Estate Planning

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Ladybird Deeds

A ladybird deed is a simple way to transfer real estate through a deed to a beneficiary when you die. You retain your property during your lifetime then the real estate goes directly to a beneficiary without having to go through probate or administering an estate.

This deed is only allowed in certain states such as Florida. The problem arises when the person named in the deed predeceases the grantor. It is similar to a pay-on-death bank account for real estate matters.

Last Will and Testament

What is a Last Will and Testament? A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator or testatrix, names one or more persons to manage his or her estate and provides for the distribution of his or her property at death.

Residuary estate is if there is anything left in the estate. It falls into the residuary estate.

It is also important to have a wipe-out clause in case everyone that has been close to you over the years is no longer living than where would you like your assets to be distributed.

Executor Duties

To ensure that your Estate is settled as you wish, you must appoint a trusted Executor. Your Executor should be a family member or friend who is emotionally and intellectually willing to work with an attorney to do things such as:

Take an inventory of your property and assets
Settle your debts
Pay applicable taxes
Distribute your Will as you have designated
Prepare and file specific documents with the local Court in the county where the decedent resided

These are all tasks a local attorney who practices estate planning and probate can offer assistance. Nonetheless, your Executor must be up for the job - and able to manage the sometimes high emotions of family members or other designated beneficiaries who may disagree with your wishes.

Revocable Living Trusts

The Benefits Of A Revocable Living Trust

Why should your family have to pay an attorney a fee to collect money that already belongs to them?

Our firm believes that a living trust is truly the finest final gift you can give your heirs and, at the same time, give yourself complete peace of mind. That is because a living trust:

Avoids probate along with the tremendous costs and lengthy delays of the probate system
Prevents guardianship after mental or physical incapacity
Can change or modify any of the provisions at any time
Is very secure and almost never contested
Avoids ancillary probate when you own property out-of-state
Allows immediate distribution to your heirs and is perhaps the single most important benefit of a trust
Maintains control of your assets, even if incompetent or even after death; you never lose control
Eliminates federal estate taxes if you are a married couple with an estate of up to $22.4 million
Assesses no settlement fees to your heirs when they take over management of your estate
Is very inexpensive and economical when compared to the high costs of probate created by the use of a will
Provides smooth and continuous management over your estate

Why have a revocable trust?

A Revocable Trust is created to help a person avoid probate when he or she dies. The beneficiaries do not have to go to court and assets can be more easily distributed to the beneficiaries. In addition, everything is not known in court and able to be obtained through the public record. So, there is an added element from a revocable trust than from a Last Will and Testament. A Last Will and Testament is important to give directions to a personal representative, but it does not provide an ability to give distribution of assets without having to go to court.

In addition, a revocable trust allows for beneficiaries and minor children to get the assets at designated times and not all at once, unless a testamentary trust is created. However with a testamentary trust, probate would still need to be administered.

What is the difference between a trustee and personal representative?

What are the duties of a trustee and personal representative?

Paying bills of the decedent, distributing assets to the beneficiaries, filing the taxes of the decedent

The most important aspect of a trustee’s duties is its fiduciary character. A trustee is legally and morally bound to manage the trust property in a responsible and productive manner and is under an absolute obligation to act solely for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries.

Trustee Duties include:

Become fully acquainted with the terms of the trust,
Ensure that the trust property is vested according to the terms of the trust,
Act without charging any fee except where expressly allowed,
Never allow his or her funds to be commingled with those of the trust,
Never enter into any transaction with the trust,
Never delegate his or her duties,
Act impartially and solely in the interest of all beneficiaries, and (8) manage the trust property in a prudent and business like manner

What is a pretermitted heir and are they allowed in the State of Florida?

Are holographic wills allowed in the State of Florida?

What is an elective share?

I have an irrevocable trust, can I change it without a court order?

And the irrevocable trust can be changed without a court order if you decant it to a similar trust, a similar revocable trust with little changes that are placed in that trust. But it can be changed without a court order if all beneficiaries consent or you decant it into a very similar trust.

What does it mean to fund a trust?

To fund the trust means to transfer assets into the trust. So if the revocable living trust has been created and executed, notarized, it also needs to be given to securities companies that you have a brokerage account with or to bank companies where you have of your bank account. And it needs, the ownership needs to be given to the revocable trust. It cannot be kept in your own individual name and the ownership needs to be transferred. So that way you make sure that that trust has those assets that were in your individual name because otherwise a revocable living trust will not be an effective revocable trust. Also upon creation of that revocable living trust, you need to make sure some assets have been placed in there in a schedule, so that way it has been created effectively.

What is a revocable living trust? Do I still need a will?

The revocable living trust is an estate planning document. The revocable living trust will make distributions to different trust beneficiaries. The revocable living trust is revocable. It can be amended, modified or changed at any time by the settler, who has created the revocable living trust.

The revocable living trust also deals with incapacity if the settler does become incapacitated. You do still need a will, and it is considered a pour-over will instead of a last will and testament because it pours over into that revocable trust.

What is a trustee and what does a trustee do?

The trustee is a fiduciary responsibility to the trust in which they have the duty to follow the terms of that trust for the settlers, the person who created that trust, and to be able to follow out those terms. To make sure that they're loyal and they responsible, and they take care of all of those terms that they're required to do that are set out in that trust.