Recent Blog Posts
UTMA Accounts Are a Simple Way to Save Money for Your Grandchildren
If you are a Baby Boomer, bankrolling your children’s college education was probably no simple task. Even if you set aside money every month from the time your children were born, even if you diligently researched scholarships and financial aid for which your children were eligible, and even if your children attend universities in… Read More »
How Your Home Mortgage Fits Into Your Estate Plan
Early on in the estate planning process, you will discover that many of the decisions you make about your estate will be based on your best interests and those of your descendants while you are alive. As the old saying goes, estate planning is about planning for life, not just planning for death. Therefore,… Read More »
Beware of Joint Wills
Estate planning for couples who got together late in life is very different from estate planning for former teen sweethearts who have just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. If you and your spouse have been together since you were young, then by the time you reach retirement age, in many cases, your finances will… Read More »
Estate Planning Nightmares: What Happens When You Lend Money to Your Children, and They Don’t Pay It Back?
In today’s economic climate, it is getting harder for young adults to achieve financial stability without help from their parents. The gig economy has supplanted jobs that provide health insurance and paid leave, and homeownership is drifting farther and farther out of the reach of most working people. Maybe you even read that depressing… Read More »
The Benefits of Tenancy by the Entirety Extend Beyond Probate
If you and a business partner own an item of property together, there is usually a written document specifying which partner owns what percent of the property. For example, maybe you have 60 percent ownership, and your partner has 40 percent ownership. Likewise, when family members jointly own property, there are usually ownership percentages… Read More »
Conflict Management for Personal Representatives of Family Estates
Being the person that an elderly family member chooses in their will as personal representative of their estate can be both an honor and a burden. On the one hand, you want to repay your parents for the love and trust they have shown you throughout your life by honoring their wishes about what… Read More »
Two Views of Estate Planning
What is the most important thing to focus on in your estate plan? Your living expenses in your old age or the wealth that your descendants will inherit? Should you be transparent with your family members about who stands to inherit what, or does doing so only lead to resentment and hurt feelings? Should… Read More »
3 Estate Planning New Year’s Resolutions for 2021
Here are three wise ways to revise your estate plan for 2021; a Central Florida estate planning lawyer can help you implement these and other estate planning strategies. Make Your IRA Investments Benefit Their Beneficiaries In 2019, the laws about IRAs changed; under the new law, most beneficiaries must receive their inherited IRA distributions… Read More »
Millennial New Year’s Resolution: Talk to Your Parents About Estate Planning
Congratulations, millennials! You survived 2020. This means that, in the near future, you will be turning 40. It has probably become painfully obvious to you that you have had to start thinking about money in terms of long-term plans at a much younger age than the previous generation did. You might have even started… Read More »
Disinherited Son Challenges Validity of Late Father’s Marriage in Probate Feud Over Family Trust
For the most part, you have the freedom to leave all or part of your estate to anyone you choose. Family members who get nothing from your estate, according to your will, might be upset, but the court will respect your wishes unless the disinherited relative can prove that the will is invalid or… Read More »
