Florida Electronic Wills Soon To Be Legal
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 […]
Why Florida Probate Can Be Difficult
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 […]
Understanding the Differences Between Special Needs Trusts and Supplemental Needs Trusts
“Special Needs Trusts” and “Supplemental Needs Trusts” are terms to describe trusts designed to provide benefits to a person in a way that will preserve the public benefits that he or she is entitled to receive. These types of trusts are most commonly created when a person has some sort of special needs or disability. […]
The Best Place To Die (From An Estate And Inheritance Tax Perspective)
Best place to die Several years ago, I wrote a few articles comparing the tax consequences of dying in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Now that New Jersey has amended its estate tax laws, I thought I should write another post for 2017 regarding the best place to die. I will write this […]
NJ Estate Tax Repeal: How Does This Affect You?
It’s official. According to NJ.com, Governor Christopher Christie has signed a bill to repeal the New Jersey Estate Tax. The new law is part of a larger package deal that increases the gas tax, reduces the sales tax slightly, gives the working poor a larger tax credit, gives a tax cut on retirement income and gives a tax […]
Trouble with Banks Accepting a Power of Attorney – Florida
As I’ve written in my last two posts, more and more Banks have been routinely rejecting Power of Attorney forms drafted by attorneys in New Jersey. Obviously this irks me enough to write about it in three consecutive posts.Apparently, this practice is not as common in Florida, and banks do so at their own peril […]
Reasons to Value a Trust
Recently I gave a lecture on the valuation of trusts. While I am not an accountant nor am I a valuation expert, I live and breathe trusts… and frequently the question comes up, what is value of a particular beneficiary’s interest in a trust. Keep in mind, just because a trust is worth $1M, it […]
New Jersey Enacts Uniform Trust Code into Law
While this may not sound like big news, it is actually very exciting that New Jersey has finally enacted the Uniform Trust Code (UTC) into law. The new law will go into effect on July 17, 2016. When it does, New Jersey will join Pennsylvania, Florida and a majority of other states in adopting most […]
Non-residents Non-citizens of the US Should Be Careful of How they Invest in American Assets
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 […]