February is American Heart Health Month.  A full month dedicated to spreading awareness about heart disease, which happens to be the leading cause of death among men and in women in the United States.  This is a scary reality for most Americans who love their pizza, hot dogs and beer but the good news is that this disease is preventable.  You can decrease your chances of suffering from heart disease by making healthier choices, such as exercising more, choosing healthier foods and creating an estate plan!  Well, maybe an estate plan can’t prevent heart disease but it will ensure that your family is taken care should anything happen to you.

Estate planning is important for individuals of all ages, from all backgrounds – no matter if you’re married or single.  By planning today, you eliminate any possible arguments about who gets what, can plan for your children’s future, and even provide for your grandchildren!  A solid estate plan should include the following:

The Revocable Living Trust is a great option for those who wish to avoid probate and provide asset protection for their beneficiaries.  The trust can keep your beneficiaries’ inheritance safe against unsecured creditors and allow them to receive what’s held in trust free of probate.  This is a real advantage since Florida’s probate system is both time consuming and costly.  In addition to probate avoidance, the living trust allows the Grantor to retain control during their life.  They may amend as many times as they wish or revoke entirely.  As life changes, so should your estate plan!

The Last Will and Testament will be included in your plan.  In your will, you will appoint minors on behalf of your children, nominate a personal representative on behalf of your estate and specify your wishes regarding cremation or burial.

The Durable Power of Attorney is a powerful document that is only valid for the duration of your life.  Once signed it will allow the designated individual to make important financial decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to do so yourself.

The Healthcare Surrogate will allow the designated individual to speak with medical staff and assist in making important medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated and unable to do so yourself.  The HIPPA release is included as well to allow for your healthcare surrogate to review medical documents and receive information on your behalf.

You may have the healthiest heart around but that shouldn’t stop you from creating an estate plan.  Call the South Florida Office of Wild, Felice & Partners today at (954) 944-2855 for your free consultation and prepare yourself for the unforeseen.

Let’s face it – life requires insurance.  Cars crash, homes get flooded and people pass away. As morbid as this topic may seem it’s purely realistic and the best way to deal with it is to be prepared.  Most Americans fail to realize the importance of life insurance.  Once a loved one passes, they are likely to leave behind a variation of expenses such as a funeral bill, business expenses, or an unpaid mortgage.  These expenses can cause the surviving family to deal with an unnecessary financial burden and experience a great deal of stress.  Have no fear, life insurance is a great way to alleviate this stress!  Once your policy is coupled with the right estate planning technique you can walk away with peace of mind knowing that the family will be fully protected.

An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) is an estate planning tool that is commonly used.  The ILIT will allow your family to continue to benefit from the life insurance policy without the hassle of a possible tax issue.  Great news, right?!  Here is how it works:  The ILIT transfers the benefit into the trust while you relinquish all control over the policy.  This relinquishment of control is required by the IRS to avoid possible estate taxes.  Doing this removes the life insurance policy from your estate and decreases any potential taxation the family may have faced.  Now, all that remains is an increase in overall asset protection for the family!

Considering creating an ILIT?  Be sure to first consider who you will designate as Trustee, the individual who will distribute the assets, as well as who you wish to designate as a beneficiary (can be a spouse, child or any other individual you deem appropriate).  The terms of the trust are up to you – you can choose how you wish the assets to be distributed but be certain you are happy with how it’s created because once in place the terms of the ILIT cannot be changed.

This estate planning technique offers tax free protection for the family.  Alleviate the potential financial burden your family could face by calling an experienced estate planning attorney today!

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild World.  Are You Protected?

A new year typically brings change for us Americans.  Some of it is intentional change and likely part of our “New Year’s Resolutions.”  Other changes tend to be natural life changes such as birth of a child, a marriage, perhaps a divorce, an inheritance or even the death of a loved one.  It’s because of these changes that your estate plan should be reviewed every three to five years.  Your estate plan should continue to accomplish whatever your goals may be.

When considering how to property plan for your future estate planning is a natural first step. It’s crucial to nominate guardians on behalf of minor children, designate someone to continue to pay your bills and make important healthcare decisions for you, should you be unable to do so yourself.  Estate plans also allow the grantor (that’s you!) to remain in control of your assets, deciding who will receive what and how much their share will be.  Once the plan is in place it should be reviewed every 3-5 years, or sooner if you experience a significant life change.  Some changes that should prompt you to revisit your estate planning attorney include:

Divorce/Remarriage:  If you are recently divorced then it is a good idea to schedule time to meet with your attorney to review your documents.  Not doing so could result in your ex-spouse receiving assets at your death, making important healthcare decisions for you while you are ill or recovering in a hospital or it could mean that they will have access to your financial accounts.  If you are considering getting remarried, then you will want to update your estate plan to be sure that your ex-spouse is long gone and that your new spouse is provided for.

Birth of a Child: Life changes dramatically when a child is born and so do your priorities.  All parents can agree that the wellbeing of their children is important.  A proper estate plan will designate guardians to care for your children and describe what you will leave to them and how they will receive it.  Tailor your plan to allow your child to have enough money to attend college, pay for their dream wedding or put a down payment on a home.  You may even set restrictions within your trust allowing your child to have control over their inheritance only upon reaching a certain age.

Death of A Loved One: Sometimes the individual you choose as your beneficiary or nominate as either your Healthcare Surrogate or Durable Power of Attorney will predecease you.  In the event that this occurs and you don’t have anyone else named in your documents, then you will need to schedule an appointment with your estate planning attorney to make some minor adjustments.

Inheritance:  Inheriting a large sum of money may overwhelm those who wish to either invest it or protect it.  It’s important to sit with a qualified estate planning attorney who can answer all of your questions and provide you with the best possible solution.

Call the attorneys at Wild, Felice & Partners for your free consultation at (954)944-2855.

It’s A Wild World.  Are You Protected? SM

You know how the old saying goes: what you don’t know can’t hurt you.  When it comes to the probate process in Florida, what you don’t know might not hurt you but it certainly will hurt the loved ones you leave behind.  Florida’s probate system is both a slow and expensive process that can elevate an already stressful and sensitive situation.  It’s important that everyone not only understand what probate is but how the process can potentially impact the loved ones they leave behind.

Probate is the legal process of proving your last will and testament in court.  Unfortunately, even a small estate could take up to a full year to be administered due to a high number of cases passing through the court system.  Smaller estates are those that are worth less than $75,000 and this type of administration is referred to as a Summary Administration.  If your estate exceeds $75,000 then your family will have to petition the court for a Formal Administration and, in most cases, should be prepared to wait longer than a before distributions will be made.  This can be financially burdensome and extremely stressful for the family.  Luckily, there are ways in which you can prepare now so you family doesn’t have to deal with probate later.  Owning assets jointly will allow them to pass free of probate.  Either holding property as a married couple (Tenants by the Entireties) or as Joint Tenants with the Right of Survivorship will allow the property to pass immediately to the surviving owner.   Beneficiary designation (such as with a life insurance policy) is another great way to avoid probate as well as a pay on death or transfer on death designation (with banking and brokerage accounts, as an example).  Perhaps one of the most popular ways to avoid probate is to create a living revocable trust which will hold your assets for the named beneficiaries and pass free of probate.  A trust as many additional benefits, such as choosing how and when your assets will be distributed, asset protection for the beneficiaries against unsecured creditors, the ability to keep you assets within the family for generations to come as well as planning for individuals with special needs.  With so many alternatives available probate certainly does not have to be part of your future.

Remember, probate offers no real benefit for those family members that you leave left behind.  It tends to cause a great deal of stress and frustration which is why you should consider avoiding it all together.  Call the office of Wild, Felice & Partners today for your free consultation at (954) 944-2855.

For more information on Probate, Estate Planning, and Asset Protection, visit our website at www.wfplaw.com.

It’s A Wild World.  Are You Protected? SM

You may have heard the term “basic.”  What does it mean to be basic?  If you like your pumpkin spice latte in a holiday cup or really anything mainstream or popular then you may be considered basic.  Being basic isn’t always a bad thing and having an estate plan in place may mean your basic too – well, not really but it should because being prepared should be more popular.  Unfortunately, the idea of estate planning doesn’t create the urgency to grab your phone for a quick selfie with your attorney and post to social media – but it should!  Instead of feeling all doom and gloom about the topic try to imagine the peace of mind both you and your family will feel from this positive experience.  Creating an estate plan should be at the top of everyone’s priority list because what can possibly be more important than planning for the future of yourself and your loved ones?

Whether your estate is large or modest, protecting it for future generations should be a priority.  Estate Planning is the process of deciding during your life how your property will be handled should you become incapacitated or how the assets will be distributed after you pass away.  The most popular estate planning tool for accomplishing this the Revocable Living Trust.  By creating a revocable living trust to hold your assets you are preventing your family from being subjected to the stressful and lengthy process of Probate Administration.  Instead, the assets will be distributed directly to the beneficiaries that you designate and according the terms of the trust that you created.  You can choose a different individual to manage your child’s assets until they have reached an age of majority, or any age that you deem appropriate.  The revocable living trust will also provide the beneficiaries with asset protection against any unsecured creditors they may encounter such as divorce, bankruptcy or litigation.

For full protection of our clients, we also included the following documents with your Trust based plan:

Last Will and Testament: Nominate your Personal Representative, choose a Guardian for any minor child, and add any burial or cremation requests.

Living Will:  Advanced directive or “pull the plug” document.  Allows your healthcare surrogate to give the doctor the “ok” to pull the plug if you are being kept alive by artificial means.

Durable Power of Attorney:  Nominate an individual to make financial decisions on your behalf or qualify you for public benefits, should you not be able to do so yourself.

Healthcare Surrogate & HIPAA Release:  Nominate an individual to access your medical records and make informed decisions on your behalf, should you not be able to do so yourself.

Being “basic” is more than ok when the popular thing to do is plan for your future.  Call the South Florida Law Firm of Wild, Felice & Partners today for your free consultation at (954) 944-2855.  For more information on Estate Planning or Revocable Living Trusts, visit our website at www.wfplaw.com.

It’s A Wild World.  Are You Protected?  SM

THE TRANSFER OF YOUR ASSETS: AS EASY AS PUMPKIN PIE!

Using a Revocable Trust and other advanced planning techniques will assure your family an easy transition of assets upon your death

As you are preparing for this upcoming thanksgiving dinner, you may come to the realization that while pumpkin pie is a tad bit more complicated to bake than its kin, Apple Pie; it sure is easy to eat! The same rings true for an estate plan that uses advanced planning techniques to provide for an easy transition of assets upon your death. It may be easier to simply make a Last Will & Testament that states your wishes; however, that is going to result in a gruesome probate experience for the loved ones you leave behind.

So now you are wondering, what is so special about a Revocable Trust based estate plan? Let us answer this question with another question: If you became incapacitated or died, would you have the following benefits?

• asset protection
•  control over your assets
•  protection for your loved ones
•  preclusion of unnecessary taxes
•  creditor protection
•  limited/no transfer taxes for following generations
•  probate avoidance

Absent a full trust-based estate plan, you answer will likely be “no.” A Revocable Trust based estate plan provides all of these benefits, and more. We have already discussed the documents that are imperative to prepare for incapacity (see “You Are What You Eat: Pass The Vegetables”). Now let us take a look at those that provide protection over your assets and their proper distribution.

Pour Over Last Will & Testament and Revocable Trust – The will coupled with a revocable trust effectively bypasses probate, which is the validation of the will — a process that is often incredibly time consuming and often expensive. The pour-over will takes all of the property that passes through the will, and funnels it into the trust. That property is then distributed to the trust beneficiaries pursuant to the terms of the trust. A pour-over will functions to ensure that all of the decedent’s property is transferred to trust. Think of the pour-over will as a safety net that catches all of the assets that were not properly transferred into trust. All the contents of the net are then poured into the trust, ensuring that all of the property is ultimately distributed through the living trust. Furthermore, all of the decedent’s property is distributed by the terms of one document alone (the trust), allowing for simplicity and clarity.

Assignment of Property to Trust – the assignment of property places all of your property into the trust. This avoids costs, loss of privacy, & headache associated with probate. Therefore, when all of your assets are distributed through the trust, there is nothing within the will to validate. As an alternative, you can merely assign property to the trust that you specifically want to preclude from probate, for the purposes of privacy.

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.