All it took was one whirlwind of commotion in the Windy City and POOF…the Miami Heat are no longer unbeatable.  Last night the Chicago Bulls destroyed the 27 game winning streak that was adorning South Florida’s superstars.  Lebron James fought ferociously to keep his legacy going, but it was snapped away by a more powerful force.

Thought South Florida’s celebrated team was invincible?  Much like you?  Think again.  Every day we go to bed, wake up, and go about our daily routine.  But the inevitable is coming.  Much like the Bulls charged the Heat last night, fate will overcome you too.  But don’t be caught off guard.

We can’t predict or control when we are going to die. However, we can control what happens after we are gone. Today you may be healthy and feeling great, tomorrow an unforeseen event can change your whole game plan.  Life is short.  Get your estate plan in place today.

Wild Felice & Partners is a full-service, Fort Lauderdale, Florida based law firm with a specialty in estate planning, asset protection, tax strategies, wills, and probate administration. We utilize a combination of real estate law, estate planning strategies, family law, and asset structuring to assure that our clients are protected from any threats that may be looming.

Our experienced Florida estate planning attorneys are on your team!  For more information on how to plan for your future, contact our South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, PA for a free consultation at (954) 944-2855.

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

Many of us struggle with the concept of death and become torn by conflicting feelings of reality and what we believe won’t happen. Deep down, we all know that one day we will die. However, we believe it won’t happen today or tomorrow. It won’t happen next week or next month. We still have next year and the following years after that to flourish on this Earth.  This kind of mentality translates into false notions that we will never die so we have nothing to worry about.

The problem is we are all mortals.This truth radiates today from the Vatican walls of the papal palace.  Pope Benedict XVI, 85, has come to terms with this by  announcing his resignation from papal office due to his declining health. The Bishop of Rome admitted to his age-related incapacity preventing him from adequately fulfilling his papal duties.

We are all at risk of becoming mentally and physically incapacitated. It can be from advanced age, car accident, stroke, you name it. It’s better to protect yourself and your loved ones before its too late. Do you have a Living Will? Do you have a Designation of Healthcare Surrogate? What about your Durable Power of Attorney? If the answer to these questions are no, then its time to answer an even more important question. What are you waiting for? These documents dictate what happens to you in the event you become incapacitated. Who will make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to? Who will take care of your finances? These legal instruments are your answer.

Life is short. We can’t predict or control when we are going to die. However, we can control what happens after we are gone. Always expect the best but be prepared for the worst. Get your estate plan in place today.

The pope has carefully examined his conscious and so should you. It is time to release your white smoke and follow its trail to the office of your South Florida estate planning attorney today.

For more information on how to plan for you business’ future, contact our South Florida law firm of Wild, Felice & Partners, PA for a free consultation at (954) 944-2855.

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

The Nike “Just Do It” campaign allowed the company to increase their share of the sneaker business from 18% to 43% between the years 1988 and 1998. There must be something to it…

People tend to not like dealing with estate planning because they believe that it is an acknowledgment of their mortality, so they put it off. But lack of action is not smart. Estate planning is a process involving the counsel of professional advisors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and how they are owned, and your family structure. It can involve the services of a variety of professionals, including your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, life insurance advisor, banker and broker. Estate planning covers the transfer of property at death as well as a variety of other personal matters and may or may not involve tax planning. The core documents most often associated with this process are your will and your trust.

At Wild, Felice & Partners, P.A. we take great pride in our ability to successfully cater to the needs of all Floridians. Whether you are a highly successful and high net worth individual or you are still working hard on creating your nest egg, we can help you accomplish your goals. We assist our clients in determining how best to structure their holdings, as well as assisting in the disposing of such assets during and after their lifetime. Our attorneys focus primarily on minimizing a variety of estate related taxes, while simultaneously protecting assets from third party creditors.

Our South Florida firm routinely utilizes a variety of estate planning tools, including Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Surrogates, Funding Techniques, and more. In addition, we may advise for the formation and funding of a family limited partnership which provides, among other things, asset protection, a positive method of control and a long term plan for the accumulation of wealth that will remain outside of one’s taxable estate. By utilizing the estate planning techniques that we have perfected, we may be able to protect your family from unnecessary hassles and save them tens of thousands of dollars.

Take a cue from Nike: “JUST DO IT.”

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 to schedule your free consultation. It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM

Just to quickly clear something up, and most of last night’s Super Bowl spectators would agree, it was Beyonce’s electrifying half-time performance that caused the blackout, not some glitch in the Superdome’s power system. Despite the half-hour standstill in the third quarter when most of the lights and scoreboards went dark, it was a great game… depending on who you were rooting for.

However, another thing can be said about America’s biggest sporting event. Sports carry with it risks of serious injury. Studies have shown that NFL football players sustain head injuries to such a high degree resulting in memory-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Statistics unveil the number of former football players with this disease to be a staggering nineteen times the normal rate for men ages 30-49.

It’s not only in football where risk of injury is inherent. Life also carries risks. Just think of how many people get into car accidents every year. What about health problems that afflict the elderly? What about employees injured on the job? Can you imagine what it must be like to be unable to physically take care of yourself or to lose the mental capacity to make decisions on your own? Who will take care of your loved ones?

No matter what we do, there is always a risk of injury. However, you can protect yourself and your family by accounting for these dire possibilities. Creating an estate plan with specific supplemental documents can ensure your wishes are met. A Designation of Health Care Surrogate is a document that is based on statutory language found in Florida Statute 765.203. It allows the designated person or persons to make medical decisions on your behalf. A Living Will is a form that allows you to state whether you want your life to be artificially prolonged or whether you prefer to be allowed to die naturally. This document contains the statutory language found in Florida Statute 765.303. Without a correctly executed Living Will, you must be kept alive artificially no matter what your true wishes are or how much it costs your family financially. A Durable Power of Attorney form is designed to allow the designated person or persons to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become mentally or physically unable to do so.

The best way to be certain of which supplemental documents you need as part of your estate plan is to consult with your South Florida estate planning attorney. Here at Broward County, our attorneys will evaluate your needs and desires and outline a plan that is best for you. Supplemental documents ensure that your estate is handled as you wish during your lifetime and after you die.

Last night’s Super Bowl is testament to how unpredictable life is. Arm yourself with the right estate planning tools to protect yourself and your family from such unwelcomed events.

For more information on how to plan for you business’ future, contact our South Florida law firm of Wild, Felice & Partners, PA for a free consultation at (954) 944-2855.

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

“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” Zig Ziglar

No one wants to focus on their own mortality but most people still have some kind of an end-of-life plan that includes a will and a burial plot. Unfortunately, small business owners tend to forget that their small business could be the largest asset they leave their family … but only if they plan for their business to live longer than they do.

Birth, death, sickness, marriage, divorce, natural disasters…these are all variables that can change your life and the life of your business. Ignoring them is not the answer. A good business succession plan can protect your small business from all of them.

What are the advantages of creating a business succession plan? First, it ensures an agreeable price for a partner’s share of the business and eliminates the need for valuation upon death because the insured agreed to the price beforehand. Second, any life insurance policy benefits will be immediately available to pay for the deceased’s share of the business, with no liquidity issues or time constraints. This effectively prevents the possibility of an external takeover due to cash flow problems or the need to sell business or other assets to cover the cost of the deceased’s interest. And third, a succession plan can greatly aid in allowing for timely settlement of the deceased’s estate, including avoiding probate and the eliminating the estate tax.

What are the most common questions resolved by implementing a business succession plan?

1. Who will be my successor?

2. How much is my business worth?

3. What will happen to my business partners and their families?

4. How will my business be transferred to my partners or heirs?

5. What happens to my company if I become incapacitated?

6. Can I keep my relatives from inheriting my company?

7. How do I protect my spouse and children?

At Wild, Felice & Partners, PA, we are able to provide a full range of legal services to our business clients. Whether buying a new business, selling an old business, or operating a current business, our lawyers are trained to examine all aspects of business planning and see to it that all possible issues are addressed. We pride ourselves on providing accurate advice for your specific business needs. Our law firm provides the knowledge and experience of a large law firm, while giving our clients the hands-on service and attention to detail that only a smaller firm can truly offer. Our lawyers regularly go beyond the customary services, tailoring their work to the specific needs of each client.

Our attorneys are well versed in a wide variety of legal practice areas which allows us to provide our clients with one-stop shopping for all of their legal needs. Rather than having to seek various individual counsels and having the headache of managing your own legal issues and costs, we provide the convenience of one South Florida location for all of your legal needs. You will receive the quality work product of a large law firm and the low cost and high attention to detail that small law firms are valued for.

We realize that each client’s needs are unique and treat each of our clients as if they are our only client. We hope you will take the time to contact one of our attorneys and truly experience all of the benefits that our South Florida law firm has to offer. We are able to provide the expertise and guidance needed to develop a succession plan specifically tailored to your business. Our lawyers are trained to examine all aspects of business planning and see to it that all possible issues are addressed.

For more information on how to plan for you business’ future, contact our South Florida law firm of Wild, Felice & Partners, PA for a free consultation at (954) 944-2855.

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

In the perfect land of estate planning, the SAG Award for outstanding cast would be presented to the talent behind the fictional production of “The Spouse’s Share.” Ben Affleck and ‘Argo’ would have nothing on the South Florida estate planning attorney and the client behind the making of a Last Will and Testament. The client’s moment to shine occurs when he or she takes the time to discuss with a lawyer how his or her assets should be distributed to the surviving spouse upon death.

This golden opportunity is lost forever when this type of critical planning escapes one’s attention.

Do you know what happens in Florida if you are married but die without a will?

Fla. Stat. §732.102 governs the surviving spouse’s share of the intestate estate.

1. If you die without any surviving descendants, your entire intestate estate will go to your spouse. This does not typically include non-probate assets.

2. If you die with surviving descendants, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other descendants, then he or she again receives the entire intestate estate.

3. On the other hand, if you have children from a previous relationship that are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, then he or she only gets half of your estate.

4. If the surviving spouse has children from a previous relationship that are not yours but you have one or more children together, then again he or she only gets half.

The Academy Award of all estate planning begins with a Last Will and Testament.

If you don’t ‘act’ now with respect to your assets, there can be some unexpected twists and turns in the story line of your legacy that you might not like. What if you would like your spouse to receive more or less of your fortune?  To avoid any unintended and unhappy endings, make the call to your estate planning attorney today for proper direction.

Lights, Camera, Action… you have a will to draft.

For more information on successful Florida asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm ofWild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation. It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?SM