What is a Utility Easement?
Video Summary
What is a utility easement? Utility easement gives the utility company or right to use your property for the particular purpose of maintaining the utility lines or installing the utility lines on your property. Usually the utility easements are shown on the plat. Whenever the developer sets up the subdivision and they’re shown running usually across sometimes the rear or even the sides of the property, and allows the utility companies run their lines across your property as well as maintain the property. And we need questions about utility easements will give me a call at (727) 847- 2288.
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What is Florida Documentary Stamp Tax?
Video Summary
What is Florida documentary stamp tax Florida? Documentary stamps are a tax upon conveyances on deeds. They are $7 per thousand. You also have documentary stamps on promissory notes and Florida. This is a way to raise revenue for the state of Florida and that we do not have any income tax or a state taxes. We raise the government raises income through the documentary stamps and also through sales tax. If you have any questions about documentary stamps, please give me a call at (727) 847- 2288.
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Is the Copy of a Will Legal?
Video Summary
Is the copy of a Will legal? No, you cannot have introduced into the probate court a copy of a Will. You must produce the original Will of the decedent in order for it to be admitted to probate. If you cannot locate the original Will and it was last in the possession of the decedent, it’s presumed revoked. Sometimes folks say, well, I’ll have signed two originals that way. I’ll leave one with a lawyer and I’ll take one. Well, in that instance, you have to account for both signed copies or again, it’s presumed to be revoked. Many of my clients like to leave the original Will in my office, not provide them with a copy so that if their copy is lost or if I even lose the original, it’s not presumed revoked because it was not last in their possession. So, with an original Will, it has to be presented to the court and must have to be proved by warrant of the witnesses who testified before the clerk that it was signed and the presence of both witnesses and the decedent and declared to be the last Will and Testament. That’s called approval. And that’s the reason why Wills are notarized and that that’s a self-proving Will. So the proof is done at the same time. The Will assign, but a Will does not have to be notarized in order to be effective. If you have any questions about Wills, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What if a Homeless Person is Living on Your Vacant Lot?
Video Summary
What if a homeless person is living on your vacant land? You can call the police and have them come out to the property. You probably need to be present and they will remove or tell the homeless people who are there that they must leave and make them leave the property. They will give them a warning. It’s called trespass after warning. So if they returned to the property, they can be arrested. The problem with this, is of course identifying them, if they did return. It’s a reoccurring problem as far as your property’s concern, but you can continue to call the sheriff or the police department, have them come out and have the homeless people removed. It’s very doubtful that they’ll be able to identify the people who they previously gave trespass notice to in order to have them arrested or if they do want to go through all the actions necessary to have the person hauled away to jail for trespass, which is a misdemeanor. So it’s a practical problem that you have whenever you have homeless that are occupying your vacant property. You can also put up no trespassing signs and then authorize someone who oversees your property to call the sheriff and have the sheriff go out to the property and have the people removed, as a result of it being posted. As far as no trespassing, this concern, I would suggest that you contact the sheriff or the police department about posting your property, so that you would be able to have the sheriff go out there or the police go out there and have the trespassers or the homeless folks removed from your vacant property. This is applicable only to vacant property, and there’s a different law than involves folks that are living in your property, in an improved house or shelter that you have on your property. If you have any questions about this, you can give me a call. I’ll be directing you probably to the Sheriff’s department, the police department. My phone number is (727) 847-2288.
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Who Should I Choose as Trustee of My Trust?
Video Summary
Who should I choose as trustee of my trust? Whenever you’re doing estate planning and need to select a trust successor trustee to your revocable trust, you usually appoint a family member. That family member should have some business experience and be one that you believe that would want to treat everyone fairly and to follow your wishes and what you designate under the provisions of the trust. If you are dealing with a lot of money, over a million dollars you may want to consider designating a trust company or a bank with trust powers for them to administer the trust and invest the money so that they can continue to pay the money out for it. If you have a, uh, a trust where you simply want to have your assets distributed to the various beneficiaries, while that’s relatively simple to do, and, uh, family members should be able to, uh, take care of that and if they have any questions, you could direct them to contact the attorney who prepared the trust or can contact my office and I would be glad to give them some information and or, uh, represent them. As far as administering the trust, the trustee would be required to, uh, obtain a federal identification number for tax purposes. Since the trust, when it becomes your revocable, uh, becomes a taxpayer and an information return is required called a fiduciary tax return. And so I can give you some guidance as far as the, uh, federal ID numbers concerned, filing the inventory, the notice of trust and the public records and gentlemen, they represent you as far as, administering the trust and taking care of, following the wishes of the person who established the trust. If you have any questions about trust administrations, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.