Estate Planning

In many families, the family dynamic can include the dramatic elements of one child being the favorite and another child getting cut out of a parent’s will. When a child gets disinherited because of favoritism toward another child or a broken relationship between the disinherited child and the parent, that child often wants to know if they have any legal recourse.

While this sounds like a simple question, there can be different answers, depending on the specific circumstances. A Florida estate planning attorney could help you contest a will or protect your will from getting successfully contested. Let’s take a look at the question, can a disinherited child contest a will in Florida?

The Age of the Child

Under Florida law, a parent has a legal duty to care for all of their minor children.
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Receiving a windfall like a personal injury settlement can be something that an older adult dreams of, until the fallout from the settlement starts. If you receive Medicaid benefits and rely on that for your health insurance and eligibility for other public assistance programs, getting a personal injury settlement could disqualify you from the Medicaid program.

A Florida estate planning attorney can help you navigate the situation by using existing legal strategies to protect your eligibility for Medicaid. Let’s talk about your options for receiving Medicaid benefits after a personal injury settlement.

Why You Could Lose Medicaid Eligibility if You Receive a Personal Injury Settlement Directly

Currently, there is a limit of $2,000 in countable assets for an individual to be eligible for Medicaid benefits.
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One of the first things you should do after getting a divorce is to change your will, trust, and other estate planning documents. It is easy to procrastinate on doing so because you might find yourself busier than ever with your new lifestyle and because you might feel emotionally wrung out and tired of handling legal matters. It is actually best to review your estate plan both before and after going through a divorce.

The adverse consequences of not updating your estate plan documents could be startling. A Florida estate planning attorney can help you craft a new estate plan tailored to your new goals and needs.
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An executor of a will administers the will of a deceased person, and a trustee manages the living trust or testamentary trust of a person. The living trust will need to be managed during the lifetime of the person who set up the trust and afterward. A testamentary trust doesn’t exist during the lifetime of the person who created it through their will. A testamentary trust will need to be administered after the testator (the person who created the will) dies.

These things are the bare-bones distinguishing features of what people do when serving as an executor or trustee, but there are many more crucial differences between executor of a will and trustee.
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Many people realize that they should create an estate plan, but they worry about the cost. The amount that an estate plan costs can vary a great deal, based on things like which documents you need, the complexity of your situation, and how many revisions you make before approving and signing the documents.

Some lawyers charge by the hour to draft estate planning documents, while some others offer flat fees per item and some cost-saving package deals. One of the most important things to keep in mind when selecting the lawyer who will draft the documents to protect you and your family is that you do not want the cost of attorney fees to be the only factor in your decision. A Florida estate planning attorney can best answer your questions related to estate planning.
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The person who agreed to serve as a guardian might eventually become unable or unwilling to perform that duty. In that situation, the law provides several different ways to change guardians.

Changing guardians is not as simple as another person agreeing to take on the responsibility. You have to follow a formal process and go through the court for appointment of the new guardian. A Florida estate planning attorney can advocate for you in guardianship cases and explain what happens if a general guardian changes their mind.
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When you have young children, you want to provide for them financially in case you do not live to see them become adults. You might buy a life insurance policy and get a will or living trust. You can and should name someone to serve as your child’s guardian if you die before the child reaches majority.

It is a simple matter to name guardians for your child. This article explains how to choose guardians for your minor children and some things you will want to know when doing so.
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A life insurance trust is a special kind of trust designed to avoid some of the estate tax problems that can arise when a decedent owned a life insurance policy that did not name someone else as the beneficiary of the proceeds. There are good reasons in some situations to have life insurance with the estate as the beneficiary.

A Florida estate planning attorney can set up a life insurance trust and answer your questions, like, “What is a life insurance trust, and is a life insurance trust a good option for me?”

Why You Might Want to Have a Life Insurance Trust

Life insurance is a relatively inexpensive way to provide money for your loved ones when you are no longer alive to support them.
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Florida law does not force you to work with a lawyer to create your estate plan, but the real question is whether you should do your own estate planning. There are inexpensive DIY forms online and in software programs, so writing your own will or trust might seem like a great way to save a lot of money.

You and your loved ones could regret it if you go that route instead of working with an attorney. You might accidentally forget to include a dear friend or to remove your former spouse from the title of assets. These are just a couple of examples of the many things that could go wrong if you try to fly solo on your estate planning.

If an aging loved one starts behaving in a manner that concerns you, it could be the result of many things, including that someone is manipulating or controlling your loved one. Unfortunately, some people see the elderly as walking money pots who can be exploited.

You might discover that your parent recently made a new will but does not want you to see the document. If you have not had a falling out with your relative, you might wonder if someone strong-armed your loved one. A Read more . . .

Whether you are considering getting a living trust as a part of your estate planning or you expect to be a beneficiary of someone else’s trust, you might be wondering when a trust is invalid in Florida. Several different situations could lead to a trust getting invalidated. A Read more . . .