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Going to the Chapel and You're Gonna Get Married? Florida Updates Your Will Automatically
July 13th, 2018
By tradition, last month (June) was the month of weddings. In all of that wedded bliss, then, maybe seeing an estate planning attorney was not at the top of your list. On one hand, you’re safe: Florida adds your spouse to your will in your esta…
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Agents, Representatives, and Surrogates: Oh My! Understanding Your Estate Plan Roles
April 18th, 2018
When you create your estate plan, not only do you decide what happens to your belongings and property after you die, you also choose people in the roles of your estate plan to do things for you when you cannot. Some of these people act after your dea…
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Tags: Florida
Estate Planning and Special Needs
March 4th, 2018
Many families include a person with special needs who receives Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”), Medicaid, or other government benefits. These benefits may provide food, shelter, and/or medical care. Careful planning needs to be in place with…
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Categories: Special Needs Law
Tags: Florida
Florida's Elective Share: Why a DIY Approach Usually Does Not Work When Disinheriting Your Spouse
February 23rd, 2018
Imagine that two people, later in life, decide to get married. Both of them have their own wealth and savings. They each have established large retirement accounts, and they have savings set aside they want to pass to their children. Sure, they want…
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Tags: Florida
Let’s Talk About Love*: Is a Simple “I Love You Will” Enough?
February 13th, 2018
Many general legal practitioners will offer an “I love you will” to their married clients as a simple—and less expensive—means of estate planning. After all, simple sounds nice. And less expensive often gets people in the door. And who do…
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Tags: Florida
Wrongful Death and Your Estate
February 6th, 2018
Most people have heard about personal injury lawsuits (and we’ve almost all seen the commercials). Someone brings these lawsuits when he is injured, for example, due to someone else’s negligent or intentional act. The damages are, in essence, int…
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Tags: Florida
Business Succession: Does Your Estate Plan Include Your Business?
January 30th, 2018
Only about ten percent of business owners have a business succession plan. Another thirty percent have only an informal plan. Thus, when it comes to estate planning, too often, owners of small businesses fail to plan for what happens to the business…
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Tags: Florida
DPOA vs HCS: Comparing the Powers under Key Estate Plan Pieces
January 23rd, 2018
In a recent Instagram post, a question was posed about a DPOA vs HCS. Do you know the difference between a Durable Power of Attorney and a Health Care Surrogate Designation? A Durable Power of Attorney is a document used to grant power to a person to…
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Categories: Powers of Attorney
Tags: Florida
Five Key Times to Evaluate Your Estate Plan
January 8th, 2018
Life can change daily. Sometimes our focus on what is immediately in front of us is all we can see. Thus overlooking how life changes affect our estate plan is easy. As this new year begins, let’s take a look again at five key times to evaluate…
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Categories: Hiring an Attorney
Tags: Florida
“I Think I Love You”* But Perhaps I Don’t Want to Leave You Anything: Deciding to Disinherit a Child
January 2nd, 2018
Several news sources in December covered the revelation about David Cassidy’s will: he disinherited his daughter. When I saw this story about David Cassidy, two things jumped out. What his family might have wanted to be a private issue is now publi…
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