order to include Emma and baby Mabel. He might want to add them as beneficiaries of his estate. He might want to exclude Demi from his life insurance and make sure the new women in his life will be the recipients of his death benefits.

Updating your estate plan is crucial especially after major changes in life such as divorce, marriage, and birth of a new child. It is of vital importance to take prompt, proactive measures and visit your South Florida estate planning attorney to ensure your intentions are fully carried out in the disposition of your assets.

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 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world.  Are you protected?

A guy walks into a bar with a new boost of confidence. He just found out that his 80-year-old father would be passing away in a few months leaving him a princely inheritance. He looks around the room and locks eyes with a stunning blue-eyed blonde. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance. However, he musters up some courage, walks right up to her, and says, “I may not look like much now, but soon my father will pass away and I will become a millionaire. Can I take you to dinner tonight?” Impressed, the woman agrees. Two weeks later, she becomes his stepmother.

Clearly, women are much better at estate planning than men!

Happy April Fools’ Day!

On a more sobering note, estate planning is no joke. Death is an equal opportunity taker. It does not discriminate based on sex, age, race, or wealth. One day we will all die. However, when that day will come we don’t know. However, we are all armed with the foresight to plan ahead and obviate disastrous consequences by getting our estate plans set in place. This way, we can be sure our family is well protected and taken care of after we join the ranks of the dearly departed.

The law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. is dedicated in providing valued knowledge and trusted experience of a large law firm but with a client focused approach and protective instinct only a small firm can offer. With expertise and compassion, we focus on the dynamic relationship between our clients and their families.

Early estate planning can save family members from overwhelming stress and emotional ordeal. It can also save loved ones hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why subject them to heavy and unnecessary burdens when they will be consumed with mourning and coping with the reality of your loss? Invest in their future by calling our South Florida estate planning firm today.

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 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world.  Are you protected?

With the brand new ipad’s high-resolution top retina display and improved graphics hardware, no wonder sales are astronomically rising. Everyone just has to have the new ipad. Steve Jobs is probably beaming from the grave.

There is something else Jobs is probably smiling at- his estate plan. The Apple co-founder was not only a brilliant innovator and businessman but he was brilliant in employing estate-planning attorneys to guide him in how best to protect his estimated $7 billion fortune.  He took advantage of techniques and strategies to ensure his family would be well provided for in the event of his death. We all know Jobs was a very private man. That’s why he chose to establish trusts such as living trusts, charitable trusts, and marital trusts to preserve his assets, protect his family, and minimize estate taxes. Unlike wills, a trust is the ideal vehicle in ensuring the privacy of one’s assets. Wills must pass through probate court, which opens the estate, and become public record. However, a trust avoids probate only for assets put into the trust.

The key to correctly using a trust is to fund it with assets. In 2009, both he and his wife transferred three real estate properties into two different trusts.  Jobs was also the largest single shareholder of Disney and it’s purported that he received millions of dollars in dividends since 2006. He most likely made the wise decision to fund the stocks into a living trust as well.

If he had not engaged in proper estate planning, Jobs would have subjected his loved ones to the burden of paying more than $2 billion in estate tax! He played it smart and got his estate plan in place. You can do the same in South Florida.

To know one’s family is well protected is definitely something worth smiling about from the other side.

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 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world.  Are you protected?