College basketball culminates each year in a 68-team tournament to crown its champion that is chock full of upsets, Cinderella stories and buzzer beating shots.  Unlike NCAA basketball, there is no specific shot clock or game clock for our lives.  There may not be enough time in regulation to accomplish everything we need to before that final buzzer sounds.  In order to assure that we accomplish what is most important to us during our short lives, we create lists of priorities.

Some of us give greater priority to our families, others to our careers and others to traveling the world and creating new experiences every day.  No matter what your current priorities are, it’s vary important to get your estate planning taken care of when you are young and healthy rather than waiting until you are older and weak.  None of us are certain of how much time is left on the clock but we can be certain that it is incredibly irresponsible to leave our estate planning to a last-second heave before the buzzer sounds.

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?

Charlie was quoted as saying: “I’m different. I have a different constitution, I have a different brain, I have a different heart. I got tiger blood, man. Dying’s for fools, dying’s for amateurs.”

For those of us that are not filled with tiger blood, we should be concerned about what will happen to our family when we die. Get an estate plan taken care of today because tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.

Dying isn’t for fools but a lack of planning is. Don’t be a fool. Call the attorneys at Wild Felice & Pardo today to schedule your free consultation.

Most people are lucky enough to only have to deal with death a few times in their lives.  Even fewer people will be charged with the task of arranging the affairs and distributing the assets of the deceased.  When a person dies, there is a tremendous amount of emotional strain on the family and friends that are left behind.  Dealing with the stress of probate is an unnecessary ordeal that can be avoided by hiring an attorney skilled in both estate planning and probate.

Probate is the legal process by which property in an estate is transferred to the heirs or beneficiaries of the deceased person.  The process begins with a petition filed with the court that lists all of the property of the deceased and the people to whom the property is to be given.  In larger estates, there are often conflicting interests among family members and the probate process can become more contested and expensive.  Typically the probate process will take between 6 and 18 months for an estate under $1 million and may cost somewhere between 3 and 7 percent of the total estate.

Contrary to a popular misconception, probate is necessary whether or not you have a Will.  If a person dies with any property owned in his or her individual name, probate is required.  Florida has two different probate procedures depending on how large the estate of the decedent is.  For any estate over $75,000, formal probate proceedings are necessary.  However, if the estate is under $75,000 without any real estate and only a small amount of personal property, the estate may be streamlined through a summary probate administration.

In addition to the litany of forms that need to be completed for the court, all required persons need be notified and the proper probate procedures must be followed.  Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires that a personal representative be represented by an attorney unless he or she is the sole interested party.  At least one Florida court has ruled that until three years after death, there might be other interested parties and therefore, an attorney is required.

The best way to avoid the probate process is by utilizing a living trust as the foundation of a comprehensive estate plan.  You will still need the services of an attorney for the administration of the trust but that process is much faster and much less expensive.  For any friends or family that were unable to get their estate plan situated in time, a good probate attorney can help to limit the stress and expense of the probate process.

Seeing as today is President’s Day, I thought it might be appropriate to point out that one of the primary reasons this country was founded was that the King of England was enforcing taxes against the American colonists even though the colonists had no representation in Parliament.  They referred to this as Taxation Without Representation and it lead to both the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution.

We still have taxation without representation today.  When you die, the state and Federal goverments are able to levy a “death tax” against your estate that could be as high as 55 percent.  This tax is on money that you have already paid income and capital gains taxes on during your life. 

There are ways to completely avoid the death tax.  One such way is with the use of a bypass trust.  Another way uses Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts.  Sometimes it’s as easy as a scheduled charitable donation or even gifts made to family members throughout your life.  There are many ways to avoid this double taxation without representation but you need to meet with an estate planning attorney to learn which way is most appropriate for you and your family.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection 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?

Michael D. Wild will be a guest at the 2011 Economic Kickoff Luncheon today at noon at the Riverside Hotel. The event is hosted by the firm of Wacks and Shanawany and should prove to be very informative as well as a great opportunity for networking.

February is a month of only 28 days but it is still chock full of fun holidays that all seem to have something to do with estate planning. What you don’t know about estate planning might not kill you but it will hurt your family when something else does, so here are some fun estate planning facts for your clients, with a February theme.

Groundhog Day – Did you know that without a correctly executed Living Will, any South Florida hospital must keep the patient alive artificially, no matter what their true wishes are and no matter how much money it costs the patient’s family? Perpetual artificial life in persistent vegetative state is the epitome of living the same day over and over again, without any of the charm and comedy of Bill Murray. While most people think of distribution of assets and tax savings when they think of estate planning, getting a correctly executed Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and Designation of Health Care Surrogate can sometimes be even more important.

Mardi Gras – The colors of Mardi Gras symbolize Faith, Power, and Justice. If you have faith in the power of the justice system to see to it that your assets are distributed fairly upon your death, you have probably had one too many Hurricanes. Without a Living Trust to distribute your assets, your wishes will be subject to the whims of a probate judge or the Florida Statutes. For smaller estates with no “family nuances,” this may not pose a huge problem. However, for any estate over $75,000 or belonging to any member of a “nuclear family” (i.e. divorced parents, adopted children, unfavorable in-laws, children from prior marriages, etc.), a full probate administration could prove to be financially devastating to the family left behind. The easiest way to avoid probate completely is to distribute assets through a living trust.

Valentine’s Day – Estate planning isn’t about you; it’s about protecting those you love after you are gone. We pay for health insurance for our children because they might get sick. We pay for car insurance for our spouses because they might get into an accident. We save money in a pre-paid college plan in case our children need help paying for school. We plan for “what if’s” on a daily basis yet we constantly avoid the planning necessary for after we die. While our children may get sick, our spouses may get into a car accident, and we may need financial assistance for college, there is only one certainty. The death rate in South Florida is 100 percent. As for that other so-called certainty, while we can’t keep you alive forever, we can help to eliminate any tax burden your family might have to shoulder after you are gone.

February is a very short month so you had better get moving quickly and get your estate plan in place before it’s too late. For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection 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. Let us protect what you value most.