Category: Florida Probate Law

Four Important Changes That Could Affect Your Estate Plan

1. The New Elective Share. A surviving spouse of a person who dies domiciled in Florida has the right to 30% of the decedent spouse’s elective estate.

The elective estate includes: the decedent’s probate estate, revocable trust estate, ownership interest in accounts or securities registered in “Pay On Death (POD)” “Transfer On Death (TOD),” “In Trust For (ITF),” joint accounts with right of survivorship, and more. The old elective share law only applied to the decedent’s probate estate.

Typically in second marriages, spouses want to pass their assets to the children of the first marriage. Prior to the “New Elective Share” if a spouse was successful in avoiding a probate administration at his or her [..]

Reasons for You to Create an Estate Plan

A Will is an essential part of a comprehensive estate plan because it allows you to bequeath your estate to loved ones. Unfortunately, this document alone is not always enough to protect your family and your assets:

Did you know:

    A Will does not avoid probate. To probate a Will costs 3% to 8% of your estate, and may take 9 to 12 months! A Will becomes a public document when it is filed with the Court- Anyone can read it! A Will does not necessarily determine who will receive your assets. Multiple probates could be required if real estate is owned in another state. The Court controls when beneficiaries under your Will receive their
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New Type of Trust Protects Assets for Florida Heirs

Even though the federal estate tax is affecting a smaller percentage of people every year, those with larger amounts of assets are more likely to suffer the ill effects of this particular fee. New federal estate tax rules protect individuals estates that are valued at $11.58 million or less, and couples’ estates that are valued at less than $23.16 million. However, when estates passed those threshold, the estate tax rises to an overwhelming 40 percent. Now, a new type of legal protection has become available for those with large estates, allowing for additional shielding from the massive 40 percent tax.

This new estate administration tool is known as the grantor retained annuity trust. This particular [..]