As the end of 2011 approaches, Florida residents realize that 2012 is about to hit us smack in the face.  As a tradition, Americans tend to use the New Year as the motivation necessary to set goals for themselves to earn more, weigh less and even to be a better person.  While I am certain that some of you will work less, eat more and go about your lives in the same manner as you did this year, there is one resolution that cannot go unfulfilled: you MUST institute some form of South Florida Estate Planning this year.

You put it off each year because you know you aren’t going to die – until you do, of course.  Unlike joining a gym, which requires monthly payments and showering with strangers (which may be your thing so I don’t aim to judge), your Trust-based estate plan can be formulated during an hour long consultation and signed just a week later.  There are no monthly fees and my office doesn’t even have a shower.

If your resolution is to be a better parent or spouse, there is no better way than to protect your loved ones after you are gone.  A Revocable Trust can avoid probate, reduce estate taxes and provide asset protection for its beneficiaries.  If you love your kids, you’ll get one drafted soon.  Click here to schedule a free consultation with one of our South Florida Estate Planning Attorneys.

If your resolution is to quit smoking, I hope you are successful but the fact remains that you probably wont be.  That means that your living will and designation of health care surrogate had better be in order.

Each year we make resolutions and each year we have trouble keeping them.  I will make this promise to you.  If you complete your estate plan in January of 2012, I promise that you will stress less, spend less and be a better parent immediately.  Then you can feel free to take the rest of the year off.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, 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?

Florida residents know better than anyone that having life insurance is essential to planning for one’s future and provides assurance for family members after one’s death.  Beneficiaries receive a life insurance death benefit, which is tax-free income used to cover the costs of funeral expenses, debt, and any other financial obligations. However, many people do not realize that for tax purposes, the proceeds from a South Florida life insurance policy becomes part of the decedent’s gross estate if the policy is owned by the deceased during the last 3 years of his or her life. Currently, for estates valued over $5 million, anything in excess will be taxed at a rate of 35 percent. Accordingly, many people are not aware that a life insurance policy is subject to this Federal Estate Tax.

Fortunately, correct South Florida estate planning can save family members hundreds of thousands of dollars. A highly qualified and well-experienced attorney can strategically structure an estate in order to shield loved ones from the bullets of heavy taxation.

Establishing an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) removes life insurance from the estate and transfers the life insurance benefits into this specific type of trust. If done properly, the result will be less taxation and increased asset protection for beneficiaries. This trust is considered a separate South Florida legal entity that’s outside a person’s estate and no longer within his or her control. Therefore, the assets held in the trust are insulated from the grip of the IRS.

Protect Your Family From Estate Tax with an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust

A spouse, child, or other appropriate party may be designated as the beneficiary of the trust and an appointed trustee will be able to carry out detailed instructions regarding management of the trust in accordance with the decedent’s wishes. This includes how the life insurance payout should be distributed, when payments, loans, or investments should be made, and when to terminate the trust.

The ILIT is a means of providing extra liquidity to one’s estate or business by reducing estate tax by 35 percent of the life insurance benefit total. There are also gifting strategies to capitalize on. So, with an ILIT, an estate planning attorney can make sure a client receives the protection of a trust combined with the liquidity of life insurance benefits.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate 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?

Topic: Estate Planning

Marital termination in South Florida entails major estate planning complications. Spousal support, asset division, and the care and custody of minor children must be effective addressed and properly resolved. Failure to perform comprehensive estate planning after divorce is a common – but devastating – financial error. Following are the main estate plan components that typically require major overhaul in the aftermath of divorce:

Your will

All estate plan modification efforts must begin with this core document. Asset distribution and personal representative designation are the two reasond most likely to mandate revision. Such amendments are easily accomplished by either rewriting its entire contents or preparing a specialized addendum called a “codicil.”

Trust terms

Thoroughly review the terms of any existing Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”). Perform this perfunctory task whether or not an RLT was established while you were married. RLT Trustee and beneficiary designations are easy to alter. Amending the terms of other types of trusts is typically more complicated and usually results in the termination of any concurrent tax advantages. Consult a qualified Florida estate planning attorney for accurate advice and competent assistance with this post-divorce estate planning aspect.

Life Insurance Policies

You will likely desire a beneficiary re-designation in light of your changed domestic situation. Most of the time, this can be done simply by contacting the insurer who issued your policy. If you take this step prior to final entry of a Divorce Decree, be aware that courts commonly consider any accumulated cash value(s) of universal or whole life contracts to be marital assets. Thus, such funds may be subject to subsequent
equitable distribution in any negotiated or court-ordered divorce settlement.

As part of your overall insurance overhaul, look into the availability of alternative benefit payment options. For instance, structured payouts are a relatively recent invention that many insurers now offer. This allows smaller periodic payments for a long period of time to support dependents or facilitate college educations.

Having the foresight to take such a responsible approach also eliminates the risk of immature or imprudent heirs squandering a single lump-sum payment.

In summary

Estate planning after divorce might seem to be an unpleasant, arduous process. Do not make the potentially fatal mistake of letting emotion override practicality, however. Take prompt, proactive measures and visit your South Florida estate planning attorney to ensure the continued effectiveness of your existing estate plan. You cannot afford to leave you and your loved one’s long-term security to chance. Instead, bet on a sure thing with concrete strategies that preserve hard-earned assets.

While the damage of Hurricane Irene is in the billions, Congress is currently in the process of enacting law that could cost the American people trillions.

On August 2nd, Congress approved the Budget Control Act of 2011, which calls for the appointment of a bi-partisan committee to propose new tax legislation by November 30, 2011 that would reduce the deficit over the next 10 years by $1.5 trillion.  One of the first ways they will simplify the tax legislation will be to begin closing the loopholes in the current tax code, especially those breaks given to dead people.  Soon after that, we will see the removal of automatic portability, a reduction in the estate tax exemption amount and an increase in the overall estate tax.  After all, dead people tend to fight less than live people when being overtaxed.

What does this mean for you?  Well, while many experts in my field (along with myself) have been preaching that all Americans have to get a comprehensive estate plan in place prior to December 31, 2012, the date we may have to focus on is actually November 30, 2011.  For those that are calendar-impaired, THAT’S ONLY NINETY (90) DAYS FROM TODAY!!!

Rather than wasting your summer praying in vain for a savior to rise from these streets and enact a more favorable tax code (which may never come), you should be scheduling a free consultation with an estate planning attorney that can walk you through the process of using the current tax laws to your advantage before they possibly go away in three months.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

Whether you divorce her or not is up to you but you need to adjust your estate plan either way.  If you stay with her, you need to be certain that you name the executor and trustee that you desire.  If you don’t want her to get everything upon your death, you need to be very explicit about that in your trust.  If you want your parents or siblings to be the guardian of your children instead of her parents and siblings, you need to stipulate that in your will (and you need to survive her).  Who do you want making health care decisions for you?  Financial decisions?  Pulling the plug on your death bed?

Maybe you decide to divorce her.  Your marital settlement agreement will most likely require that you procure a life insurance policy.  Your life insurance policy should be owned by an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust and not in your own name.  If you already had an estate plan drafted, you’ll want to amend or restate all of the documnets to remove your now ex-wife from them completely.  That is, unless you want her to still control all of your financial and medical decision making if you become incapacitated.  Remember that line above regarding pulling the plug?  It probably shouldn’t be left to your ex-wife.

And ladies, this goes for you too.  After you wash that man right out of your hair, you had better erase him from your financial life as well.  Aside from removing him from the above mentioned documents and drafting an entirely new estate plan, you’ll definitely want to have a trust put in place, if you haven’t already.  If you die before your ex, he will be the guardian of any minor children that you had together.  However, by using a trust to manage your assets instead of leaving them outright to your minor children, at least he wont inherit your stuff.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

People forget things all the time. Rumor has it that Joe Robbie forgot to sign his estate plan. The only difference between the two instances is that my omission resulted in you not receiving a blog post and Joe Robbie’s omission resulted in a $47 million estate tax bill, millions of dollars in legal fees and the never ending renaming of a football stadium.

Don’t make the same mistake Joe Robbie did; get your estate plan in place before it’s too late.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

After a series of defeats in recent years, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage is hoping that its unexpected victory in New York will revive efforts to legalize gay marriage around the nation. The victory on Friday in New York, arguably the nation’s economic and cultural capital, carries enormous symbolic importance for the same-sex-marriage movement. New York is now the sixth and largest state in the country where gay couples will be able to wed legally. In late July, when the New York’s law goes into effect, there will be twice as many  Americans in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is permitted as there are today.

However, Florida’s outlook for same sex marriage is grim. After the 2008 amendment to the Florida Constitution, both same-sex marriage and civil union have been constitutionally banned in Florida.

Article 1 Section 27 of the Florida Constitution states:

“Marriage defined. Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Because the law in Florida considers that there is no formal relationship between members of the same sex and unmarried couples, Estate Planning is particularly important. Same sex Couples in Florida have tools at their disposal to plan for the future, among these are Domestic Partnership Agreements. It is equally important to specify your wishes for medical care and elect your healthcare surrogate. Without these documents the hospital must keep you alive by any means necessary, no matter the cost or true desire. Provide your loved ones as much protection as possible by establishing your estate plan.

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.

Too often we use the excuse that “there aren’t enough hours in the day” when we are approached with chores that we know are important but require us to stop our daily routines long enough to take care of them.  One of the most important chores that you can ever check off of your To Do List is to have your estate plan drafted.  If you already have an estate plan, it is equally important to have it reviewed every 3 to 5 years with an estate planning attorney to account for changes in law, changes in tax and changes in your family.

Today is June 21.  June 21 is also known as the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year.  My challenge to you is to use the extra time we receive today (and yes, I know we still only get 24 hours but work with me on this) to make an appointment with an estate planning attorney and get your estate plan in place and up to date before your days get shorter and shorter.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

While NBA analysts, sports experts, newspaper columnists, and even your neighbor can make predictions on what is going to happen next, the truth is that the future is unknown for even the most talented of NBA teams.  Just like these NBA teams, our future is unknown. The morbid reality is that no one knows when they will die.  You can’t predict your future so it’s best to be prepared for it … by properly planning your estate to assure that your assets are protected.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

June is a month with a lot of important holidays.  The longest day of the year is in the month of June but I’m not using that fact to point out that
life is short and estate planning can’t wait. June also gives us Father’s Day but I’m not going to ask you if your father has his estate plan in order or even if you’ve done your part as a father or mother to assure that your children are protected. June is Gay Pride Month but the theme of this newsletter is not protecting your partner or avoiding will contests in a state that doesn’t recognize same sex partnerships.  Instead, I’d like to point out that I was born on June 22, which turns out to be National Chocolate Eclair Day.

I find it very upsetting that Donald Duck Day (June 9) is sandwiched between Name Your Poison Day and Iced Tea Day.  If you are planning on celebrating Insurance Awareness Day on June 28, be certain that all of your insurance is placed in an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust.  Whatever holidays you celebrate, please remember to take some time and assure that your family is taken care of with some foundational estate planning.

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.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?