Recent Blog Posts
Can You Leave Stuff You Don’t Even Own Yet to People in Your Will?
When you write a will, or draft an estate plan, you generally leave everything you have, to whomever you designate as a beneficiary to receive those items. But what about items you don’t have yet, but expect to have later on? Or assets that you may or may not ever come into possession of?… Read More »
Get Ready for Increased Property Taxes if You Inherit Property
For many who own real property like a house, that property is the most valuable asset that the person has to leave to family and beneficiaries. The inheritance of property, such as a home, in probate, can, for some individuals, be a great benefit, if not a windfall. But people who inherit property, often… Read More »
Challenging a Will vs. Challenging a Trust in Probate Court
Although when it comes to estate planning people mostly speak about wills, trusts also are invaluable ways of preserving property and leaving it to loved ones down the road. But just as wills can be challenged in court, so too can trusts. But there are some small differences between challenging wills and challenging trusts…. Read More »
Here is What Holds Up and Delays Many Probate Cases
One of the primary challenges in probate is all of the information that the probate court needs to do its job, and to properly administer any will that may exist. In that process, there can be serious time delays, when necessary information isn’t always available. Inventorying the Assets The fact is that we don’t… Read More »
Proving Lack of Mental Capacity to Challenge a Will is Much Harder Than You May Think
As we age, many of us start to lose some of our cognitive abilities. And it’s not just age, but the effects of age–disease, physical medical conditions, the progression of pre-existing mental illness, trauma, and lots of other factors, all which can lead to mental and cognitive decline in people as we age–experiences all… Read More »
Should Spouses Consider a Joint Will?
As a married couple, the thinking is that everything should be done together. From owning property to having bank accounts to filing your taxes–things are generally done jointly, as a couple. Except when it comes to making a will, that may not be the best idea. Technically in Florida, every person needs to either… Read More »
Understanding Probate Fees and Costs
Probating an estate has costs and fees attached to it, in many cases, costs that beneficiaries and others may not anticipate. While these are expenses everybody would rather avoid, they are necessary to the probate process and to ensuring the proper distribution to the beneficiaries named in the will. Hard Costs for the Estate… Read More »
Not Every Asset Goes Through Probate
You may know that, at a very basic level, all assets of a deceased person go through the probate court, as part of the deceased’s estate and are eventually distributed in accordance with a will, estate plan, or in the absence of any of those, pursuant to Florida’s intestacy statutes. But when we say… Read More »
Summary Administration: A Faster Probate Process
They often say that life is not one size fits all. That’s also true in probate; estates are not the same, and because of that, the law provides a different, alternative type of probate for certain estates, called summary administration. When Can You Use It? Summary administration is a quicker streamlined probate process, for… Read More »
Problems in Marshalling Assets for the Personal Representative
Even with the best will, and the best estate plan, or even with Florida’s intestacy laws that say who gets what without a will, there is still one thing that must always be done in probate court: someone has to determine what the assets of the state actually are and where they are. After… Read More »
