Florida is a magnet for people and foreign capital. Last year alone international home buyers poured $15.6 billion into our state’s economy. Florida’s also the first choice for relocating retirees within the U.S., and the single largest recipient of …
What’s the right way and the wrong way to litigate a revocable trust while the settlor’s alive?
Attorneys faced with elderly clients sliding into incapacity grapple with daunting ethical challenges. For family members helplessly watching from the sidelines as an elderly parent’s financially exploited, the emotional toll is way worse. And these are not isolated incidents.…
Has all of Florida’s common law for modifying or terminating irrevocable trusts been replaced by statute?
Irrevocable trusts stay “irrevocable” only as long as everyone with a stake in these trusts wants them to stay that way. They’re products of private law, which means there’s no “trust police” walking the beat making sure they don’t …
Can you limit a court’s ability to remove a trustee to the same standard as incapacity in guardianship proceedings?
Florida’s Trust Code consists overwhelmingly of default rules that settlors are free to opt out of or modify anytime. There are, however, a core set of rules listed in F.S. 736.0105 that are mandatory; you can’t draft around them. For …
What’s a “caveat” and why should probate attorneys care?
There are all sorts of reasons why you may not want to commence a probate proceeding, but still have concerns about someone else getting the jump on you by secretly probating an invalid Will. In those cases you’ll want to …
What’s the right way and the wrong way to deed property OUT of your revocable trust?
Deeding property “into” and “out” of trusts is the kind of bread and butter work trusts and estates lawyers do all the time. But just because deeds-to-trust are commonplace, doesn’t mean you don’t have to sweat the details. Skip the …
Is a “notarial will” that’s valid in Haiti also valid in Florida?
In civil-law jurisdictions (such as Haiti) wills are prepared under the supervision of a notary acting in a quasi-judicial capacity that has no counterpart in common-law jurisdictions (such as Florida). We refer to these creatures of civil law as “notarial …
Child support claim vs. creditor protected trust. Who wins?
The creditor protected trust at the center of this case is a special needs trust. This kind of trust is created for a disabled or elderly person that’s intended to supplement, but not supplant, government assistance programs (such as …
Is half a signature enough to validly execute a will?
Will execution formalities are second nature to most of us, but it never hurts to go back to basics.
Under F.S. 732.502, a Florida will isn’t valid unless it’s in writing and signed at the end in the presence …
What’s a “qualified beneficiary” and why should trustees care?
Under Florida’s Trust Code there are two classes of beneficiaries, and which class you fall in is a big deal.
As defined in F.S. 736.0103(4), the term “beneficiary” refers to the entire universe of persons who have a beneficial …