In 2010, congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) after a series of high-profile tax evasion cases. The main purpose of FATCA is to force foreign financial institutions to comply with reporting requirements of the Internal Revenue Service and curb non-compliance. However, FATCA will have new reporting requirements…
Trusts are an important tool of estate planning for many reasons, one of which is the tax benefits associated with holding assets in a trust. Trusts are routinely set up as a planning tool and contain various different provisions about how and when trust assets are distributed to the qualified…
When planning their estates, most people consider provisions that take into account their family and friends, but people often fail to make arrangements for loved ones that fall somewhere in between: their pets. Dogs, cats, horses, birds, reptiles, rodents, and amphibious friends can also be provided for in estate documents.…
What legal issues will you face if you are married to a noncitizen or planning on leaving part of your estate to a noncitizen? The answer to this question is not as easy as one might think. Noncitizens do not necessarily escape the United States’ estate tax, nor do they…
Approximately fifty-five percent of Americans die without a will-that is, they die intestate. This is not a major concern if the person who died did not have taxable assets or only had one child from one marriage. However, the complexities of life carry on into probate. There can be many…
As of July 1, 2012, Florida enacted Florida Statutes Section 732.703. This statute automatically nullifies the designation of a spouse as a beneficiary on certain non-probate assets upon divorce. The general purpose of the law is to expand the already automatic revocation of a spouse designation on a will or…
Fifty-four million Americans suffer a disability. In Florida, 6.2% of children five to fifteen years old have a disability and 4.3% of Miami- Dade County children age five to fifteen have a disability. For parents of those children a stand-alone special needs trust can be a useful tool to ensure…
Sometime before her death, a Florida resident living in Ormond Beach made a will using an “E-Z legal form”. She relied on the form and carefully listed the assets she wanted her sister to receive including her house, her IRA account, her life insurance proceeds and all of her bank…
Florida is an ideal location for a beachside vacation home or condominium. Many northerners or “snowbirds” like to make their way south every winter and enjoy all that south Florida has to offer. Excellent restaurants and weather make Florida a primary location for vacation homes. Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm…
Some individuals have a will and also have a revocable living trust to distribute assets. Often they are the trustee of the revocable living trust and their children or family members may be the beneficiaries. Why would somebody do this? Won’t their assets pass under the will when they die?…