If I Have Assets in More Than One State, Do I Need More Than One Will?
Video Summary
If I have assets in more than one state do I need more than one will? The answer to that is no, no, no. You need to have one will and it says that I devise all my real and personal property wherever it is situated to, and then you say who you leave it to. And so if the will is valid in the state where you execute it, then you can then use it to transfer or have the property probated in another state. So you have one will and the other states will honor that will if it’s honored in the state where it’s executed.
There is one exception is if you have what they call a holographic will which is a hand-written will, some states allow that to be entered. Florida requires all wills have at least two witnesses. So the will must have two witnesses to be recognized by Florida. But you only have one will and that covers all your asset no matter where they’re situated.
Now you run into a problem if you have property outside the United States, particularly in Europe or some of the other countries and that we have the English common law and these other states are code states, like in France they have the Napoleonic code, they might have forced inheritance agreements. And so you need to have that addressed. And then whenever people from England or Europe come to see me here in Florida, I prepare a will for U.S. assets only that complies with Florida law because it is a nightmare trying to understand what the laws are of a foreign country in order to have them apply to the Florida assets. And then you have other problems as far as community property states which we have seven of those are all west of the Mississippi, and that can affect who inherits your property and who’s entitled to the property. I’m not a community property expert but I know just enough to know that I don’t know.
So but if you’re a Florida resident you only need to have one will for wherever your assets are situated throughout the United States. And if you have property in a foreign country I suggest that we have an attorney or a notaire in that particular country prepare an inheritance agreement so you know who will receive it whenever you pass away.
So if you have any questions about this, give me a call at 727-847-2288.
What Should I do if My Neighbor’s Fence is on My Property?
Video Summary
What should I do if my neighbor’s fence is situated on a portion of my property? Well usually it’s not a problem particularly if it’s just over a little bit and you get along with your neighbor. Some people get concerned about having fences on their property and they get concerned about the neighbor cutting the grass or being able to claim that property if they leave the fence there a long period of time. That is not the case. The only time that you have to worry about if it comes into being is whenever the boundary line is uncertain. Let’s say you don’t have a platted lot or you’re out in the field, and then you have a dispute as to where the actual boundary line is. And then sometimes the fence can be indicative of where the boundary line should be.
But fences, a lot of people look at that when they buy property and think well, the fence shows where the boundary line is when in fact the fences don’t show where the boundary line is and you really need to have a survey. Getting back to the question about what to do about it with your neighbor, well good fences make good neighbors and if it doesn’t, it encroaches just a few inches one way or the other, well, it’s certainly not going to hurt you in any way. And so I wouldn’t worry about it. If your neighbor becomes a problem, well then I suggest you get a survey so that you have a drawing that shows where your fence is on your property and if you want it removed and you don’t get along with the neighbor is to send him a copy of the survey and a letter saying that please move your fence and give him a time certain. Say if you don’t contact me within that period of time I’m going to remove your fence from my property. Please make arrangements and remove your fence.
So it really doesn’t present too much of a problem. Now whenever you get financing and there’s a fence encroachment, the lenders really don’t have problems with the title insurance people will probably ensure the lender that they won’t suffer any loss by reason of a fence encroachment. So it’s primarily a how well do you get along with your neighbor situation rather than any particular legal situation ’cause you’re not gonna lose your property over the fence being on your property.
So if you got a fence problem, well give me a call. I’ll be glad to talk to you about it but you don’t want to spend a whole lot of money on it. The other solution is if you do want it removed at some point is try and enter into an agreement with our neighbor that says I don’t have a problem with it but if somebody on down the line, we need to take care of it for legal purposes, will you sign an agreement that you’ll remove it later on is another solution.
So if you have questions, well give me a call at 727-847-2288. Thank you.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What Areas of Law do you Practice?
Video Summary
Hi, my name is Jaleh Piran-Vesseh, and I am an Associate Attorney here at the Law Firm of Waller and Mitchell. I have been here for two years as an Associate Attorney and the areas of law that I practice are predominantly Foreclosure Litigation, both Plaintiffs and Defense work, Guardianship Administration, Elder Law, Medicaid Planning, and Real Estate Litigation.
Jaleh Piran-Vesseh – What Legal Training do you have?
Video Summary
The legal training that I have stems from my time at Stetson University College of Law, where I graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree. I also have legal training in the fields of Foreclosure Defense, specifically, as well as Elder Law in Medicaid planning, and also in the Administration of Guardianship’s.