Video Summary

How do I protect my assets from lawsuits?  Well, your biggest exposure for liability and being sued is with your automobile.  So whatever automobile you drive, you should be shown as the owner, and don’t hold the title in your joint names because the automobile is a dangerous instrumentality, and if it’s involved in an automobile accident, the owner or owners as well as the operator or driver of the vehicle who caused the accident has liability.  So if you have more than one automobile in your family, have each spouse put the automobile which they drive in their name so that they’re the owner and operator, and that way if either of you are involved in an accident, well, then they can only sue one spouse.

I also suggest that you talk to your insurance agent about getting what they call an umbrella policy.  Umbrella policy offers you protection for liability that exceeds your insurance limits.  Hopefully you have $100,000.00 limits, and if you’re concerned about exposure over $100,000.00, you can get what they call a $1 million umbrella, or $2 million, and that way the umbrella policy covers any damages above the $100,000.00 limit.  So depending on how much security you want is how much you should cover as far as a liability policy.  And it covers not only liability for automobile accidents, but anything you would be sued upon, or most things you would be sued upon.

Be sure to include that as uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.  In these recessionary times, you have any number of people out there driving, and they may not have any insurance.  And if they cause an accident and you’re injured, well, you don’t have anyone to turn to, and if you don’t have underinsured motorist, well, then you don’t have anyone to recover your damages from, whereas if you do have underinsured motorist on an umbrella policy, well, you’re covered for the extent of your insurance coverage.

As far as a title to your assets, I suggest that you place them if you’re married in your name as husband and wife for tenancy by the entirety, and that way, if there is a judgment as a result of an automobile accident, they cannot reach any of your assets that you have titled as husband and wife or tenancy by the entireties.

So if you want to do some asset protection and discuss your estate plan, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

How do I protect my assets from my creditors?  Well, the first thing you need to do, particularly if you’re married, is to have the credit in just one spouse’s name, and that way, if there’s any credit problems, they can’t attach the assets that are held jointly as husband and wife.  So you need to title your assets as husband and wife, and that includes your bank account.  So whenever you go to the bank, the next time you go to the bank, if you’re married, be sure that you talk to your bank representative.  Ask them to pull your signature card, and be sure that the card provides that you are – you hold the account as tenancy by the entireties or you have it as husband and wife rather than as joint tenants with right of survivorship.

If the account is held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, that means that both of you have a one-half interest in the account, whereas if you hold it as husband and wife or tenancy by the entireties, you do not have a half-interest in the account or the property; you have an undivided interest in the whole.  So it’s important that you have the accounts or your assets held as husband and wife and therefore any creditor who is against only one spouse cannot attach the assets that are held as husband and wife or held up by tenancy by the entireties.

You say, “Well, I don’t have the luxury of being married,” or, “if I’m married I want to keep my assets separate.”  Well, some of the investments that you can have to protect them against creditors is if you invest in annuities.  Annuities are something that cannot be attached.  But the main asset that can be protected from creditors, and it doesn’t matter how much you owe them or how many judgments you have, is your home.  Your home is your biggest asset.  You can own your home.  Creditors cannot take your homestead away from you, and even if you don’t owe any money on it, they still can’t take it.  When you pass away, if you leave it to your children or your heirs, well, they still don’t get paid whenever you pass away, and it is passed on to your heirs.  So your homestead is your very best investment as far as protection from creditors.

So if you have anymore questions or need to do some estate planning as far as asset protection and estate planning, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What role does an estate planning lawyer play in negotiations of a marital settlement agreement?  Well, there’s any number of marital settlement agreements.  There are marital settlement agreements that are entered into prior to the marriage, which is a pre-marital agreement.  There are some that are entered into after the marriage for the parties to address each others’ rights and their spouse’s estate.  And then there are the marital settlement agreements that are entered into in conjunction with a divorce proceeding.  The estate planning lawyer will want to review the agreement to verify that the spouse of your client has waived their rights to claim a portion of your client’s estate in the event your client passes away or my client passes away.

That would include the waiver of the elective share that a spouse has to take 30 percent of my client’s estate.  Also, as far as homestead is concerned, they waive their right to serve as a personal representative and also the right to any property that is acquired after the marital settlement agreement has been entered into and give full authority and latitude for my spouse to leave whoever they want to their property in their will or trust.  And so that’s what you’re looking for whenever an estate planning lawyer looks at the marital settlement agreement, and I usually have asked a lawyer who does domestic relations to prepare these because they are tested much more stringently or could be set aside much easier or attacked in the event there’s a divorce proceeding.

So if it could pass, it will almost always pass the test of not being able to be attacked after death.  So the estate plan lawyer is interested in seeing that the spouse of his client has waived their rights in his client’s estate to allow his client to leave his assets to whomever he would like, or as an alternative to be aware of what obligation he has to provide for his spouse in his will or trust.  If you have any questions, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

How can domestic life partners use estate planning to provide for one another?  Well, it’s imperative if you do wish to provide for your life partner that you do estate planning and that you can provide for your life partner in your will.  You can designate him or her as a beneficiary under your life insurance policies.  You can set up joint accounts naming your life partner as the beneficiary.  One of the problems that you may have is when it comes to 401ks and your profit sharing plans.  Sometimes that’s more difficult.  Florida does not recognize civil unions.  Even if you have a civil union recognized in another state, it won’t be recognized here in Florida.

So the key to providing for your life partner after you pass on is to do the planning and do a will and set your accounts up in your joint names.  And sometimes it’s – I’ve seen any number of times – it’s tragic when a life partner has cared for the other one for many, many years and they didn’t make any provision for them.  And then whenever they pass away the life partner gets nothing.  So I urge you to go ahead and have a will prepared and provide for your life partner and do the planning.  If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.  Thank you.

Video Summary

If a couple divorces, what are the rights of the ex-spouse in their former spouse’s estate?  The law provides that if you do not change your will and you have left the name of your former spouse in your will that they don’t receive or take anything under your will.  That’s the same as far as a trust is concerned.  However, if you name them on your IRA and have not changed it, or your individual retirement account, thus far the law has not been changed and so they may take under your IRA-designated beneficiary form.

So it’s important that you review all your estate documents after you become divorced.  If you didn’t have a will and didn’t name your ex-spouse on any of your IRAs or name them in your will, then of course they would not have any rights under your will to receive anything. And whenever you have children involved, of course, they may have rights as far as the children are concerned as the natural guardian of those as far as child support or to take care of the children’s interests in your estate.  I urge you, though, if you do get divorced, that you do need to change your will and eliminate or provide for someone other than your ex-spouse.  So if you have any questions about that or would like to have a will drawn or review your estate plan, call me at (727) 847-2288.