Similar questions run through people’s minds when they go to the doctor or dentist. If I go to the doctor, will he find a tumor and tell me I have cancer? Maybe if I just avoid the doctor all together that will never happen. Right? Wrong! Many people have the same thought process when it comes to visiting their attorney for estate planning. Such irrational reasoning has even more dire consequences in the future. With today’s sophisticated technology, routine checkups and preventative healthcare measures are critical for preventing what could be a medical tragedy. Likewise, with today’s legal tools, adequate estate planning from a qualified South Florida estate-planning attorney is critical in preventing a financial tragedy.

By doing the following you will avoid some commonly made mistakes.

1) Get your will drafted. This is not just for wealthy individuals. In fact, proper asset preservation is critical for those of modest means. There is nothing better than knowing your family will be protected against high estate taxes and administrative costs.

2) Don’t Procrastinate. Just like cancer can strike at any time so can death’s knock at your door. If you leave this world without a will, Florida law dictates the distribution of your assets and your wishes are gone with the wind.

3) Be wary of joint tenancies. With this strategy you are making a prospective heir a joint property owner. This approach can turn sour when for example, your married adult child gets divorced and his or her estranged spouse will be able to claim a portion of your retirement nest egg. If your favorite niece has a business that becomes insolvent, creditors can wipe out your entire life savings.

Get your South Florida estate in place today to avoid such dire consequences from inaction! Time is never on our side.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, please contact the South Florida law firm of  Wild Felice & Pardo, 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?

Probate avoidance is the goal of a highly skilled and qualified South Florida Estate Planning attorney. The objective is to protect clients against the time-consuming, highly costly, and emotional process of probate administration. Coping with the loss of a loved one is hard enough. Who wants the additional burden of finding themselves amidst a storm of family disputes and endless courtroom proceedings? An experienced and knowledgeable attorney is well equipped with the tools to help you circumvent this process through strategic estate planning. This is accomplished through trust formation. For example, a living trust can make every one’s life so much easier by acting as a vehicle for transferring ownership immediately once an individual dies. This method is faster, less expensive, and more convenient than traditional probate.

Another advantage of setting up a trust, is that it is completely private. The only person who will be able to view all the assets you accumulated during your life and how you decided to leave them to your family is the person or entity that you name as Trustee. However, the probate process is made public so anyone who wants to take a sneak peak into your estate will be able to do so.

Now, if you are a surviving spouse or child and stumble across the bad news that a trust was never established, it’s not the end of the world. A good probate lawyer can still offer guidance on what to do.  Even though this will cost you some money, payment is usually taken out of the estate. You will not have to pay anything up front, which makes things easier on your budget.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, please contact the South Florida law firm of  Wild Felice & Pardo, 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?

Having life insurance is a great tool in planning for your future and providing assurance for your family members after you die. But did you know that for tax purposes, the proceeds from a South Florida life insurance policy become part of your gross estate if you owned the policy during the last 3 years of your life? This occurs for over 90 percent of all life insurance policies.  Your family receives life insurance death benefits, which is tax-free income that they will use to pay for funeral expenses, debt, estate taxes and to fulfill any other financial obligations. If your estate is valued over the $5 million estate tax threshold, anything pouring over that threshold will be taxed at a rate of 35 percent. This means that your life insurance will be taxed along with all the other assets in your estate.  But don’t worry there is hope.

A qualified and well-experienced South Florida Estate Planning attorney can strategically structure your estate in order to shield your family from the bullets of such heavy taxation.  This can be accomplished through the creation of an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). This is a legal instrument that removes the life insurance from your estate and transfers the benefits into the ILIT. The result- less taxation and increased asset protection for your loved ones. Since the ILIT is a separate South Florida legal entity that is outside your estate, the IRS cannot impose a tax on the assets held in the trust because they are no longer within your control. You may designate your spouse, child, or other appropriate party as the beneficiary of the trust and provide detailed instructions to the designated trustee regarding management of the trust.  This includes how you would like the life insurance payout to be distributed, when payments, loans or investments should be made,  and when to terminate the trust.  Establishing an ILIT today with a caring and knowledgeable attorney will ensure your family will be guarded against the burdens of heavy taxation and unnecessary liability in the future.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, please contact the South Florida law firm of  Wild Felice & Pardo, 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 Living Will, also known as an advanced directive, is a legal document, which allows you to express your wishes regarding medical treatment in the event you become  physically or mentally incapacitated. This is typically used when a patient is in a  vegetative state and needs life support to be kept alive. This form allows you to communicate your desire to have your life artificially prolonged or not. If you do not have  a properly executed Florida living will, you will be kept alive artificially irrespective of your  wishes to die naturally or the financial and emotional costs to your family.

There have  been too many heartbreaking stories absent a living will in place, where family  members have become embroiled in quarrels as to what a loved one would have wanted.  We all remember Terri Schiavo from St. Petersburg, Florida who had been in a coma for years and did not have a living will. There was bitter contention between her husband and her parents as to whether Terri would have wanted to be hooked up to life prolonging medical procedures. After seven long years and countless court cases, the Florida Legislature, U.S. Congress and Supreme Court became involved, before it was finally ordered that her feeding tube be removed.

Don’t let this happen to you. Get your living will in place today. Designating a Health Care Surrogate will ensure you have someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf. It is also important to designate a Durable Power of Attorney to manage your financial affairs in the event you become mentally or physically unable to do so. Consult with a qualified South Florida Estate Planning Attorney who will properly advise you and prepare these critical legal documents so you can rest assure your wishes are fulfilled. After all, when it comes to your health and your life, there is no one better to take control than yourself.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, please contact the South Florida law firm of  Wild Felice & Pardo, 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?

We all love to take a break occasionally from our busy lives and enjoy a vacation that will help us decompress. Many of us own a vacation home that is the source of our retreat.  Whether we are escaping to our condos on Florida’s South Beach or to a cabin on New York’s Lake George, we rarely stop to consider one thing. Vacation homes are a valuable asset that should be protected by South Florida estate planning.  The most common method of asset protection is through the formation of business entities or trusts that will hold title to the property.

A popular type of entity organization is the Limited Liability Company (LLC). This is a family/business operation that is treated like a corporation but is taxed as a partnership.  This provides liability protection for family members from claims of those injured on the property and reduces the risk of creditors staking a claim on your asset. A family Limited Partnership can be created, which is similar to an LLC but has more restrictions on transferability of ownership.  There is also the option of establishing a Family Trust or Irrevocable Trust. A trust is a separate legal entity, which becomes the legal owner of the real estate.   An attorney can help you structure a trust to protect your house from creditors, allow for management by the parents during their lifetime, and protect the house in the event a child becomes divorced. The advantage of a trust is that it offers the most control over your asset and is typically used to keep a house in the family for generations.

To help preserve those valuable memories from past family vacations and to build many more, sit down with a qualified estate-planning attorney to map out the future of your home.  Learn how to protect your property from creditors and potential family disputes regarding its use, management, and future expense sharing.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, please contact the South Florida law firm of  Wild Felice & Pardo, 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?