If you are the beneficiary of a Florida trust, you may want to know about a recent Palm Beach appeals case involving a “trust protector.”  “What is a Florida trust protector?” you ask…..You may want to read about an important “legal actor” for Florida trusts other than the trustee.

In the unfortunate instances when Florida elders become mentally ill and incapacitated, they often need legal guardians. Florida Guardianship Law grants guardians a lot of power to act for the persons whom they are there to protect (called a “ward”). West Palm Beach guardianship attorneys know that, because of this vast amount of power, it is best if the guardian is someone with the ward’s best interests at heart. Often this can mean appointing a family member or close family friend as a guardian. However, due to many different factors, this is not always possible. In this instance, a court may appoint what is known as a “professional guardian“, sometimes called a “court-appointed guardian.” How can you trust the Palm Beach Guardian? Sadly, West Palm Beach Probate and Guardianship attorneys understand that sometimes people in a position of trust violate that trust.  No one wants Florida guardians taking advantage of and exploiting their “wards.” The most recent case we’ve seen of this behavior in Guardianship was inColumbus, Ohio. In this case, a court-appointed professional guardian has been accused, by at least two families, of stealing from and exploiting the elderly person he was appointed to protect. The wards in this case were people with dementia, the elderly, and thementally ill. You can read the story here:http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/12/28/wards-of-indicted-guardian-are-missing-items-relatives-say.html Florida Probate & Guardianship Laws to Protect Family Members Fortunately the victims in this case had family members who were able tostop the alleged crimes. Sometimes it is impossible to be the guardian of your mom, […]

In May of 2014 we lost an incredible author and poet and gained an icon in American history: Maya Angelou. 

Estate Planning and Estate Administration in Florida  can be a tricky sea to navigate. Just ask any Estate Attorney Boca Raton.  One of the most important things to consider in Estate Planning is to carefully and thoroughly construct and write a will and prepare your estate documents.

…and you think Palm Beach probate litigation is a handful?  Consider this Pennsylvania estate and the, originally believed-to-be $40 Million at stake:

Are you involved with probate litigation or an estate trial Palm Beach?  Well, if you are, and a summary judgment was granted, you may want to read, or re-read, Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal’s opinion on when you can file a notice of appeal.  Or, …..when does a motion for rehearing suspend, stop or toll the time to file a notice of appeal.  While this is not a probate litigation case, probate litigators West Palm Beach know why this is important.

If you are a surviving spouse or a widow, you may have guaranteed inheritance rights if your husband or wife has a retirement account? Why?  Read on if you are interested in inheritance rights and rights to a non probate asset like a retirement account.

In Florida, there is, sadly,  a lot of financial exploitation, but we typically think of financial exploitation as one form offinancial abuse against the elderly.  As we age and become more reliant on others, and as our abilities to consider, examine, think, analyze, ask questions, and focus, deteriorate or decrease, we can become a target: financial prey.  If we are stricken with dementia, anddementia is progressing un-checked, or the dementia is not stalled or slowed, bad people can exploit us financially by taking our bank accounts, trust funds and getting us to sign powers of attorney or trust amendments.  Cases of undue influence are common in such scenarios, and can lead to a lot of probate litigation and probate lawsuits by heirs at law and family members or next of kin.

In a sad and tragic probate case, a probate beneficiary under a will and the late victim’s, or decedent’s, husband,split the $1 Million estate.  Police are treating the death of the 41 year old woman, now, as ahomocide, with no “slayer statute” issues .  Media outlets report the police are focussing on one person as a suspect, other than the boyfriend or the husband.   The boyfriend of the victim was the named beneficiary under the victim’s will  —  not the woman’s husband. 

Is DOMA dead ? Same sex marriage is winning case after case in the federal courts, granting a right to marry to gay couples across the US.  Why isn’t anyone talking about the “guaranteed” inheritance whichsame sex couples get by marrying?  While everyone is focussing on the death of the Defense of Marriage Act and the right of same sex couples to marry, consider the inheritance rights to retirement accounts of a new spouse.   Here are 5 things which you may want to know about same sex marriage and retirement accounts.  It could be worth millions.