How Can I Find a Will?
Video Summary
How can I find a Will? Well, whenever someone passes away, I usually recommend that the children or the personal representative of the decedent go through the records of the decedent to see if they can’t find a copy of the Trust. Hopefully the people did prepare one, but they’re not filed with the clerk of the court. So you look through the records of the decedent to see if you can’t locate the original Will. If there is an original Will, and whoever has it is supposed to file it with the clerk of the court and whatever county the decedent passed away in Florida. And then once it’s filed, it is public record, and anyone can access it by contacting the clerk of the court. Also, if you believe that there is a Will and however the person has not filed a probate proceeding, you can contact an attorney and file what they call a caveat so you’re notified if they in fact file a petition to have the Will admitted to probate. Sometimes, wills are not filed with the court and all the assets are jointly held or all the assets have beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call to (727) 847-2288.
How Can I Obtain a Copy of My Parents’ Trust?
Video Summary
How can I obtain a copy of my parents’ trust? If your parents are still alive, you’re not entitled to their trust, assuming that’s a joint trust, and both of them are beneficiaries of the trust during their lifetime. After they pass away, the successor trustee is supposed to, by Florida statute, give notification to the beneficiaries and if requested, if your beneficiary and request a copy of the trust, that successor trustee would then forward that to you. If you’re not a beneficiary of the trust, you’re not entitled to a copy of the trust. Then there’s a question is as well, how do I know if I’m a beneficiary or not, or if the trustee isn’t speaking to me That does present a problem, and I don’t have a very good solution for you. If you have any questions, give me a call to (727) 847-2288.
What Does “Per Stirpes” Mean in Estate Planning?
Video Summary
What does per stirpes or per stirps mean in an estate planning document? That means that you are leaving everything to, let’s say, a child. However, if they pass away upon prior to you, you wish it to go to their children or for that matter, any beneficiary that you leave your assets to. It’s usually used whenever you have several beneficiaries and you state that you leave it to three beneficiaries and equal shares per stirpes, which is Latin, which means that if any one of them would die before you, that their share would be distributed to their children or their heirs. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
How Easy Is It to Set Up POD On Bank Accounts, What’s Involved?
Video Summary
How easy is it to set up a POD on a bank account? The POD stands for “payable on death”, and it is very easy. All you must do is contact the bank where you maintain your account, or if you’re going to open an account, tell them that you wish to put a payable on death or a POD designation on the account and give them the names of who you wish to receive these accounts. Upon your death, they will prepare a signature card and then you simply sign the new signature card. Various banks have various requirements. I’ve heard of some where they’re asking for the social security numbers of the beneficiaries, but the beneficiaries would not usually do not have to sign the signature card since they would have no interest in the account until such time as you pass away, but it’s up to the individual banks, but it should be very easy to do simply by signing the signature card. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos, Wills
How Do I Obtain a Will?
Video Summary
How do I obtain a Will? I’m assuming that you want to know how you personally can obtain a Will to do your estate planning or designate who you wish to receive your assets as very simple as you simply contact a local attorney in whatever state and city you’re in and set up an appointment or contact them about preparing a Will, designating who you want to receive your assets. There are even other companies that you can contact to say that they can prepare those. I’m not a real big fan of that, but they are available. There is certain formalities that the Will must be executed in order for it to be valid, which sometimes may be a problem in using a technology company as far as that’s concerned or ordering the Will online. If you want to know how you could obtain a copy of someone else’s will, that’s a whole new problem. You’re not entitled to see the Will until they die, and then it is filed with the clerk of the court in whatever county they passed away. After it’s filed with the clerk of the court, it’s public records. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.