According to the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog, Florida has enacted a new law authorizing the use of Electronic Wills effective January 1, 2020. Florida is the fourth state to authorize the creation and storage of digital Wills. However, in my opinion, there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the use of such […]
When deciding whether or not to do a Will package or a Revocable Trust package, many of my Boca Raton, Florida clients will ask why choose one over the other. Among the many benefits that a Revocable Trust has over a Will is the ability to minimize or even avoid probate. This leads to the obvious question of: Why […]
The IRS has released new regulations that have extended the due date for filing Form 8971 to March 31, 2016. Executors and administrators of estates that are required to file a federal Form 706 Estate Tax Return are now also required to file Form 8971 and report the basis of the assets included in the […]
Sometimes probate can be a simple process. Sometimes it can be a royal nightmare… and sometimes it can be an expensive royal nightmare. I’m not sure if it is a sign of the times or just a coincidence, but our office has had numerous estates where the probate has not been very easy. To give […]
Many individuals who live outside of America like to purchase real estate in America or invest in the U.S. Stock Market. It can be much safer than investing in other parts of the world and often times the individual has children who have moved to America to live or study. Florida and New York are […]
One of the questions I frequently get is: What is involved with probate in New Jersey? In some jurisdictions, I know attorneys go out of their way to help their clients avoid the probate process by creating trusts and titling assets so that they can be transferred automatically on death. In New Jersey, probate usually is […]
WHAT ARE SPECIFIC GIFTS AND GENERAL GIFTS? A specific bequest is a gift of a specific piece of property to a specific person. Three examples of this are: I give my real estate, located at 1 Main Street, Anytown, State, to my son, Jake Smith. I give my 500 shares of stock of XYZ Corporation […]
The way you hold title to your assets is key to any comprehensive estate plan. The greatest Will in the world is going to be ineffective if you have survivorship assets, IRAs or life insurance benefits going to people you don’t want them going to. In short, how you own your property determines where it […]
Unfortunately I have been given another reminder of how important it is to select appropriate executors for your Will, trustees for your trusts and agents in your financial powers of attorney. No matter how good an attorney does in drafting your estate planning documents, if there is a person in charge of the money who […]