Disclaimer: This blog is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Every individual’s situation is unique, and estate planning decisions should be made based on personalized legal guidance. For advice tailored to your specific needs, please contact Blackburn Law for a free consultation at (727) 826-0923 or visit LifePlanLaw.com. For […]
First off, you must know what you cannot and can give away in a will. Wills distribute specific kinds of property but not all. For instance, it is possible to give funds to a beneficiary or give away your coin collection. But other kinds of property, like a bank account that has a beneficiary designation, […]
A second method for making sure your estate is a mess is to make your Will incorrectly. This “Part Two” blog will discuss the most important technical requirements for making a Will correctly. Believe it or not, state laws impose requirements to make a valid will. Some are absolute, and failing to comply with […]
The most common method of avoiding probate includes creating a trust that holds your assets rather than a will. It is also possible to decrease the quantity of property going through probate by giving gifts to members of your family or other types of beneficiaries before dying. Here are three other ways to avoid probate: […]
The short method for making sure your estate is a mess is don’t make a will. This “Part One” blog will discuss not making a will. The next shortest method of making sure your estate is a mess is make the will incorrectly. Part Two of How to Make Sure Your Estate is a Mess […]
“Avoiding probate” has become a very popular goal of estate planning. Most people want the distribution of assets at their death to be simple, straightforward, and inexpensive. Even an abbreviated probate procedure in Florida (such as a summary administration) is neither simple, nor straightforward. Most people cannot handle it on their own and, hence, there […]
Do I Really Need a Trust? People often ask, “do I need a trust”? The simple answer is “no.” You don’t need a trust any more than you need a bank account, or a car, or a will for that matter. I bet that answer does not help you choose to have a trust or […]
Clients have been asking if they need to change their Living Will in the new age of Covid-19. There is a simple answer and more nuanced answer to this question, and it raises some very important issues. The simple answer: You do not need to make changes to your advanced directive for coronavirus. A living […]
The easy answer is, not until July 2020. The ability to execute an electronic will takes effect on July 1, 2020. To confuse the issue however, online notarization of documents other than a will became effective on January 1, 2020. The process is very new, expensive, difficult, and, for life plan documents, limited. Choosing to […]
I hope the transition to the year 2020 brought joy and a fresh outlook. If you follow the news, you also know that it brought changes to the tax laws that may impact your life and estate planning. As part of budget legislation, the U.S. House and Senate passed the Setting Every Community Up for […]