Recent Blog Posts
Regrouping After A Major Hurricane: An Estate Planning Lawyer’s Perspective
Estate planning lawyers operate on the assumption that the goal of estate planning is not to die with the most money or to share the least amount of one’s money with the IRS, but rather to make things less stressful for you and your loved ones in the face of adverse events. The usual… Read More »
You Can Live Without A Revocable Trust, And So Can Your Heirs
If you look for estate planning checklists online, you might see “establish a revocable trust and fund it” right after writing a will and signing a medical advance directive. Everyone needs a written expression of their wishes about their own medical care in a worst-case scenario, and almost everyone’s probate case would be simpler… Read More »
How Does Adoption Affect Probate Cases?
Many people who were adopted from foster care when they were in their infancy remember feeling a sense of relief at formalizing a permanent family situation after years of uncertainty. For people who were adopted as infants, the uncertainty often begins later, in adolescence or young adulthood, when they start wanting to find out… Read More »
Do You Dare To Retire In A House You Own Jointly With Someone Who Is Not Your Spouse?
More than 20 years ago, George Carlin ranted on stage about the wimpy names that had recently become popular. He singled out Todd as a silly name, along with other names such as Kyle and Cameron. Today, Todd, Kyle, and Cameron are names for prosecutors, real estate agents, and parents that every teacher dreads… Read More »
For A Successful Retirement Plan, Think Beyond The Bucket List
You probably have some ideas about things you want to do when you retire, and while the retirement activities that people look forward to sometimes come to fruition, the highlight reel of anyone’s retirement does not reflect reality. The experiences that you are looking forward to last a few weeks at most, and they… Read More »
Florida’s Intestate Succession Laws Provide For The Decedent’s Surviving Spouse And For The Children From A Previous Marriage
For the past several years, journalists and social media content creators have earned their bread and butter by writing about how today’s young adults can’t be bothered with so many of the things that their parents spent no effort in pursuing. Fewer people are interested in having children, getting a driver’s license, or owning… Read More »
Instructions To Write For The Personal Representative That Have Nothing To Do With Your Will
The people who say that probate is a simple process are technically correct. There is nothing inherently scary or stressful about reading a will, paying debts, closing bank accounts, and issuing checks to the heirs listed in the will. High conflict probate cases are the exception, rather than the rule, and even if you… Read More »
Probate For Part-Time Residents Of Florida
The stereotype goes that old people retire to Florida, and their younger relatives use their houses as free accommodations for wintertime beach vacations, but when the elderly Floridians need the help of their younger relatives, the younger relatives pretend that they are snowed in up north, even though no blizzard could keep them from… Read More »
The Probate Court Can Disinherit Abusive Family Members
Estate planning lawyers advise clients against disinheriting family members for petty reasons. They also advise against setting conditions on receiving payments from a testamentary trust; attempts to micromanage beyond the grave are rarely successful, especially when the testator of the will or grantor of the trust is no longer around to enjoy the Schadenfreude. … Read More »
Does Your Retirement Plan Include Affordable Senior Housing?
Much retirement advice that ranks highly on Google search engine results pages sounds like it was written for people who spent their working years in a world vastly different from the world where you live. For example, the writers of retirement advice websites tend to assume that people who are approaching retirement age and… Read More »
