Coming to downtown West Palm Beach for the Palm Beach County Probate Court ?  Here’s how to get there and where to park……………

Everyone remembers the consolidation of banks in the 90’s.  Are we witnessing a new round of bank consolidation?  (If so, do Palm Beach trustees want to load up on bank stocks?)   1st United Bank of Florida, https://www.1stunitedbankfl.com, (Palm Beach County’s largest local bank) was just acquired by Valley National from New Jersey.  Does this mean that our economy is finally turning around? This photo below is of the Evernia Street office in West Palm Beach, just a block from our Palm Beach probate law firm.

A lot of wealthy Palm Beachers read the Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com.  The Journal seems to be mandatory reading for trustees and Palm Beach portfolio managers.  But what about the individual trustee….. the retired executive who now lives in Jupiter and plays a lot of golf while watching his investment portfolio on CNBC www.cnbc.com?   How about the Palm Beach County widow or surviving spouse who is now trustee of her husband’s $10 Million revocable trust in Boca Raton?   Is an online subscription to Morningstar the way to go?

Check out this picture of Lilly, a young Labradoodle sitting on the Corbusier in the partners’ lounge at the Palm Beach Probate Law Firm, the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC.  Heather got Lilly a few months ago and Lilly has been a vibrant part of the office since Heather started bringing Lilly to work.  Lilly also mellows out the senior probate litigator and managing member of the West Palm Beach probate litigation firm.

West Palm Beach’s Green Market, located just 3 blocks east of the Palm Beach Probate Court, is winding down its season. West Palm Beach’s Green Market is the biggest in Palm Beach County and is just around the corner from our Palm Beach Probate Litigation Law Firm, the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC: www.pankauskilawfirm.com.   You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pankauskilaw.

There is a great article in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, about marrying family wealth.  At our West Palm Beach probate law firm, we deal with a number of Palm Beach family trusts and there is inevitably an in-law or outlaw who is new to money.   How heirs and beneficiaries deal with family wealth in Palm Beach is one thing…..how their boyfriends, girlfriends, 2nd and 3rd husbands and wives deal with your Palm Beach estate plan is another. Be careful and thoughtful when creating your Palm Beach trust or estate plan. 

Did you create family wealth and now have this idea of creating a massive Palm Beach family trust?  Hold on….. creating wealth or a Palm Beach trust may not be the difficult part.  How your kids and grand kids view that Palm Beach trust may be a challenge.  Consider incentive trusts so that you pass along more than just $$$ to your generations….pass along your VALUES.  Check out this Amy Feldman article on incentive trusts in this week’s Penta insert of Barron’s.  www.barrons.com  God knows that our Palm Beach trust litigation law firm has seen a lot of slacker beneficiaries and trust lawsuits over Palm Beach trust money.

Having lived in West Palm Beach for almost 20 years now, I am often asked by friends from Boston and the northeast if the real estate market is coming back.   As the senior trial lawyer for a West Palm Beach probate litigation law firm, I get to see my fair share of trust investments, and investment loss clients, some of which involved Palm Beach real estate.  Here are my thoughts on Palm Beach real estate, the market, and what Palm Beach Trustee may want to know.

If you are involved in issues of family wealth, check out this week’s Barron’s.  www.barrons.com.   The quarterly Penta insert on wealth, estate planning, family money and how to manage all that is available right now at newstands and online.  I’ve been subscribing for a while.  It also has an excellent article about family trusts and creating incentives to get trust $$$ from that family wealth.