In 1951 Florida added a provision to its Probate Code automatically cutting divorced spouses out of each others’ wills (F.S. 732.507(2)). In 1989 a similar provision was added to our Trust Code (F.S. 736.1105). And in …
Child support claim vs. creditor protected trust. Who wins?
Alexander v. Harris, — So.3d —, 2019 WL 2147281 (Fla. 2d DCA May 17, 2019)
The creditor protected trust at the center of this case is a special needs trust. This kind of trust is created for a …
Is a surviving spouse’s community-property claim subject to the filing deadlines for probate “creditor” claims?
Johnson v. Townsend, — So.3d —- 2018 WL 5291297 (Fla. 4th DCA October 24, 2018)
Florida remains the largest recipient of state-to-state migration in the US, and the top choice among retirees. A percentage of those …
Marriage, Guardianships . . . and the Power of Framing
Smith v. Smith, — So.3d —-, 2017 WL 3774702 (Fla. August 31, 2017)
How do we protect the elderly from exploitation and abuse, without sacrificing our fundamental rights as we enter old age, like the constitutionally protected right to …
2017 legislative news: Big Changes to Florida’s Elective Share Statutes
If you’re a working probate attorney, elective share claims loom large in your practice. Which means anytime the thicket of interconnected and complicated statutes making up this body of law gets changed, it’s worth paying attention to. And recently there’s …
If a “reputed” spouse is entitled to inheritance rights under Israeli law, what does she get in Florida?
Cohen v. Shushan, et al., — So.3d —-, 2017 WL 1018422 (Fla. 2d DCA March 15, 2017)
A person’s “status” as a surviving spouse triggers all sorts of valuable inheritance rights under Florida law, including entitlement to inheritance by …
Is Florida’s post-divorce automatic revocation statute for life insurance policies constitutional?
Most of us would agree that most divorced spouses don’t want their ex’s to hit the jackpot after one of them’s died because someone forgot to update his or her estate planning documents. You’d be surprised how often this happens.…
Federal Judge Rules Florida Must Add Same-Sex Spouses to Death Certificates
Birchfield v. Armstrong, No. 4:15-cv-00615-RH-CAS, —- WL —– (N.D. Fla. March 23, 2017)
Florida’s widows and widowers whose same-sex spouses died before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges declaring that state bans on same-sex marriage …
Can a divorce court force you to terminate your irrevocable trust and split the assets with your ex’?
Nelson v. Nelson, — So.3d —-, 2016 WL 7322546 (Fla. 2d DCA December 16, 2016)
Multi-generational irrevocable trusts (often referred to as “dynasty” trusts) have always been around, but changes to federal estate tax laws in the mid-1980s sparked …
4th DCA: Love and marriage in contested Florida guardianships
Smith v. Smith, — So.3d —-, 2016 WL 803625 (Fla. 4th DCA March 2, 2016) (reversed on appeal)
As Bette Davis once said, getting old ain’t for sissies. But it’s a whole lot easier if you’re …