So you say you have an estate plan?  When was the last time that you had it reviewed?

You should have your estate plan reviewed at least once every 3 to 5 years.  This is not only for changes in law and changes in the tax code (both which happen more often than you think) but also because your family and assets tend to change that often too.  Just think about how your family looked 5 years ago.  Are there more people in it now?  Are there less people in it now?  Have children become adults in that time?  Every 3 to 5 years the average family will see marriages, divorces, births and deaths.  Each of these occurrences should lead to an estate plan update.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Are my children ready to be their own trustee if something should happen to me?

2. Is my living will valid?  (Hint: if made prior to 2006, it probably isn’t.)

3. Are all of the people I chose to act as trustee, guardian, power of attorney, health care surrogate, etc. still alive?  Still competent?  Still trustworthy?

4. Is my estate taxable this year?  How about in future years?

There are an infinite amount of questions you can ask yourself but the easier method is to 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 and complimentary estate plan review.  It’s a Wild world.  Are you protected?

Have you ever had to go through the probateprocess when a loved one died?  It’s horrible.  The court and attorney fees are very high, the assets are tied up for an incredible amount of time and the  entire process can lead to public embarrassment and fighting amongst family members.  In the song Wont Get Fooled Again, the Who must have been thinking about the probate process and how to avoid it.  Here’s a brief translation of one of the verses:

I’ll move myself and my family aside (the band is going to protect their families with estate planning)
If we happen to be left half alive (in addition to the trust, a power of attorney will protect from incapacity)
I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky (the living trusts created by the band members)
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie  (so the fighting among family members will be avoided)
Do ya? (do you have your plan in place?)
 

A trust-based foundational estate plan can save your family hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate tax and probate fees and for the month of April, the law firm of Wild Felice & Pardo PA will draft your estate plan at a 25 percent discount if you mention this blog post.  I’d call that a Bargain … not the best I’ve ever had, but still pretty good.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, 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?

Today is the start of the baseball season and as the boys of summer get ready to take the diamond, we are reminded that it is springtime once again.  Spring is a time of rebirth and a great opportunity to adjust your estate plan to add those family members that have been born since you had it drafted.  If you don’t have an estate plan, now is a great time to have one constructed in order to protect those that you care about.  While the bats hit the balls, your pen should be hitting the paper as you should be signing you living trust and assuring that all of the people that you care about are protected long after you are gone. 

Play ball!  Call us for your free consultation.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, 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?

Wish you could go back in time to last Friday and pick VCU to upset Kansas?  How about going back a full month and picking UConn to win the whole thing?  Well, until Peabody is able to come over and set the Wayback Machine, we are not able to go back in time and correct our mistakes.  Losing in your March Madness Bracket Tournament is nothing in comparison to the mistakes I see every day in poorly drafted, poorly executed, and poorly funded estate plans.  

Top 10 Estate Planning Mistakes

1. Leaving the Living Trust Unfunded: A living trust is merely a vehicle that allows you to pass your assets outside of probate.  However, if there are no assets in the trust, nothing has been accomplished.  You can buy the most expensive safe at the store but it wont protect your valuables unless you put the valuables into the safe. 
2. Putting Your Children’s Names on Your Deed: These property will be subject to capital gains taxes when the beneficiary attempts to sell it.
3. Leaving Assets Outright to Beneficiaries: Assets that are left outright to heirs and beneficiaries are exposed to creditors, predators and divorcing spouses. 
4. Not Having a Living Will:  A living will gives guidelines for your physician to follow in the event you are in a terminal, end-stage, and persistent vegetative state. 
5. Owning Life Insurance in Your Name: Many people are not aware that the death benefit of an insurance policy, owned by the insured is included in their taxable estate. 
6. Not Communicating with Trustees and Beneficiaries:  It is important to let the people who are named in your estate plan know what role you are asking them to play. 
7. Not Knowing Where All the Assets Are: A scattered estate plan by a secretive decedent may cause some assets to be left uncollected, undistributed and even lost.
8. Not Updating Your Estate Plan:  It is imperative that your estate plan is reviewed on an annual basis to avoid unintended results. 
9. Drafting Your Own Estate Plan:  There are so many moving parts with a trust-based estate plan that attempting to do it yourself is the equivalent of trying to take your own appendix out.  There are legal requirements in drafting, executing, funding, and updating.  If you miss any of them, it could invalidate your entire plan.  An estate planning attorney doesn’t sell you documents, they provide the service that goes into making sure that those documents are correct.
10. Thinking That You Have Plenty Of Time To Get To It:  No one has a crystal ball and tomorrow is not promised to any of us.  I have clients that have hired me to draft their estate plan and then they died prior to being able to sign it or fund it.  There are other people who die too young to even sit with the attorney.  Estate planning is necessary for everyone and you should sit with your attorney as soon in life as possible.

Failing to visit your estate planning attorney to get a comprehensive estate plan in place could lead to your family’s financial bracket being completely busted.  For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, 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?

As the NCAA basketball tournament takes it up a notch tonight with the first batch of Sweet 16 games, it’s important to remember another not-so-sweet number: 55. In 2013, the estate tax is scheduled to increase to 55 percent. Whether your estate is a 1-seed or just a Cinderella story, a comprehensive estate plan can assure that your beneficiares will be able to cut down the nets without the government taking half.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, 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?

Even if you were born a ramblin’ man or woman (or just happen to be a snowbird), you may have the ability to claim Florida as your state of domicile and there are many advantages to make such a claim. 

Unlike Florida, many states charge taxes on the estates of the people that have established that state as their domicile.   Florida has neither state income tax nor any state inheritance tax.  While most states tack on an addition ten (10) to fifteen (15) percent to the Federal Estate Tax, Florida permits you to die in peace knowing that your family is protected from unnecessary state taxation.  In fact, Florida even permits you some tax credits, including the Federal Estate Tax credit and the Homestead exemption which permits a property tax credit on your personal residence. 

So how can you establish domicile in Florida if you live somewhere else?

Contrary to popular belief, there is no six-months-and-a-day rule for claiming Florida as your domicile.  Domicile in Florida is defined as establishing a place of adobe, coupled with the intent to permanently remain in the state of Florida.  Although intent can be measured by a show of sentiments, courts will usually focus on the contacts an individual has with the state in order to establish domicile.  This means that you might be eligible to call Florida your home even if you were born in the backseat of a Greyhound Bus rollin’ down Highway 41.

One such example of establishing this intent is the drafting of Florida estate plans and the purchasing of Florida burial plots. No evidence establishing the intent to permanently remain in the state of Florida is stronger than the intent to make it your final resting place.  Courts have agreed that this may be enough to establish your Florida domicile for the purpose of avoiding the state estate tax.

Since Florida is a tax-friendly state, those with sufficient contacts with the state of Florida are highly advised to take the necessary steps to establish Florida as their domicile. However, it is highly advisable that you speak with your attorney to determine if domicile in Florida is beneficial in your particular situation. Each client has unique needs that need to be carefully discussed with their attorney before any decisions are taken.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning techniques, 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?