How Do I Make Sure All My Assets (Real Estate, Bank Accounts, Investments) Are Properly Transferred into the Trust?
Video Summary
How do I make sure all my assets, real estate, bank accounts, investments are properly transferred into the trust? It’s a common mistake to not fund the trust are improperly fund a trust by simply referring to the trust document as the Roland d Waller Trust dated July the fourth, 2025, and that that’s not the way you titled the assets. You need to title ’em in the name of the trustee, such as Roland D Waller as the trustee of the Roland d Waller Trust dated July the fourth, 2025. And that is for bank accounts and for real estate as how you need to title those assets. And the big thing is to make sure that you know all the assets that you have so that we can properly have them transferred or give you direction on what to do and keeping track of it. Sometimes there’s a problem whenever you’re dealing with a certificate’s deposit that mature well, then you wind up not continuing with it or the maintenance is showing that they are for your name as trustee under your trust rather than putting them in your individual name. So, it’s a question of, first off is identifying all your assets and then working at having them titled in the name of your trustee, which is usually yourself as far as your revocable trust is concerned, and identifying you as the trustee, trustee, and then your trust and the date. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
How Can I Legally Require My Neighbor to Move a Fence, Structure, Or Landscaping That Crosses onto My Land?
Video Summary
How can I legally require my neighbor to move a fence, structure or landscaping that crosses onto my land? You can file an action for Ejectment to require asking the court to order them to remove these encroachments on your property. It’s a mandatory injunction, and so they would be given a specified period of time to do that. Usually that’s expensive and sometimes I suggest that you try doing that by self-help. So, letting the neighbor know that if they don’t move the encroachment that you will do so since it’s on your property and lay the fence on their side of the property line. So, if you have any questions concerning this, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Real Estate, Videos
How Are Taxes Handled with Trusts Will My Beneficiaries Owe Taxes When They Inherit?
Video Summary
How are taxes handled with trust? Will my beneficiary owe taxes when they inherit? First, you need to determine whether you have sufficient assets to be taxed by the federal government. The State of Florida has done away with their estate tax law or estate tax. The federal government has raised the estate tax exemption to a little under $14 million. So if you have assets of less than $14 million, there is no tax federal estate tax. If you have real estate outside the state of Florida, that state may tax your estate upon your death as far as the benefits under your beneficiaries receive the dated death value of your assets, so it limits their tax liability. An example of that is if I purchased a piece of real estate for $200,000 during my lifetime, say in 2000, and then I die in 2025 and the property is worth twice that much or $400,000, well, if my beneficiary sell the property for $400,000, there’s no tax since their basis or step up in basis is $400,000. If they sell it for more than what the date of death value is, they only must pay long-term capital gains. So that’s a huge income tax benefit for inheriting property rather than receiving it during the party’s lifetime. So, if you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Do I Need a Separate Will for Digital Assets Like Social Media Accounts, Crypto Wallets, Or Online Businesses?
Video Summary
Do I need a separate Will for digital assets like social media accounts, crypto wallets, or online businesses? No, you do not. The Florida statutes provide for language to be used in Wills, which deals with digital assets. This was negotiated with the large Google and other digital asset platforms, and so you put this language in the Will that gives your executive the right to access these accounts and deal with them. Now, the exception is cryptocurrency, which number one is, that’s sort of like cash. There is no one to deal with, and so if you don’t have the wallet, you don’t have access. So, whoever does have the wallet, may have access to the cryptocurrency and so it does not work as far as that’s concerned with your will. And so, you would need to provide, make provision for your wallet number to be available upon your death to your executor. Otherwise, it may be lost forever. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What Estate Planning Steps Should I Take If I Own Multiple Properties or Out of State Property?
Video Summary
What estate planning steps should I take if I own multiple properties or out of state property? Well, assuming the purpose of your estate planning is to try and avoid probate, you can set up a Trust and convey the property to your trustee, and then it will be controlled by the provisions of your Trust. Another way that we’ve done it, if you just have Florida property and you want the property go to certain beneficiaries outright, you can execute what they call a lady bird deed, which is an enhanced life estate deed, or you convey the property to the beneficiary, but reserve all the rights of ownership during your lifetime so that you can sell it and don’t need the joiner of the person who you conveyed it to. So those are some of the ways or the way you can do that if you convey the property to the trustee of your Trust for out-of-state property. Well, your trust should control the sale of that, so there is certain provisions you’d like. I suggest you put in deeds, particularly if you transfer it into a Trust, particularly as far as your homestead is concerned, so that you can continue to get homestead exemption and also certain powers that you put in there so that you don’t have to disclose or publish portions of your Trust which authorize you as trustee to sell the property. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos