What to do with 23 and me? Recent years have seen the rise in ancestry services such as Ancestry.com and 23 and Me. After performing a simple DNA swab, these services provide the subscriber with hereditary and genealogical information that can unlock family history, medical information, and perhaps even long-lost…
Can an Irrevocable Trust be Changed? Trust Decanting under Florida Law You do not have to be a Sommelier to be familiar with the concept of decanting wine. “Decanting”, the pouring of wine from its original bottle into a different vessel – is a technique utilized for two contemporaneous purposes:…
Biden’s Tax Proposal and the “Step-Up in Basis”: What it Means for Your Estate Plan or Trust A commonly utilized tax law in estate planning considerations, known as the “step up in basis,” may be in jeopardy. The “step-up,” derived from section 1014 of the Internal Revenue Code, gets applied…
Bernie’s “For the 99.5% Act”: Is It Time to Start Thinking about Tax Planning? For the year 2021, each individual has $11,700,000.00 of estate tax credit (or $23,400,000.00 for married couples), otherwise known as the “applicable exclusion amount.” For estates that exceed the applicable exclusion amount, the tax rate is…
Does My Will Control My Joint Property? There are several different ways to hold real property with another individual in Florida. The three main ones are: 1) tenancy in common, 2) joint tenancy with a right of survivorship, and 3) tenancy by the entirety. The way co-ownership of real property…
How Can you Prove Undue Influence? For a Will to be valid, certain conditions must be met. The testator must have legal capacity, at least eighteen years old, must have testamentary intent, and the will must not be a product of undue influence or duress. The first two requirements are…
The Long Arm of the Law – Trust Litigation and Out-of-State Beneficiaries When dealing with trusts, there is a possibility that the potential litigation or present lawsuit involves people from multiple jurisdictions and multiple states. A trust may be created and administered in Florida, but the beneficiaries may live elsewhere.…
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT ADOPTS “ATTORNEY-FIDUCIARY PRIVILEGE” RULE The attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest legal concepts and the backbone of providing effective legal services. It keeps the communication between an attorney and her client secret and protects it from disclosure, with some exceptions, even when other rules compel disclosure.…
FLORIDA CHARITABLE TRUSTS: ALTERNATIVE BENEFICIARIES AND CY PRES DOCTRINE Due to applicable tax exemptions and tax deductions, Charitable trusts are a great tool for preserving the value of your property intended for charitable purposes and for reducing taxes payable by your remaining estate (intended for purposes other than charitable ones).…
4th DCA Recognizes Homestead Exception for Alimony Creditors The Florida Constitution provides powerful homestead protection against creditors. Generally, only three types of super-creditors can breach this protection – (1) government entities with a tax lien or assessment on the property; (2) banks or other lenders with a mortgage originating from…