What Are the Benefits of a Health Care Savings Account?
Video Summary
What are the benefits of a health care savings account? Well this question is probably better asked to your human resources person where you are employed. It’s an alternative to providing health insurance or can be a blended arrangement whereby your employer puts a certain amount of money into your account every month. Therefore, you can use that money for any health care needs you want.
After a certain amount, which is usually a fairly high deductible, then your health insurance would kick in as far as that’s concerned. But you can use this for dental or prescription drugs, anything you’d like as far as your discretionary.
It’s particularly beneficial to people who are very healthy and don’t go to see the doctor very often, other than an occasional physical and don’t get sick, because the money builds up in that account. And so you can use it for cosmetic surgery or dental work or whatever you would like. It’s not particularly beneficial to people who have prescription drugs that are particularly expensive; usually the money that’s deposited isn’t sufficient to cover the amount that the employee has to pay.
So it’s something that your employer does for you or to you in conjunction with providing health insurance for you. So you probably don’t need to call and talk to me about this but that’s my take on a health care savings account. You probably need to talk to the human resources department where you are employed and ask them to give you more information about it. And it’s an alternative to your medical insurance or deductible.
So good luck with that! You can always call me about your legal needs. It’s 727-847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
What Happens to Past Due Property Tax When I Short Sell my Home?
Video Summary
What happens to past due property tax when I short sell the home? Well that’s a fairly easy one. It’s when you short sell your home the property taxes are paid out of closing money and it reduces the amount that your lender receives or agrees to take in satisfaction of their lien and hopefully releases you from any liability on the loan. So those taxes are paid just like any other closing, when you close on your property and sell it to someone else. The back due taxes are paid, since they’re a lien against the real property rather than your personal obligation. So they are all taken care of and it is only up to you to negotiate with your lender that they’ll take the net proceeds less the payment of the real property taxes in satisfaction of the mortgage.
So if you have any questions, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Does a Final Judgement of Divorce Convey Real Property?
Video Summary
Does a final judgment of divorce convey real property? It can convey real property; however you have to have express language that the judgment serves as a conveyance. In particular when we have these final judgments that are done by the parties rarely do they provide for the judgment to serve as a conveyance of the property to the one particular spouse who’s supposed to receive it.
Some of the final judgments I see prepared by divorce counsel they say that the other party is to execute a deed conveying the real property. So the proper language that needs to be incorporated in a final judgment of a divorce is that the judgment serves as a conveyance to real property from one spouse to the other. So if you want the final judgment to convey real property to one spouse, to the other you need to pay particular attention to the wording in the final judgment.
There is language that can be used in deeds whereby a spouse conveys their interest to the other spouse. If there’s a mortgage on the property ordinarily they would require documentary stamps. However, if it is their homestead property and it is being conveyed pursuant to a marital settlement agreement and divorce proceeding then the Department of Revenue does not require the documentary stamp be placed on the conveyance.
If, however, we have more property than just the home then other property that is conveyed from one spouse to the other, pursuant to a marital settlement agreement, would require documentary stamps on the transfer based upon one-half of the unpaid balance of the mortgage that encumbers it. If there’s no mortgage on the property then there would not be any documentary stamps.
So if you are getting divorced and you want the final judgment of divorce to convey the real property from one spouse to the other you need to pay particular attention to the judgment that is entered. And it is a great idea to provide for that so that there is not a problem with judgments attaching to the spouse who is supposed to convey the property, their interest after their divorced or preexisting judgments.
So if you need some help with that well give me a call at 727-847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Can I Omit a Beneficiary from My Will?
Video Summary
Can I omit a beneficiary from my will? Yes you may omit anyone you like from your will, except for a spouse. If you omit a spouse from your will, well they have a right to take what they call an elective share and they are entitled to 30 percent of whatever you have under your will as well as trusts. So you don’t want to omit your spouse unless you a prenuptial agreement or a marital settlement agreement wherein the spouse is waiving the interest in the property.
Another time that you have a problem is as far as omitting or conveying property to whomever you would like is if you have your homestead property and at the time you pass away you are married or have minor children, the Florida statute and Florida constitution restrict you who can leave it to. If you are survived by a spouse well then you can only leave it to the spouse; you can’t provide that she has a life estate and it goes to somebody else after her death; you can leave it outright to her. So it’s an invalid devise, so with homestead property.
If you are survived by minor children then you cannot devise the property to anyone. If you have a spouse also she’s entitled to a life estate or she makes an election to a one-half interest and the children are entitled to the other one-half. And that is all the children, not just the minor children.
So usually you can omit any beneficiary, children, whomever you want, adult children, that is, whoever you want in your will. However, if you are survived by a spouse you can’t omit your spouse unless you have a prenuptial agreement without her having rights to take her share of the estate. So if you would like to prepare a will I’d be happy to meet with you.
My phone number is 727-847-2288.
Why Do I Have to File Corporate Minutes?
Video Summary
Why do I have to file corporate minutes? Well, first of all you don’t file corporate minutes, other than your corporate record book. The reason you have to have shareholder meetings and board of directors meetings is to act like a corporation, in that you have shareholders and they meet once a year to elect the directors of the corporation and then the directors meet at least once a year and they elect the officers of the corporation and make major decisions as far as the business is concerned. So if you don’t have corporate minutes or corporate meetings or shareholder meetings and directors meetings, then you’re not acting as a corporation. You are just fooling yourself and proceeding on as far as it’s your business and you are incorporated.
So what I find many times is people have incorporated, however, they have not issued any stock. They don’t have a corporate book and they don not do corporate minutes. So what does this mean? Well, if you get sued and they can sue you personally, which is probably one of the biggest reasons why you have a corporation is to limit your liability for the business debts or liabilities. So if you don’t act like a corporation and have shareholder minutes and director minutes, well then you’re not acting like a corporation and therefore, could have personal liability for the debts of the corporation. You also need to be sure that the stock is issued and you have a corporate record book with the stock in it or some record of it.
What you do file with the Secretary of State is your annual report and that costs you $150.00 or $200.00 a year and the reason you have to file that every year is because it’s a form of a tax and if you don’t, why then the Secretary of State will dissolve the corporation. And you need to be sure to file it timely because the penalty is about three times what the filing fee is. So be sure that you file by the deadline, which I believe is May 1 of each year. And you need to be sure you get your annual report filed with the Secretary of State.
So if you’d like for me to assist you in the preparation of your minutes or setting up a corporate record book, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in LLC's and Corporations, Videos