Most consider estate planning for those approaching retirement age or older. However, young couples should contemplate doing an estate plan for different as well as many of the same reasons as their older counterparts. Only about a third of Florida resident as well as Americans with young children have a Last Will & Testament let alone other estate planning documents. To benefit from estate planning as a young couple, it is important to know what an estate plan can do.

Many newly married couples put off estate planning for assorted reasons. Those reasons may include being too young, being healthy, unable to afford it or because they have no children at the time. For some, it may even be depressing to imagine the possibility of dying or becoming incapacitated at such a youthful age. Even healthy young adults can be stricken by serious illness or accident and leave their spouse behind. Estate planning for young married couples at an early stage of their lives for the possibilities that may occur in the future is essentially the responsible, loving, and thoughtful thing to do.

Knowledge of what estate planning can do for a person and their spouse is vital in the long run. A basic estate plan typically includes a Last Will & Testament, Financial Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, Advance Directive or Living Will and a Preneed Declaration of Guardian for Minors. In addition, one of the primary goals of any estate plan is to minimize any taxes due at the time of death. People may wonder what will happen if they die without creating a Last Will. The response is that the Florida court will appoint a Personal Representative to make decisions regarding the division of assets. After final matters are paid for such items as debts, taxes and funeral expenses, the Personal Representative will divide the subject assets according to state law which does not always take into account the deceased party’s wishes or family dynamics. This impersonal but lawful route for one’s estate is precisely what most individuals, couples, and families aim to avoid when they do their estate planning.

Further, if one is not legally married but are in an otherwise committed relationship, planning is essential because one’s partner may otherwise have no legal standing to deal with the other’s affairs or receive any of their assets after death.

If one dies without a legal Last Will, the assets are distributed according to a plan established by state law, not by the individual. If one dies with only minor children as heirs, the child’s money is placed under the protection of a legal Guardian under a legal Guardianship and would require court supervision over the management of finances.

Fortunately, estate planning for a young couple is often simple and inexpensive. A basic Last Will with a testamentary Minor’s Trust therein, including Guardian or Trustee appointments, a Living Will, Health Care Surrogate and a Power of Attorney for financial affairs can address most of the needs which might reasonably arise in the following decade or so. This advanced planning provides security for one’s spouse and children, which they may need to rely upon for years, if not the rest of their lives. A Florida resident can use these documents to appoint Personal Representatives and/or Trustees to oversee resolving one’s estate and managing financial affairs of the subject estate. Moreover, said documents remove or reduce the likelihood of family disputes about the wishes or intentions of the deceased party.

Several legal roles should be considered for inclusion in the young couple’s planning documents, which include-Agents under the various Powers of Attorney as well as Guardians, Personal Representatives and Trustees. A Guardian is the person who is responsible for the custody and care of a minor child. If a child is left orphaned, the deceased parent would want them to receive care in the best possible hands. In addition to routine care, this person will have to make medical decisions, educational choices, religious guidance, and provide the proper nurturing for the child. With proper estate planning, one can make that choice while alive, based on the factors they find important, rather than a judge, who is a stranger, making these important decisions. By putting off planning due to fear, indecision, or failure to prioritize it, one may effectively decide to place their family in a precarious position.

One’s Personal Representative (PR) also serves an important rule, though for a much shorter time. The PR is responsible to wrap up one’s estate, collecting assets, paying debts, resolving taxes, and distributing property under the Last Will. It is a paperwork-intensive process requiring good organizational skills and an ability to solve problems. Someone located in the area where one resides is often a better choice than someone far away, due to the logistics of paperwork, court appearances, attorney consultations, bank visits and similar duties. This person will be responsible to see that what the deceased party owns goes to whom it should, so it should be someone who is responsible, diligent, intelligent, and trustworthy.

Finally, an individual or family may want to set up a Trust to protect assets which will pass to young children. A Trustee oversees financial assets left for a child, investing, and distributing them according to terms one has described in a Last Will or in a Trust document. This may involve managing assets for many years as the children grow and become responsible adults, during which time the Trustee will have to make many decisions about what is in the best interests of the child and their finances and care. A Trustee should be knowledgeable of financial dealings, have effective communication skills, and be very trustworthy.

The couple may also wish to discuss having a Living Will and/or medical Power of Attorney prepared. A Health Care and Living Will can describe whom one would like to make medical decisions about their care and treatment if they are left unable to do so themselves. Moreover, a person can describe their wishes about various types of medical treatment which they do, or do not, wish to receive if they are permanently unconscious or terminally ill and unable to communicate, such as blood transfusions, feeding tubes, and more, if the condition is one from which they will never recover. This avoids the types of family tragedies which transpired in the publicized cases of Karen Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, or Terri Schiavo. Separately, a Durable Power of Attorney can be prepared which authorizes someone to act as an Agent on their behalf to manage financial and personal matters when the Principal may be unable to act on their own.

With early estate planning, a young couple can easily and inexpensively protect their family against many of the tragic unforeseen events which can spring up. The process of planning is relatively quick and painless and may be paid for by a Legal Plan that an employer may offer as a work benefit. Once in place, this plan will continue to protect those interests in a mature and responsible manner. Later as life changes over the years, one’s estate plan can change, modify, or evolve accordingly. As one may be aware, there was a reason one’s older parents had a proper estate plan prepared, therefore, it should be time for a young parent or a young couple to do so as well!

The foregoing is a very brief and general overview of the benefits of having a properly prepared estate plan even while young in Florida.

If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Unclaimed Funds are one of the many reasons for a proper estate plan and to advise one’s family or loved ones accordingly.

Unclaimed Funds go to the state (escheat) and may include money and securities, unclaimed property includes tangible property such as watches, jewelry, coins, currency, stamps, historical items, and other miscellaneous articles from abandoned safe deposit boxes. Escheat is the right of a government to take ownership of estate assets or unclaimed property in the event there are no heirs or beneficiaries. Escheat rights can also be granted when assets are unclaimed for a prolonged period. These situations can also be referred to as bona vacantia or simply unclaimed property. Financial institutions can hand over unclaimed property to their state, which includes bank accounts, assets, or any other property unclaimed for an extended period.

More than $58 billion dollars of assets have been escheated, or confiscated, by state governments in the US, and are just sitting in state funds, awaiting retrieval. There may be more which have yet to be recognized. The State of Florida, for example, currently holds an estimated $2 billion dollars’ worth of unclaimed money that can be claimed by legal owners at any time.

Florida and US residents forget about property and assets they may own. Additionally, people may not know that their loved ones have or had assets and, even if they were told, they may have forgotten them as well.

There are a number of free and paid groups which assist in finding money and assets which was lost or forgotten.

These assets are called “Unclaimed Property.”  A non-profit organization called NAUPA, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, is charged with helping oversee unclaimed property. NAUPA has members from every state in the US, including DC.  Its role is to set and foster the highest standards, professionalism, and best practices in raising awareness of, protecting, and returning unclaimed property to its rightful owners.

According to NAUPA, unclaimed property is defined as “accounts in financial institutions and companies, which have had no activity generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period.” Various states set different periods of time before escheating property. The state of Florida has a five-year holding period on most assets. Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, has said “…one in five Floridians has unclaimed property waiting for them.“  That is one of the bases for the CFO launching the “Florida Treasure Hunt” to spread the word and assist residents or their surviving families recover cash for which they may not even be aware. Last year, Florida paid out $349 million dollars in missing money.

Again, various forms of unclaimed property can consist of assets such as bank accounts, uncashed checks, money orders, gift certificates, stock and dividends or court funds, insurance policies and property from brokers/dealers, credit balances, payroll checks or bond interest, utility deposits, refunds, traveler’s checks, trust distributions, insurance refunds, annuities, certificates of deposit, bearer bonds, customer overpayments and contents of safe deposit boxes, among others.

Unclaimed property held by state governments does not include contents in storage units, which get sold if abandoned. It also does not include items that have been “hidden” in a home, like dollar bills inside books or under mattresses, or jewelry, gold bars, coins or other assets which have been hidden.

The most common reason abandoned property is turned over to the state and becomes unclaimed property is when a resident of that state:

• Moves without notifying every business contact;
• Forgets about accounts they may still have open; 
• Has checks that have been lost in the mail, uncashed or put in a drawer and forgotten; and
• Has no account information or process for notifying heirs upon his or her death. 

There is currently no statute of limitation on unclaimed property. One can claim and recover property that was escheated 50+ years ago and even unclaimed property of deceased relatives if one is a lawful heir. Further, depending on the state, it may include interest. However, Florida is not one of them.

Finding out if a loved one has unclaimed property is easier nowadays. People can check to see if they have any awaiting them, by going to NAUPA’s site, www.MissingMoney.com, or a free site sponsored by NAUPA, or to www.unclaimed.org.  The databases that house unclaimed property records are located and maintained by each state, not by the two stated sites.

Legitimate proof of one’s right to claim unclaimed property must be presented to make the claim.

To date, the largest unclaimed property recipient was a woman in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2011, for $6.1 million dollars, from a stock that her ancestors had invested in many years prior. The stock had been lost in passing it down from one generation to another.

HOWEVER, doing a proper estate plan and advising one’s family, loved ones, heirs and/or beneficiaries can go a long way in avoiding the foregoing from occurring.

The ability to know with certainty what will happen to one’s assets after they pass away is a primary benefit of creating an estate plan. When all goes as planned, a deceased party’s estate assets are distributed precisely as the terms of their Last Will & Testament and/or Trust and/or Lady Bird Deed, among other properly prepared documents, dictate. 

The foregoing is a very brief and general overview of the benefits of having a proper estate plan prepared and advising loved ones.

If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Florida probate is a legal process that occurs when an individual passes as a resident in this state. The probate process validates a Last Will (if one exists) and functions to distribute the deceased party’s assets in the proper manner, either pursuant to the subject Last Will or by state law. The probate process can take approximately 6 months to a number of years and is dependent upon how complex the subject estate is or if the matter is contested. Throughout the probate proceeding, there are several processes, procedures, and deadlines that may feel complex and overwhelming. Often, it is at these points where one will determine if they need a Florida probate lawyer.

A probate attorney is a lawyer who focuses on estate planning and the probate process. They are experienced at working with the personal representative or executor as well as the deceased’s family members to get the estate through the probate process and assets distributed to the beneficiaries or heirs. 

After a loved one passes away, their assets, also referred to as their estate, must be distributed to beneficiaries or heirs, which include assets such as bank accounts, vehicles, jewelry, real estate, and personal property. Any asset which is owned by the deceased party must go through probate unless there is a named beneficiary (such as an insurance policy) or there are rights of survivorship (such as in real estate). 

A Last Will & Testament is a document which details who shall receive what property when someone passes away. The Last Will in Florida names a Personal Representative or in some states called an executor, which is the person who is responsible for distributing the decedent’s estate to the named beneficiaries. Upon the decedent’s passing, the Last Will is provided to a judge to be admitted to probate, which means that the court will review the said Last Will to confirm it is valid. Under Florida law, the Last Will must be signed by the individual writing the Will and be signed by two witnesses. Florida law does not require that the subject Last Will be notarized, but notarized Wills should be easier to admit to the probate court.

After the Last Will has been admitted, the administration of the subject estate will occur. Administration can be a lengthy process that involves taking an accounting of the decedent’s assets, providing proper notice to beneficiaries, managing any beneficiary disputes, and managing creditor claims, if any. An experienced probate attorney will be familiar with the administration process and can guide the surviving family through the necessary steps. When the administration has been completed, the probate judge will sign an order allowing all the property to be transferred or distributed, and the probate process can be concluded.

If an individual passes away without a Last Will or other estate plan, Florida law will govern how their estate is distributed. This process is commonly referred to as intestate succession. Generally, the individual’s assets will go to their surviving spouse, if any, and/or closest relatives (i.e., next of kin).

Even though there is no Last Will, the estate will still go through the probate process for the assets to be formally transferred or distributed to the intestate successors. 

The probate process is time-consuming, can be complex and comes at a time in one’s life when they should be focusing on grieving their loss. An experienced probate attorney can take the burden off the person and assist in making the probate process easier. The attorney’s knowledge of Florida law and the court system will help ensure that mistakes are not made that may delay the probate of the estate. 

One vital role an attorney plays is to help determine who is entitled to the estate and effectuate those applicable transfers or distributions. An attorney can assist the Personal Representative or executor and/or surviving family members in the following ways, among others:

Determining and paying any taxes due, such as estate taxes, income taxes, or inheritance taxes;

Identifying and creating an accounting of all estate assets;

Setting up and managing a checking account for the estate;

Paying any debts and final bills owed by the estate;

Ordering any appraisals which may be necessary (commonly occurring with real estate and jewelry);

Making final distributions and re-titling assets in the names of the beneficiaries or heirs; and/or

Most Last Wills are uncontested, but if any objections to the subject Last Will or the applicable distributions arise, which may lead to disputes, and, potentially, probate litigation.

The foregoing is a very brief and general overview of the benefits of having a Probate lawyer in Florida.

If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Estate Planning empowers Florida residents to make their own decisions and choices about their future and the future of their loved ones. The following are a few of the most common reasons people decide to create an estate plan. 

Avoiding probate is easily one of the most common reasons people seek out the guidance of an experienced Estate Planning Attorney. Any individual who has ever had to deal with the stress, strain and cost of probate knows that they want to avoid it at all costs. Probate is perceived as the painful process which takes place after someone’s death. It usually involves proving to the court that a deceased person’s Last Will & Testament is valid, or worse still-without a Last Will, identifying heirs or beneficiaries or family members, itemizing and cataloging the deceased individual’s property, appraising that property, assigning, and paying debts and taxes and distributing the remaining property. As can be seen, it can be an involved and expensive process with a number of variables and opportunities for issues, conflicts, and family infighting. Typically, this process involves lawyers and court fees that are paid for by the subject estate, which wastes money and resources that could otherwise go to the individual’s heirs, beneficiaries or loved ones. While many of the problems with this process may seem obvious, many others can be found in the countless stories regarding the probate process. That is why the best practice is always consulting an experienced attorney that can assist in avoiding these issues before they ever become a factor. 

One tool that many estate planning lawyers use to avoid probate is a Trust. Unlike a Last Will, a Trust allows a person to transfer property to their heirs without having to go through probate and can provide tax benefits. 

The very real prospect of losing a sizable portion of a deceased’s hard-earned estate to state and federal taxes is always a great incentive for seeking estate planning advice. Using their attorney, married couples can reduce or even eliminate many estate taxes altogether by using tools like AB trusts or ABC trusts, among others. An individual can also reduce the burden of inheritance tax on their children or grandchildren quite significantly if they seek proper legal advice in advance. 

In Florida, one can also avoid probate by placing designated beneficiaries on applicable accounts and using a Lady Bird deed on real property.

Many residents have heard stories of the unpleasant family infighting that can occur in the aftermath of a loved one’s death. Aside from wasting time and money, failure to make a comprehensive estate plan can create chaos for one’s family and can often lead to major rifts and damaged relationships. Making fundamental decisions such as who will be in charge(an authorized Agent under a Power of Atty to act on their behalf) if a person becomes mentally or physically incapacitated while alive, and/or who gets what, when they will get it and how they will get it(before or after death) can be crucial in avoiding family disputes and costly probate court proceedings. 

Estate planning is much more than just deciding who to leave one’s assets, it is also about looking after one’s loved ones when the parent or spouse, etc. are no longer alive. There are generally two main reasons a person may want to protect their beneficiaries. First, the applicable beneficiary may be a minor, in which case state law (and recommended practice) requires a guardian be appointed to oversee the minor’s needs and finances until they become of legal age. However, as can be suspected, adult beneficiaries may need protection as well, which brings up the second major reason people may want to consult an estate planning attorney. In some instances, a Florida resident may want to protect their adult beneficiary from bad decisions, outside influences, creditors, or even their spouse. One can insolate their beneficiary’s inheritance from an overbearing spouse or a partner who might squander their inheritance or possibly take it in a divorce. 

In recent years, asset protection has become one of the most popular and important bases people consult an estate planning attorney. Once they become aware or suspect that a lawsuit or divorce is on the horizon, it may be too late to put a plan in place which can provide protection. With the appropriate estate plan, one can create a sound financial plan which can protect assets during one’s lifetime and thereafter.

While situations and wishes are different or vary, it is critical to consult an experienced estate planning attorney who will listen to one’s needs and can create a customized plan that puts them, and their loved ones in the best position possible for the future. 

The foregoing is a very brief and general overview of the benefits of having an estate plan done in Florida.

If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.