How Long Does Probate Take?
Video Summary
How long does probate take in Florida? Wow. That’s a loaded question and it’s very hard to give a general answer to that since you need to look at whether there are a well or not, whether we have know how many beneficiaries are involved and what’s the nature of the assets as far as that’s concerned. So to try and give you a general idea, what it is, the rules of court indicate that the probate administration needs to be concluded within one year. If not, you need to file something with the court, explaining to the court, why the estate administration’s taking longer than one year. An example of that in the event, there was any litigation. So if it is a relatively simple administration where the assets and you have the designated beneficiary stocks and bonds and bank accounts or real estate I would usually tell the client that hires me, that you’re probably looking between six to nine months to probate the estate.
And in order to have it concluded and in the assets liquidated or distributed to the beneficiaries, there are several types of probate administration. There is a summary administration. So if there if the assets are less than $75,000 and arrangement have been made to satisfy their creditors you can file a summary administration and have it distributed directly to the beneficiaries. And that proceeding usually only takes about 30 days. Once you file it with the court, when you have smaller estates, there’s other procedures that can be followed where my it’s still a probate proceeding, but you really don’t have to, it’s short form and just submitted to the court. So, I hopefully gave you some idea, some guidance, although I didn’t really answer the question on how long it takes. It depends on the beneficiaries, the assets, and what’s involved. If you have a probate issue or an estate will give me a call and I’ll be glad to talk to you about it at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos
What Is a Geotechnical Exploration Report?
Video Summary
What is a geotechnical report. It’s a report that shows the results of test of the ground and whether or not there’s any problems. Usually it’s done in conjunction with testing for sinkholes. And so the report will show the types of soils, whether or not there’s any open spaces whereby that avoids where the limestone or infrastructure could collapse or, and also says what kind of soils, which would indicate whether or not there’s any debris involved. And usually this is, you usually have this done. If you’re buying, let’s say residential property, if there’s any indication that there’s any cracks in the house that you’re buying, or if there’s any sinkhole activity in the neighborhood, if the neighbor, or, you know, there’s six other sinkhole reported problems in the neighborhood, well, it might do well to go ahead and have this report, have this inspection done, to determine whether or not there’s any sinkhole activity underneath this house.
If it’s vacant property before you build, you may want to go out there and have these tests done and get a report to indicate whether or not there is any problems as far as the soil is concerned. And there are a couple of types of I’m familiar with.. One is a radar, which is not quite as good as whenever they do borings as far as the term, the soils, and also they have another tests where they do tamping to see whether or not the lime rock base is solid or whether it would crack. So, I’m probably not the right guy to call as far as a geo-technical reports concerned. Cause I’m not really qualified to read it. I would just have to take the opinion of whatever’s in the report. But if you, if you’re buying property and have questions about whether you should have a test or not, I’ll be glad to talk to you about it. My phone number is (727) 847-2288. Thank you.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Is Florida Probate Administration Always Required?
Video Summary
Is probate, Florida administration always required? No, it’s not required. Whenever someone passes away, the first matter that you would have to determine as to whether or not you have to probate someone’s estate is whether or not they have any title assets or just in their name alone. So that they’re not jointly held with someone, or they don’t have a designated beneficiary. Many accounts are set up with a payable on death, on your bank account. So those would not have to be probated. Certainly joint accounts would not have to be probated, securities or brokerage accounts that have a transfer on death would not have to be probated life insurance with a beneficiary, doesn’t have to be probated, IRAs and annuities, they all have beneficiaries. So, none of those have to be probated. Also, if the automobiles are going to children or there’s no will, the children can have an automobile to automobiles transferred in their name because they’re considered an exempt asset by going to the property appraiser’s office, excuse me, the tax collector’s office, who is an agent for the department of motor vehicles and have the vehicle titles transferred into their name.
So, a probate administration not necessary unless there are assets that are just titled in the deceit’s name. If you have any questions about this, Give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
How Much Money Can You Make and Still Get Medicaid In Florida?
Video Summary
How much money can you make and still qualify for Medicaid in Florida ,as of January, 2021, the amount comes to $2,382. And this has to do with whenever you’re attempting to qualify for a skilled nursing care, or other Medicaid benefits. There’s a Florida house, a two-part test. And as far as qualifying, not only do you have to meet the income guidelines, you also have to meet the asset guidelines. And one of the big assets that is not considered in the Medicaid formula is your home. If you own a home, that’s not counted as an asset, as far as qualifying for Medicaid. If your income exceeds the $2,380, there is a what they call a Miller trust. It can be set up, so that, say your income is $3,000 and your nursing home bill is 8,000. You can set up a Miller trust and still qualify for Medicaid by having your income paid into the Miller trust and that thereby qualify. So, if you’re looking to qualify for Medicaid, if you give me a call at (727) 847-2288, I’d be glad to direct you or discuss with you your situation. I look forward to your call at (727) 847-2288
- Published in Medicaid Planning, Videos
What Legal Documents Should Everyone Have?
Video Summary
What legal documents should everyone have? One, I think of the top of the list is you need to be sure that you have government issued identification such as a driver’s license or an ID card issued by the same as a driver’s license. I don’t know if the department of motor vehicles issues those, but have an ID because you’ll need that. No matter where you go to cash checks or any number of places as far as your estate planning documents, I think everyone should have a living will that would direct whether or not you want life support to be discontinued. If you have a terminal condition, permanent vegetative state or an end stage condition, it really is important. I think that you have a healthcare surrogate or where you designate a healthcare proxy to be able to make medical decisions for you and also have a HIPAA waiver so that they can check on you to find out how you’re doing as far as if you are hospitalized, although you may not be dying like you would be using a living will also consider particularly if you’re by yourself rather than a husband and wife situation is to giving someone that you trust, hopefully a child or a loved one that you consider, or really trust a durable power of attorney who would be able to take care of business for you. And it’s called durable sense. It would be in the event you no longer had capacity. It would also be good to have a birth certificate and if you’re have a marriage license, particularly, for the ladies or the spouses, if you change your name, I think that’s a problem. Whenever you go to have your driver’s license taken care of, if you happen to be divorced and I have a copy of your divorce decree or decrease on the appropriate marital settlement agreements that go with those, if you have any unrecorded agreements. If you’ve entered into a contract with a lease to purchase property, it’s important that you have a copy of the signed documents or the signed documents. If you have promissory notes, are any unrecorded, a legal document that has to do with your rights to collect money or you owe money or you’re purchasing property or leasing property, those would all be documents that you should have in your possession. You have any questions about that will give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, LLC's and Corporations, Real Estate, Videos