food

WELCOME to South Florida, where the month of August departs from “National Back-to-School Month” for the Florida-Foodies ! That’s right, Miami Spice is back, and the good folks of South Florida have the next month to consume the most succulent, scrumptious dishes that may weight heavy on the scales, but are light on the wallet.

But don’t stop there, South Florida! Incorporate the spirit of savings into your estate plans with these coin-purse preserving tips!

 

  • Create a will, but avoid probate! – this can be done through the use of a pour-over will and living trust. A pour-over will takes all of the property that passes through the will, and funnels it into the trust. This 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 into trust. Think of it 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.

piggybank

 

The benefits of avoiding probate are twofold:

(1) safeguarding your loved one’s from the mental and emotional anguish of the probate process,  which can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years

(2) financial savings – you can expect to pay about three to seven percent of the total estate value in addition to court fees, personal representative fees, attorney’s fees, accounting fees, appraisal and business valuation fees, bond fees, and anything else that may come up along the way.

 

 

  • Designate a durable power of attorney  – ensure that proper financial decisions are made in the event that you cannot! The designation of a durable power of attorney (“DPA”) functions as a transfer of the grantors power, in the event that he or she becomes incapacitated. Imagine the DPA to be a power-wielding hat, and you wear it to make your own financial and legal decisions. You can only transfer your hat to the individual (or sometimes entity) that you have designated as a power of attorney. A “durable” power of attorney means that the power hat is still effective even when you (the “principal”) are incapacitated. Remember, anyone who is sporting your power hat can only use such powers for your benefit, not their own.

 

  • Virtual will – include your digital assets into your estate plan with instructions for their use for the following financial benefits:
  1. Prevention of identity theft – if no one has knowledge or access to your accounts (bank accounts, trading accounts, credit card accounts, etc.), there is a higher probability that identity theft will go unnoticed.
  2. Easy discovery of electronic bills and similar accounts, to avoid late fees & cancellations that will create losses for the estate.

 

Use August to plan for your taste-buds and your future with proper estate planning techniques that will preserve your piggy-bank! 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.

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

Michael D. Wild, managing partner, offers highlights of matters relating to wills and trusts.