All too often, even after realizing the indispensability of a comprehensive South Florida estate plan - people try to cut corners. When it comes to preserving hard-earned assets for posterity, being penny wise is not only pound-foolish. It may even be fatal to all your hard work, hopes, and dreams of perpetual prosperity for future progeny.
Why Not Do Estate Planning Yourself?
A plethora of workbooks full of fill-in-the-blank forms is available online and at local retailers. Some subscription-based websites offer downloadable standardized materials with audio or video instruction.
Although helpful, such resources are woefully ineffective estate planning tools. In the “game” of planning estates, what is good for the goose will not always work for the gander. Everyone has different needs and objectives. No two situations are exactly alike.
There is simply no substitute for the specialized expertise of a Florida estate planning attorney. As your legal representative, an attorney is legally and ethically bound to represent only your interests and desires when devising any estate plan on your behalf. The availability of free initial consultations gives you nothing to lose and everything to gain by consulting a qualified estate lawyer in Florida.
What does Bono have to do with South Florida estate planning? Probably not much. After all, most of Bono’s assets probably lie overseas and are governed by that country’s specific estate planning and probate laws. However, as a non-US citizen, his estate tax exemption amount for all property held in the United States will be a measly $60,000. He may want to become a resident of Florida so that he can avoid the state estate tax shouldered by the residents of many of the other 50 states. He should also consider some agressive estate tax planning and probate avoidance techniques to assure that his family or his charities end up with more of his assets than the IRS does. After all, they say that this is the Golden age and nothing changes on New Year’s Day.
The Costanza-created holiday of Festivus is almost upon us and the people of South Florida are a flurry with excitement. Whether you prefer the Feats of Strength or the Airing of Grievances, the holiday of Festivus has something for just about everyone. Speaking of everyone, in this time of overlapping different holidays, it is important to remember the one commonality that we all share – mortality. That’s right, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan, the death rate in South Florida is 100 percent which means that every single one of you need estate planning. We may not agree where our souls go after we die but there is no argument as to what happens to our stuff. If you have no Will, the Florida Intestate Statutes will distribute your assets as the state of Florida decides. If you have a Will but no Trust, your assets will first be dragged through the Florida probate process and then distributed outright to you beneficiaries. If you have a Trust in place, your beneficiaries will be able to minimize both probate and the estate tax, as well as receive assets that are protected from creditors, litigation, bankruptcy and divorce. Even for Frank Costanza, Trust-based estate planning is a no brainer.
Festivus is for Some but Estate Planning is for All
This week, millions of Jewish families will be celebrating the anniversary of a miracle. When there was only enough oil for one more night’s light, the oil ended up lasting 8 full nights. Implementing a revocable living trust as the centerpiece of your South Florida estate plan will allow you to avoid Florida probate and estate taxes for a lot longer than that. A revocable living trust can avoid probate upon your death and eliminate any estate tax burden, not to mention the ability to control your assets and protect your beneficiaries for up to 360 years after your death. A revocable living trust is not a miracle; it’s just good planning.
After recovering from my Thanksgiving food coma, I managed to avoid the Black Friday mobs for the 32nd consecutive year. While the deals may be great, the risk of bodily harm is just too great of a risk and I have to be healthy in order to handle all of your South Florida estate planning, asset protection and probate needs? It is my contention that the “must have” gift for this holiday season is a Trust-based estate plan; which makes it even more surprising that I was the only person lined up outside my Plantation law office at 4 am on November 25th.
Put Down the Sky Mall Catalog…
Even if you aren’t shopping in Sky Mall, half the gifts you’ll give this year (and an even higher percentage of the gifts you’ll receive) will end up in the back of a closet, the bottom of a drawer or even re-gifted to someone that you aren’t too fond of. Instead of wasting thousands of dollars on an outdoor elliptical machine with your favorite meteorologist’s face on it, how about protecting your family with a Trust-based estate plan so that they can avoid probate and eliminate any estate tax? Already have your Florida estate plan in place? How about treating a friend or family member to a free consultation with me so that they can protect their loved ones?
Estate Planning is truly the gift that everyone can use and benefit from and please also remember:
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
Similar questions run through people’s minds when they go to the doctor or dentist. If I go to the doctor, will he find a tumor and tell me I have cancer? Maybe if I just avoid the doctor all together that will never happen. Right? Wrong! Many people have the same thought process when it comes to visiting their attorney for estate planning. Such irrational reasoning has even more dire consequences in the future. With today’s sophisticated technology, routine checkups and preventative healthcare measures are critical for preventing what could be a medical tragedy. Likewise, with today’s legal tools, adequate estate planning from a qualified South Florida estate-planning attorney is critical in preventing a financial tragedy.
By doing the following you will avoid some commonly made mistakes.
1) Get your will drafted. This is not just for wealthy individuals. In fact, proper asset preservation is critical for those of modest means. There is nothing better than knowing your family will be protected against high estate taxes and administrative costs.
2) Don’t Procrastinate. Just like cancer can strike at any time so can death’s knock at your door. If you leave this world without a will, Florida law dictates the distribution of your assets and your wishes are gone with the wind.
3) Be wary of joint tenancies. With this strategy you are making a prospective heir a joint property owner. This approach can turn sour when for example, your married adult child gets divorced and his or her estranged spouse will be able to claim a portion of your retirement nest egg. If your favorite niece has a business that becomes insolvent, creditors can wipe out your entire life savings.
Get your South Florida estate in place today to avoid such dire consequences from inaction! Time is never on our side.
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
Probate avoidance is the goal of a highly skilled and qualified South Florida Estate Planning attorney. The objective is to protect clients against the time-consuming, highly costly, and emotional process of probate administration. Coping with the loss of a loved one is hard enough. Who wants the additional burden of finding themselves amidst a storm of family disputes and endless courtroom proceedings? An experienced and knowledgeable attorney is well equipped with the tools to help you circumvent this process through strategic estate planning. This is accomplished through trust formation. For example, a living trust can make every one’s life so much easier by acting as a vehicle for transferring ownership immediately once an individual dies. This method is faster, less expensive, and more convenient than traditional probate.
Another advantage of setting up a trust, is that it is completely private. The only person who will be able to view all the assets you accumulated during your life and how you decided to leave them to your family is the person or entity that you name as Trustee. However, the probate process is made public so anyone who wants to take a sneak peak into your estate will be able to do so.
Now, if you are a surviving spouse or child and stumble across the bad news that a trust was never established, it’s not the end of the world. A good probate lawyer can still offer guidance on what to do. Even though this will cost you some money, payment is usually taken out of the estate. You will not have to pay anything up front, which makes things easier on your budget.
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
Having life insurance is a great tool in planning for your future and providing assurance for your family members after you die. But did you know that for tax purposes, the proceeds from a South Florida life insurance policy become part of your gross estate if you owned the policy during the last 3 years of your life? This occurs for over 90 percent of all life insurance policies. Your family receives life insurance death benefits, which is tax-free income that they will use to pay for funeral expenses, debt, estate taxes and to fulfill any other financial obligations. If your estate is valued over the $5 million estate tax threshold, anything pouring over that threshold will be taxed at a rate of 35 percent. This means that your life insurance will be taxed along with all the other assets in your estate. But don’t worry there is hope.
A qualified and well-experienced South Florida Estate Planning attorney can strategically structure your estate in order to shield your family from the bullets of such heavy taxation. This can be accomplished through the creation of an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). This is a legal instrument that removes the life insurance from your estate and transfers the benefits into the ILIT. The result- less taxation and increased asset protection for your loved ones. Since the ILIT is a separate South Florida legal entity that is outside your estate, the IRS cannot impose a tax on the assets held in the trust because they are no longer within your control. You may designate your spouse, child, or other appropriate party as the beneficiary of the trust and provide detailed instructions to the designated trustee regarding management of the trust. This includes how you would like the life insurance payout to be distributed, when payments, loans or investments should be made, and when to terminate the trust. Establishing an ILIT today with a caring and knowledgeable attorney will ensure your family will be guarded against the burdens of heavy taxation and unnecessary liability in the future.
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
We all love to take a break occasionally from our busy lives and enjoy a vacation that will help us decompress. Many of us own a vacation home that is the source of our retreat. Whether we are escaping to our condos on Florida’s South Beach or to a cabin on New York’s Lake George, we rarely stop to consider one thing. Vacation homes are a valuable asset that should be protected by South Florida estate planning. The most common method of asset protection is through the formation of business entities or trusts that will hold title to the property.
A popular type of entity organization is the Limited Liability Company (LLC). This is a family/business operation that is treated like a corporation but is taxed as a partnership. This provides liability protection for family members from claims of those injured on the property and reduces the risk of creditors staking a claim on your asset. A family Limited Partnership can be created, which is similar to an LLC but has more restrictions on transferability of ownership. There is also the option of establishing a Family Trust or Irrevocable Trust. A trust is a separate legal entity, which becomes the legal owner of the real estate. An attorney can help you structure a trust to protect your house from creditors, allow for management by the parents during their lifetime, and protect the house in the event a child becomes divorced. The advantage of a trust is that it offers the most control over your asset and is typically used to keep a house in the family for generations.
To help preserve those valuable memories from past family vacations and to build many more, sit down with a qualified estate-planning attorney to map out the future of your home. Learn how to protect your property from creditors and potential family disputes regarding its use, management, and future expense sharing.
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
Next week is September which means that football is back and Labor Day weekend is upon us but there are some other September holidays of which you may be less familiar.
September 6th is National Fight Procrastination Day but I’ll tell you about how that connects with estate planning later.
September 12th is National Pet Memorial Day and while pets can’t have their own estate plans, they can play a large part in the estate plans of their owners.
September 16th is Stay Away From Seattle Day, probably because that is where they hold all of the beheadings.
No matter what day it is, it is crucially important that you protect your family by having a comprehensive estate planning drafted well before you need it.
For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate, 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.
Probate avoidance is the goal of a highly skilled and qualified 
