Last week, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a constitutional right.  That means that no state can unilaterally deny same-sex couples the right to marry. In a previous decision the Supreme Court gave DOMA [“Defense of Marriage Act”] the boot, holding that its definition of marriage (limited to a union between one man & one woman) violates the guarantee of equal protection provided by the Fifth Amendment. Keep in mind, this only applied on a Federal level, and States could still refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. The most recent case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which was decided last week, extends this protection to same-sex couples under the fourteenth amendment which applies at the state and local levels of government. Here in South Florida, same-sex marriage was recognized only recently.

Same-sex couples now enjoy the benefit of holding property as tenancy by the entirety, which is a benefit Reserved for married couples; each spouse owns 100% of the property.  One spouse cannot transfer it without the agreement of the other.  Any bank account, for example, in the name of 2 married persons is considered to be held as tenancy by the entirety unless otherwise specified in writing.  Also, any creditor of one spouse alone can’t go after any asset held by the entirety to satisfy a debt.

Another benefit that is now available to same-sex couples is the elective share option, which means that if a spouse is cut out of the will, he or she can exercise the elective share, which entitles the person to 30% of the estate regardless of whether the decedent included the person in the will.

401K funds can now be transferred upon death to a same-sex spouse, which was not possible before, if the state did not allow same-sex marriage.  The Supreme Court Decision now extends the homestead protection to same-sex couples as well, that is, the surviving spouse automatically receives at least a life estate interest in the property of the decedent spouse (the surviving spouse can automatically live in the marital home for the rest of his or her life), which was not possible before in a state that did not provide for same-sex marriage.

While these are certainly great estate planning features for same-sex couples, you don’t want to always rely on automaticity. Rather, you should plan for the future of your spouse and children if you have them, as there is a vast array of estate planning techniques that will ensure your receive all of the benefits of the law.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection, contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or via email at mwild@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

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

With our favorite season almost coming to an end, it’s important to educate ourselves on estate taxes. Of course death is not our favorite topic to discuss nor is it something that we want to think about when receiving our tax return, however planning for the future is never a bad idea.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be certain, except death and taxes.”  This quote draws on the actual inevitability of death to highlight the difficulty in avoiding tax burdens. But, if you plan ahead and use the proper resources, estate taxes will not be too much of a burden.

Estate tax is known to be a tax on your right to transfer property after death. This tax consists of an accounting of everything you may own or have certain interests in at your date of death. The fair market value of these items are used which then becomes your gross estate. Once your gross estate is accounted for, certain deductions such as: mortgages and other debts, estate administration expenses, property that passes to surviving spouses, and qualified charities are allowed in arriving at your taxable estate.  After the net amount is calculated, the value of lifetime taxable gifts is added to this number and the tax is computed. The tax is then reduced by the available unified credit. Being that I just bombarded you with estate tax lingo and probably lost you after I said the word “death”, let’s talk about how to reduce estate taxes.

Setting up a QTIP trust, and no I don’t mean a piece of cotton, and a Bypass Trust can postpone the payment of taxes until both spouses in a marriage have died. If you die first but want to determine who receives the trust property after your spouse dies, you may want to consider setting up a Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, or as we like to call it, a QTIP trust. This trust allows you to put property into the trust however, YOU, not your spouse, can specify who receives the remaining property in the trust after your spouse dies. A QTIP trust enables you to designate what happens to the leftovers of the trust instead of leaving it to the option of your spouse.  This may be a great option if you’re on your second marriage. Let’s say that you and your current spouse are both on your second marriage and each have children of your own from the first marriage. To put it nicely, you aren’t too fond of your spouse’s children and the word “freeloaders” comes to mind when their names come up in conversation. But, your spouse of course thinks of them as angels. In this situation, do you really want your spouse to decide what happens with any leftovers from your estate upon his or her death? I’m not thinking so.

Another option would be setting up a Bypass trust, also known as a “B” trust.  This trust shelters property from estate taxes and “bypasses” the property from your spouse to someone else, such as your child or children. But, guess what? Your spouse can still benefit from the trust.  Even though the trust is for the sole benefit of your child, your spouse, while living, can still benefit from the trust assets. Being that your spouse never actually takes possession of the property, he or she is never considered to be the property owner. This means that he or she never has to include the property in his or her estate.

So, as Franklin once said, death and taxes are inevitable but here at WFP law we can ensure you that we can help reduce the burden of estate taxes. It’s a wild world and if you don’t prepare your trusts properly, the IRS may not honor them. So, the real question is; are you protected? Come in today for a free consultation!

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.

In Florida, a person who owns and resides on real property and makes it his or her permanent residence is eligible to receive a homestead exemption up to $50,000.

In order to qualify your Florida homestead, you and your home must meet three criteria:

• You must have legal or beneficial title to the home on January 1 of the current year.
• You must reside at the home as your permanent residence.
• You must apply for the homestead exemption in person at the property appraiser’s office in the county where your home is located between January 1 and March 1 of the year in which you are seeking the homestead exemption.

While in many other states, a persons homestead is not protected from creditors and can be lost to claims for Medicaid reimbursement, this is not the case in Florida. Some of the multiple benefits of the homestead exemption are protection from creditors, reduction of property taxes and protection to the surviving spouse or minor child.

Less well understood are the homestead protections from the claims of creditors and the restrictions on transfers of homestead property at death. WFP Law can help explain these Florida homestead concepts at a free consultation.

Michael D. Wild is a Florida attorney specializing in the areas of estate planning, asset protection and probate administration. To learn more about estate planning, please contact the South Florida law firm of WFP Law at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation. It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine… Not always true.

Probate is the legal process used in Florida by which property and assets are transferred to the heirs or intended beneficiaries of the deceased person. The concept of probate does not exist in French law, property and assets pass automatically upon death to the heirs. Whatever your Last Will and Testament might say, it can be overturned by your protected heirs. In the majority of cases these will be your children. So you cannot cut your children out of your Will under French law.

Under American law anyone making a Will has “testamentary freedom” which means that you can choose whoever you want to inherit your property and assets and in whatever proportions as long as this is set out in a valid Will.

Another important fact is that in France the inheritance tax is paid by each beneficiary on the shares that they receive whereas in Florida there is no inheritance tax for amounts below $5.43 million per person.

Michael D. Wild is a Florida attorney specializing in the areas of estate planning, asset protection and probate administration. To learn more about probate administration, please contact the South Florida law firm of WFP Law at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation. It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

Facebook is now thinking smart when it comes to planning for ones departure of this world.  As of February 2015, you can now designate a “legacy contact” in your Facebook settings, which will allow a family member or close friend to manage your account after you pass away. Facebook used to only offer family members the ability to be able to “memorialize” the account which was a basic way for friends and family to still be able to write on the decedent’s wall. This was definitely a nice feature to offer however, the account of the deceased was unable to be managed by anyone.  From a survey that Facebook released, users were upset about this feature so Facebook decided to step up and support those who are grieving.

Here’s how to choose your legacy contact:

1. Open your setting. Choose security and then Legacy Contact which appears at the bottom of the page.
2. After designating your legacy contact, you’ll have the option to send a message to that person.

So, what will a legacy contact be able to do?

• Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized timeline (to announce a memorial service or share a special message)
• Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook
• Update the profile picture and cover photo

It’s important to understand that being a legacy contact is different from just logging into someone’s account. The chosen legacy contact will not be able to log in as the person who passed away or see that persons private messages. The legacy contact also cannot edit what the deceased has already posted, or what his or her friends have posted on the page. As a Facebook member, you can change your legacy contact at any time but once you pass away the legacy contact cannot pass along the responsibility to someone else. With that being said, make sure the designated legacy is aware of the responsibilities and agrees to keep your social media account the way that you want it to remain.

Aside from the designated legacy having those rights, friends and family will still be able to write on the person’s wall to keep them in memory.

If you don’t feel comfortable or decide to opt out of designating a legacy contact, Facebook also gives you the option to delete your whole account after death.

Plan smart when it comes to managing your assets and now your Facebook account after you depart because as we always say, 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.

 In August of 2014, we were all shocked to hear about the tragic death of Robin Williams. What some of us may question is whether his assets were protected? Mr. Williams decided to opt out of a will and leave separate trusts for his three children and his current spouse. Which is great to keep documentation private and to leave out the long dreadful process of probate. However, in Mr. Williams’ case, his records were revealed. Why? Because he failed to appoint a successor trustee. The original trustee of the trusts had died leaving it up to the California probate court to appoint a successor trustee. Once documentation gets put into the court’s hands, it becomes public record. Unfortunately his plan to keep documentation private failed.

In this case, Mr. Williams did plan in advance and tried to keep his affairs outside of probate court, but, his trusts required a little more planning. Without proper planning, you can encounter some bumps in the road.

Here at WFP Law we ensure that you have a backup plan. Let us help you make the right decisions when it comes to Estate Planning in Florida. Come in today for a free consultation and learn how to avoid situations like these.

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.