Many estate owners in Florida have 529 savings accounts that are used to put away money for the education of their children or grandchildren. Some may wonder if they should create a trust to hold such an account.In most cases, this is not needed. If the creator wants...
Month: January 2020
Guardianship bills to protect incapacitated people moves ahead
The Florida state legislature may soon be passing a bill that regulates professional guardianships. The bills has had hearings in both the House and the Senate. The law would give the state more tools to hold guardians accountable and make it necessary for judges to...
Let an experienced attorney guide you through your executor role
Executors of estates have many responsibilities. One of the many tasks that you're responsible for handling is the division of assets among a decedent's heirs. This is much more involved than it seems on the surface.Most individuals create an inventory of their...
Understanding the way conservatorships work
Every individual has the right to make their own decisions. However, when a person is severely ill, they may not be able to make decisions that reflect their own best interests. Therefore, loved ones of the individual often take action to seek to be able to make...
The importance of beneficiary designations in an estate plan
There are several ways that property can be passed to heirs as part of an estate plan. One way is by joint ownership, which is common with spouses or elderly parents and a child. Other assets may be passed according to instructions in a will. If there is no will, then...
How to account for incapacity in your estate plan
Everyone's estate plan should account for things that are uncertain. The future is unknown, and this is why estate plans are so important to utilize. By having a contingency plan, you will be able to account for every scenario and ensure that your assets can be...
How a trust differs from a will
People in Florida who are creating an estate plan might wonder about the difference between a will and a trust. One of the biggest differences is that a will is not private and generally must go through the probate process. A trust is private, and when a person dies,...
Getting started with a will
You've never written a will, but one of your adult children recently suggested that you do it. They have children of their own -- your grandchildren -- and they just made an estate plan. They decided they should talk to you about doing your own estate planning.You...
Open communication important to estate planning
For people in Florida who want to make sure their loved ones are provided for after their death, estate planning can be an important topic of open conversation. Many people feel like they have no idea what happened with the assets of their loved ones after they passed...
Does a will override a life insurance beneficiary?
Say you bought a life insurance policy 10 years ago. You named one of your children as the beneficiary because the other child was still a minor. You just needed to list someone, and that seemed easiest to you.Now your other child is no longer a minor. You're writing...
