How Do I Choose a Reliable Executor, and What Responsibilities Will They Have?
Video Summary
How do I choose a reliable executor and what responsibilities will they have? Well, you need to pick someone who is trustworthy, that you trust, and that you believe will treat all the beneficiaries fairly and knows enough to contact an attorney to get some guidance as far as handling the probate of your estate and handling your affairs as far as what their responsibilities are, as they need to petition the court to be appointed. And once they’re appointed, then a lawyer acts on their behalf, but they have a responsibility for filing a notice of administration to the various beneficiaries of the estate and also sends a notice to creditors giving the notice, giving them notice to file their claims in the estate. Moreover, they have the responsibility to send that notice to any reasonably ascertainable creditor so that the creditors can file their claims and the claim period runs about three months after.
They also have to file an inventory in 60 days, and they need to marshal the assets, meaning they need to collect the assets. I usually have them set up an estate account so that all the money goes into one account, so that whenever we have all the assets in and we file the inventory, we can then have an accounting to show what the expenses are and how much money is available to pay creditors and how much is available for the beneficiaries, which we then, if there’s enough money to pay the creditors, we pay the creditors. And then the balance, the money is distributed to the beneficiaries, but they’re entitled to accounting and to object to it or not. So that’s in a nutshell what the responsibilities are of an executor in Florida. The executor needs to be one of the following, either related by blood or in the alternative, a resident in the state of Florida, one of the two. So, if you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos, Wills
How Do the Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Directives Fit into My Estate Plan?
Video Summary
How do the powers of attorney and healthcare directives fit into my estate plan? Well, these are items that are documents that are valid during your lifetime. The power of attorney, as well as your healthcare directives. They terminate upon death, where upon your will or your trust or other documents control what happens to your assets with your power of attorney. This is authorizing an agent, someone to act on your behalf. Some people say, well, I have power over someone. No, you are an agent for that person, and they continue to have the rights to deal with their property but authorize the agent under the power of attorney to also deal with their assets. Usually, you set these up called a durable power of attorney. The reason they’re durable is the power of attorney is still valid even if you become incapacitated and the person that deals with your agent does not have to verify that you are competent. You read about all the bad players on powers of attorney, and that they’re effective immediately, and they have the power to look at your estate as far as that’s concerned. Although they don’t have legal rights, they must act in your behalf, and so that’s the power of attorney. They should not have self-dealing. In other words, they should not use the power of attorney to transfer or convey assets from your name into their name under healthcare directives. It basically is to authorize a HIPAA waiver and to allow someone to make healthcare decisions for you if you are in the hospital. Also, the living will or dying declaration sets forth who you wish to make the ultimate decision to disconnect life support the statute set for three circumstances where you’re directing and authorizing your healthcare surrogate to disconnect life support. If you have a terminal condition and states condition or permanent vegetative state, and this takes place whenever you’re on a respirator, you’re not going to make it and you’re unconscious and they don’t believe you receive consciousness. So if you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Guardianship, Videos
If I Move to Another State, Will My Current Will Still Be Valid?
Video Summary
If I move to another state, will my current WILL still be valid? More than likely it will be valid and that it is usually, if it’s valid where they sign the Will in whatever state it is, it’ll be recognized here in Florida. I do suggest that you probably get a new will whenever you move to another state to see that it complies with Florida law. Florida has a unique law, which I think is something unusual about Florida is they require that a personal representative that you designate be a Florida resident or related by blood, so on air. So, you can’t name your New York lawyer or your out-of-state lawyer as your executor since they’re not related, nor are they residents of the state of Florida. But your will would probably be valid, although there may not be some provisions. So, if you move to another state, suggest that you review your estate planning documents, including your power of attorney, healthcare surrogate and durable power of attorney, as well as your will and trust to see if they comply with Florida law and or if there’s any changes or that you want them to be controlled by Florida law. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos, Wills
What Are the Tax Implications for My Heirs Under My Current Estate Plan?
Video Summary
What are the tax implications for my heirs under my current estate plan? Well, if you are a Florida resident, whenever you pass away, the state of Florida has done away with the state taxes so that there’s no estate taxes due to the state of Florida. The federal government has raised the estate tax limitation to just under $14 million. So if your assets don’t equal $14 million, well there won’t be any federal estate tax. If you own real estate outside the state of Florida, that state may impose the estate tax on whatever the property is in that particular state. As far as income tax is that beneficiaries do not have to pay income tax on assets that they receive from the estate or trust as a result of your death. Under the Internal Revenue Code, you get what they call a step up basis for the date of death value of the property. By way of example, that if I purchased a property for $200,000 and 2000 and then I pass away in 2025 and the property is worth $400,000, my beneficiaries take the property for $400,000. That’s called a step up in basis. So if they would sell the property for $400,000, there would be no tax. If they sell it for more than the $400,000, the difference between the 400,000 what they sell it for would be long-term capital gains. If you have any questions concerning this, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
Can A Trust Protect My Assets from Creditors, Lawsuits, Or Long Term Care Costs?
Video Summary
Can a trust protect my assets from creditors, lawsuits long-term care costs? The answer is no. A revocable trust does not protect your assets from any of those, and that you look through the trust to see who controls the asset and who the beneficiary is, and so that it is a myth that many people have that they think if they transfer their assets into a trust that is protected from the claims accreditors. Also, as far as applying for Medicaid, if you need to have long-term care, again, the assets in the trust and the income is considered yours and you have to apply for it. Even the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t require you to get a separate federal identification number if you’re the trustee of your trust. Now, if you set up an irrevocable trust, then that’s a different story. Then it will protect your assets. However you lose control, you can have any control over your assets, and so there’s still a five-year lookback period for if you go into skilled nursing care, but I don’t drive irrevocable trust and that I don’t like the idea you’re giving up control of your assets and what happens to them. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos