Search Results: revocable trust

Your mother is in her 80’s, and while still sharp, you know she is slowing down. Well, at least you think you do. While you don’t see her often, you hear it on the phone. Actually, you don’t call often, but when you do, you think that mom is getting older quicker. You don’t see this firsthand because you don’t visit, even though mom lives in a very nice condo near the beach in Boca Raton, Florida and she’s asked you to visit many times. 

Your Kids Hate Your Second Spouse.
Your Kids Will Sue Your Second Spouse When You Die.

Did someone just die and leave a Florida estate? Maybe you just lost your aunt in Aventura, Florida. You knew that she lived in an expensive condo and was married to a successful business owner who died years ago. So, you think your aunt may have died rich. You are wondering if she left you anything. Then you get a letter from a Palm Beach law firm that you have to sign for. Inside the letter is an official looking document called “notice of administration.” What in world is that and what should you do? Here are the five most common probate questions that you may need answers to if you are thinking of getting involved in a Florida estate.

Are you involved in a Florida probate administration? Many someone died and an estate has been opened up. You have been getting court documents in the mail and letters from attorneys with terms you don’t understand and legal mumbo jumbo and deadlines.

Were you cut out of a will and you think it was caused by undue influence? Was your inheritance cut short by someone who interfered with your inheritance based on undue influence?

Do you need help with a Florida estate? Maybe you live in Ohio, and your uncle Mo died in Boynton Beach, Florida. You get a call from someone who has your uncle’s will, which names you executor (or what we call in Florida: personal representative of the estate). Oh…..and the will gives you half of your uncle’s estate and the other half to your brother who hates you. What do you do?

Florida estates may encounter charitable gifts or charitable devises (distributions) under a Florida will or revocable trust.   Some charitable gifts are outright (“To the Pankauski Foundation, I leave $1,000,000”).  Others are held in donor advised funds.  According to Fidelity Investment’s Fidelity Charitable Giving Report, total charitable giving in 2011 alone was close to $300 Billion !   Much of that charitable giving was in donor advised funds.  

Florida probate litigator John Pankauski speaks today in Philadelphia for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute from noon to 4:15.   John will address probate lawyers and estate planning lawyers, and those who write wills and trusts at a continuing legal education course titled: “What Every Estate Planning Attorney Needs to Know About Florida Law.”  John is a West Palm Beach, Florida probate lawyer whose practice is limited to litigation and administration of wills, trusts and estates.

In Florida, guardianship cases have exploded.  Increasingly, more and more probate attorneys and trust and estate attorneys are dealing with guardianship matters.  Will a court “take away” important civil and human rights of a person who is alleged to be incapacitated?  Will a court appoint someone to manage the property of the person?  Or is there a valid power of attorney, health care directive or surrogate, or revocable trust (living trust) to manage the person’s finances?

A will lawyer Florida may be needed to help you get your inheritance. Here are the 3 ways to navigate receiving your inheritance. (Hint: one involves hiring your own probate litigator, although that may not be necessary.) What does a will lawyer Florida do? (what do you NEED?) A will lawyer Florida typically deals with the “disposition of assets at death.” One who is knowledgeable about the transfer and receipt of plain, simple, expensive and unique assets and properties at death. Beneficiary rights. Obligations of a trustee or executor. That’s a fancy way of saying one deals with dirt, dollars & death! (For short legal blog on who inherits at death, click that link. It’s free, fast and no “cookies” or data collection.) Wills. (And, of course, such other, so-called, “dispositive vehicles” like a revocable living trust, or pay-n-death or transfer-on-death accounts.) Why? Well, the rules are different for giving property when one dies. During life, right?, I can give my property to whoever I want in any way I choose. But the rules are different when we pass. The rules change when you die Death changes everything, right? There’s the Florida Probate Rules, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and of course the Probate Code. (For the rules, just go to the Florida Bar website, www.FloridaBar.org, and they are there for free.) Don’t get mad at me ! I didn’t write them or create them. Our legislature did. And those statutes, and those rules, are the guiding light to […]