Tag Archives: Tampa Estate Planning Lawyer
Amending and Revoking Wills and Trusts
Thinking about death and the people left behind is not a topic likely to find many takers, but death is the one event in life that no one is able to escape. Additionally, when a person is young and healthy, thoughts of illness and death seem so far away and unrelated to where they… Read More »
How Divorce Affects Contractual Obligations for the Distribution of Assets after Death
When most people first think of divorce, the after-effects on a person’s estate plan is not likely to come to mind. Usually, people think about selling the marital home, dividing property, determining who will pay child support, and deciding how the split parenting time with the children. They may assume that the rules of… Read More »
Powers of Attorney and How They Fit into Your Estate Plan
One of the key benefits to becoming a legal adult is the ability to make your own decisions and enter into legally binding agreements. Prior to reaching this life stage, a person is not permitted to things like buy a car, open a bank account, or make health care decisions without the consent of… Read More »
Taking Care of Your Pet after Death
When setting up a trust or drafting a will, it is natural to think about how to best provide for the family members left behind, but there may be an additional part of the family that until recently was rarely considered – pets. Pets today are not treated or viewed the way they were… Read More »
Types of Guardians for Elderly Family Members
Living longer due to advances in medical technology brings with it a greater likelihood that incapacity will occur from a deterioration of the body or the development of a neurological condition affecting cognitive functions. When circumstances of this type happen, it often necessary to intervene and take over the management of the incapacitated person’s… Read More »
When and How to Remove a Personal Representative in Probate Proceedings
Once a person dies, one of the most important players involved with the deceased’s estate is the personal representative. The personal representative is a person, bank, or trust company appointed by a court to serve as the administrator of the deceased’s estate in probate proceedings. A probate proceeding is a court-supervised process that identifies… Read More »
What Role Does a Court Have in Managing a Trust?
The person who chooses to create a trust must put a lot of reliance and faith in the trustee to the follow the terms written in the trust instrument, as well as in state law. The trustee, a person or entity in charge of administering the trust property and distributions to beneficiaries, can be… Read More »
What Is a Trust, and How Will It Help My Family After I’m Gone?
When most people envision how they want their property divided following their death, that vision does not include their relatives spending months, maybe years, in probate court amassing legal fees and likely irreversible resentment among family members. Even simple wills require some involvement by the probate court to settle the estate, which unavoidably generates… Read More »
Duties of a Personal Representative in Probate Proceedings
When a person dies it is not uncommon for loved ones to have questions about how to handle and distribute the deceased’s property according to the terms of a will or trust, or under Florida law for those dying without wills, or intestate. Most estates must enter a process called probate in order to… Read More »
Types of Estate Administrations in Probate Proceedings
When a family or close friend dies, it is normal to ask what happens to the financial and personal effects of the deceased, and how one initiates the correct process for settling the deceased’s estate. The probate process is the method most people associate with distributing the assets of an estate, but it is… Read More »
