In a wise, but surprising turn of events, the President has agreed with the Republican Congress and adjusted the estate tax levels for 2011 and 2012. For the next two years, the estate tax will be levied on all estates over $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a married couple and at a rate of 35 percent. Historically, Republicans have often been known for their distain of excessive taxes and Democrats have been known as the party that favors big government and higher taxes. With the referendum against the Democrats in the last election and the heavy shift to a Republican House and Senate, the President had no choice but to cave to the Republican demand for a lower estate tax. If not, the amount of estate taxes paid by the families of middle-income voters would have been a hot button topic during the 2012 Presidential election, and could have been the cause of a loss of the White House.

So where does this leave us? While the estate tax is held in check for the next two years, there is no definitive answer as to where it goes after that. In 2013, we could have another year of no estate tax or we could have a 55 percent estate tax on everything over $600,000. Who knows? The only thing that we can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. A trust-based estate plan will ensure the most tax savings no matter what the estate tax number is in the year you die. In addition, there are more advantages to having a trust than just estate tax protection, including but not limited to probate avoidance, asset protection, and control of your assets from beyond the grave.

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?

Pet owners consider their beloved animals as friends, companions, and probably, as another member of the family. The law however views them only as property and without the proper planning a pet may be inadvertently destined to suffer and a live the remainder of its life without the care it is accustomed to because its owner did not know or was not well advised to establish a plan. Many times a pet owner will entrust his animal to a close friend or family member, but there are many reasons that the owner’s wishes will not be carried out. Many times the pet’s new caregiver may not be able to keep the pet because of allergies, lack of time, conflict with other pets or an apartment management’s prohibition of pets. A pet owner’s only assurance is to draft legally enforceable documents that will guarantee the pets future.

Many pet owners believe that by stating instructions for the care of their pet they are guaranteeing the pets future. They are wrong. Wills are valid after death, and their purpose is to distribute property not to leave standing instructions on how to take care of property. For example, Jerry gets the cat and the car. A will can’t force Jerry to give the car a tune up every few months. In the same manner, a will can’t force Jerry to take care of the cat in any specific way. Additionally, a will doesn’t allow for the pet’s care in case of the owner’s incapacity. A will cannot deal with the possibility that the pet may need to be taken care of during the owner’s lifetime.

Trusts for the care of an animal or “pet trusts” are recognized in 40 states, and unlike a will, provide many protections and advantages. First, the trust is valid during the pet owner’s life and after his death. Pet trusts are usually terminated at the death of the animal or if there are provisions for more than one animal, at the death of the last surviving animal. Second, pet trusts can control the disbursement of funds to the new caregiver. Detailed instructions can be left with provisions on how to use or spend any funds left for the purpose of taking care of the pet. Finally, a pet trust can provide instructions for your pet’s care in case of your incapacity.

Everyone would like to believe that their pet will be well taken care of in the unfortunate case of incapacity or death. No one wants a court to decide their pet’s future and well-being. The best sense of security for anyone is to know that their family and loved ones are provided for, for a pet owner that includes their pet. Discuss your pet’s future with your attorney so that you may ensure that your pet will get nothing but the best care, even after you can’t provide it anymore.

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.

A traveler set forth on a journey, with an Ass and a Mule, both carrying a heavy weight. Along the journey the Ass felt his load to be more than he could bear. He asked the mule to relieve him of a small portion of the weight, so he could continue with the rest; but the Mule refused. Shortly afterwards, the Ass fell down, dead under his burden. The Traveler had no other option than to place the Ass’ hide and all the weight carried by it on the Mule. Because the Mule refused to carry a small burden he had to carry a large one.

It is important that you take a little time now to prepare your estate plan than to wait and have your family bear the consequences of an avoidable negative situation.

There may be no area of law as controversial as asset protection. However, the crash of the US economy has garnered an increase in interest by many clients in utilizing this area of law for their benefit. Asset protection is complex and often scary but it is a legitimate area of law that incorporates many other areas of law, including bankruptcy, tax, corporate law, contracts, creditor-debtor rights, insurance law and estate planning. Any attorney practicing in the area of asset protection must understand how these areas of law work together and have a comprehensive understanding of Florida’s Fraudulent Transfer Act.

I am certain that most attorneys could share compelling stories about their clients who might have benefited from such preparation. Many of these stories are not of wealthy clients trying to evade paying taxes or legitimate creditors; they are stories of hard-working families who, because of an accident or unforeseen circumstances, lost everything.

Although Florida attorneys cannot offer Florida Asset Protection Trusts to their clients, there are numerous other asset protection techniques which can be utilized to help limit liability exposure for clients. Some techniques include: the use of LLCs or limited partnerships, titling assets as tenancy by the entirety, enhancing retirement benefits, engaging in life insurance planning, the use of certain out of state business entities, purchasing educational plans, and the use of prenuptial or post nuptial agreements.

Whether you offer your clients asset protection planning or not, attorneys all have a duty as advisers to educate ourselves in this growing area of law. Some advocates of asset protection planning suggest that attorneys who practice in certain areas and do not advise their clients in asset protection techniques may be exposing themselves to malpractice claims in the future.

People hear the word “estate” and think that end of life financial planning is just for the extremely wealthy. They could not be more wrong. The extremely wealthy have the knowledge to surround themselves with attorneys and accountants that shield them from the perils of an improperly planned estate. The people most harmed by the probate process and the estate tax are the middle-class of this country.

I am married and I have a daughter who is almost two years old. I like in a house that used to have equity in it but it is mostly mortgage today. I lease my car, own a small business, and pay student loans for my wife and myself. We are a two-income household with a little bit of money in the bank but neither of us will be able to retire any time soon. If this scenario sounds similar to yours, you probably need a similar estate plan to the one I currently have in place. My estate plan includes the following:

Two Revocable Living Trusts – You and your spouse will both be co-trustees of each other’s trust. You will have the same access to your assets as you do right now. When the first spouse passes away, the maximum allowable tax-free distribution for the year of death will fund a newly created Bypass Trust. The remainder of the assets in the deceased spouse’s trust will fund a newly created Marital Trust. The surviving spouse will have access to all of the assets in the spouse’s own Living Trust, as well as the newly formed Bypass and Marital Trusts. By setting the trusts up in this manner, when the surviving spouse dies, we will be able to pass all of the assets to the children while only paying half (if any) of the estate tax. Using this technique will save your children over $500,000 in estate tax. In addition, the trust will avoid probate completely (saving tens of thousands of dollars) and provide your children with complete asset protection, which means that no one will be able to touch the assets you leave them, including divorce, creditors or even litigation.

Two Assignments of Property Into Trust – This document helps to fund the trusts. For all real estate, we will sign and record deeds. For all bank and brokerage accounts, we will change the title of the ownership. For personal property, however, we don’t have written title so we get the property into the trust and avoid probate by using an Assignment of Property into Trust.

Pour-Over Will – There are many negatives to distributing assets through a Will. First, all of the assets must be probated. Second, the Will offers no control over the distribution of the assets and offers no asset protection to your beneficiaries. Another disadvantage is that a Will becomes public record as soon as the person dies. Since the Will will be recorded and everyone will be able to view it, we like to make it as vanilla as possible. We simply state that a trust exists and that the distribution will be handled by the trustee. We also state that any assets that you forgot to put into the trust during your life should “pour over” into the trust immediately. The Will will also be used to name the guardian of your children.

Financial Power of Attorney – If you become incapacitated, either unconscious or mentally unaware, you need to determine who you want to handle your financial affairs. This document is very important to have on file considering that most married couples travel and vacation together. If an accident occurs for one of them, it usually occurs for both.

Designation of Health Care Surrogate – In a similar line of thought as the Financial Power of Attorney, if you become incapacitated, either unconscious or mentally unaware, you need to determine who you want to handle your medical decisions. In addition, the Designation of Health Care Surrogate should also state if you wish for your Surrogate to be able to view your medical records. Without this HIPAA language, the hospital will not allow your surrogate to view your records and make the informed decision.

Living Will – If you are in an “end-of-life” condition, meaning that you are only being kept alive by machines, the hospital will continue to keep you alive artificially no matter what your wishes are and no matter how much it costs your family, unless you have a correctly executed living will which would allow your health care surrogate to give the doctor the authorization necessary to “pull the plug.”

Execution and Funding – The biggest mistakes I see when I review plans drafted by other attorneys are will execution and funding. I will be there to make certain that all of your documents are correctly executed. I will have my staff act as the witnesses and I will act as the notary. After the documents are signed, I will scan them and keep them on my computer, as well as on my offsite server, so that you can get a copy of them whenever you should need to. I will also help you fund the trust. Creating the trust is similar to building a safe; it can only protect what you put inside of it. I will draft the deeds necessary and walk you through the transferring of personal accounts into trust accounts.

So many people wait until it’s too late. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. If you truly care about your children and want to protect them both financially and emotionally after you are gone, it is imperative to get your estate plan in place as soon as possible.

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.

Having a good business plan is like having a detailed map for a long road trip: if you make the right turns and anticipating detours, the trip can go more smoothly. Part of that business plan should include proper legal preparation, but many small businesses today lack this key element. If you set up your business correctly, you can limit your exposure to liability now and avoid losses to your business and family in the future. Any business venture comes with a litany of legal issues and it is imperative that you seek the advice of a business attorney.

Most business owners think they’re too busy to plan for the day they will leave the business and consequently put off succession planning. Leaving business succession for another day may prove fatal. Illness, incapacity, or death can come at any moment. This can be devastating to a business because it is difficult to make rational decisions in emotional times. Establishing a succession plan should be a top priority for any business regardless of its size. Like a well-run relay race, the handing over of a company should be a carefully planned and strategized transition. It must be well executed if it is to be successful.

At Wild, Felice & Pardo, 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. For more information on how to shield your business from risk and liability, contact our South Florida law firm for a free consultation.