The loss of blues legend BB King has many of us feeling, well, blue. Nobody could be more upset than his children who are currently embattled in a litigation with longtime manager of BB King, Laverne Toney. In fact, three of his eleven children recently went to court to combat Toney in what they allege is a case of elder abuse.

Karen Williams, Rita Washington, and Patty King say that Toney was not providing proper medical care to their father, restricted his children and friends from visiting, and that there are large amounts of money missing from King’s bank account, to the tune of one million dollars.

Sadly, this type of fight is more common than not. When emotions are high and money is involved you never know how someone will respond. That is why it is so important to dot your I’s and cross your T’s when drafting your Will and Trust.

By having a Power of Attorney, BB King avoided the need for a formal Court-ordered Guardianship when he was older and his mental health was failing. On the other hand, the risk of using a power of attorney is that those with power can sometimes abuse it. The case in point for BB King’s children.

It is critical to work with an attorney well versed in the areas of estate planning and guardianship to make the entire process less stressful. By having the right person to guide you through the process, everyone benefits in the end. The Thrill May Be Gone but the legacy can live on.

In order to make it easy for your loved ones to say goodbye, you should consult the estate planning attorneys of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. who can recognize potential pitfalls and how to avoid them.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

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.

The recent derailment of an Amtrak train left at least eight casualties and many more injured.  Nobody who boarded the train that fateful day was expecting this to happen, rather they were just going about their day as they would any other.  Death is a difficult topic to approach, because nobody likes to think that someday it will happen.  It is important however, because you want to make sure that you are ready for when it happens and because, unfortunately, it can happen at any time.

Waiting too long to draft an estate plan can be troublesome as well.  When a person dies, there may be reasons to question the mental capacity of the individual at the time he or she prepared an estate plan. Undue influence or fraud from third parties, who take advantage of a close relationship with the decedent for personal gain, can be reason to challenge a legal document after death.  Another reason that can be grounds to challenge a legal document is whether it was properly executed and with all the formalities required.

Powers of attorney, for example, are powerful documents that grant another individual broad discretion over medical and financial decisions. Such an important power should involve careful planning. Standard legal forms found online, software programs with legal templates, and other self-help documents, are attractive to many individuals due to the ease of access and low cost. However, template powers of attorney are not always the equivalent of a proper Florida power of attorney drafted by a lawyer.

Many states, like Florida, have strict requirements regarding execution of valid powers of attorney or advance directives.  In order to make it easy for your loved ones to say goodbye, you should consult an estate planning attorney who can recognize potential pitfalls and how to avoid them.

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.

The two biggest misconceptions made by most South Floridians that lack comprehensive estate planning is that they are either too young to worry about it or not wealthy enough to worry about. However, the fact remains that very rarely is estate planning solely about the money.

An estate plan allows you to have control over who gets all of your assets and when they get your assets after you are gone. Therefore, an estate plan is really for anyone who is mortal.

If you have a people in your life you wish to protect, contact Michael Wild for a free consultation. Call us at 954.944.2855 or contact us here.

Wild Felice and Partners provide estate planning and asset protection in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Weston and Miami.

The big moment came and went. Mr.Crablegs himself will be sporting the good old black, white and red. Despite his checkered past, Winston still beat out Mariota.

At Wild Felice and Partners we fully condone the draft, but it should stop there. When one attempts to draft other areas of their life, things can get really stinky. Like drafting your own estate plan.

Take Alice for example. Ninety-year-old Alice decided to get preprinted wills from a local office supply store. Much like Mad Libs, Alice filled in the empty spaces and considered this paperwork her will. Upon her death, this “document” failed to conform to the laws of the state in which she lived.

Rather than paying an experienced attorney to prepare her will, her family suffered through a long, lengthy and costly probate. A process even longer and probably more pain staking than Bruce Jenner’s gender transition.

We remind you that nothing is more important than caring for your family. An estate plan, drafted by a specialized estate plan attorney will provide you the piece of mind and ability to control your assets from beyond the grave.

For more information on how to shield your family from the perils of probate and the rising estate tax, contact our South Florida law firm for a free consultation: http://wfplaw.com