How Can I Minimize the Chances of My Will Being Contested After My Death?
Video Summary
How can I minimize the chances of my will being contested after my death? Well, the first thing that you should do is to have an attorney prepare the will and have him be the witness, and that anytime that there’s a will challenge, he would be the best witness to testify. As far as your competency, the basis for setting aside your will is that you did not have the mental capacity to make a will, so certainly the lawyer would make that determination. The other one is undue influence. So if you want to leave most of your estate to one of your children and exclude some of the other or make a disproportionate share, then there’s a couple of things that you need to try and do if possible, and that there’s a presumption of undue influence. If the person who that you’re leaving these disproportionate share or all of your estate to them, whether it be a child or anyone else is, did they select the attorney that they take you to the attorney’s office? Were they present whenever you made out the will? Did they know what you put in the will after you have the will? Were they present whenever you signed the will? Did they know the contents of the will? And also as far as paying for it? So,if some of these factors are present, it presents a undue influence. So, if possible, not to have the person select the lawyer or take you to the appointment or know what’s in the will, I realize many times that’s not possible and that you’re dependent on the caregiver or child who’s taking care of you to bring you to the appointment. And so I have over the years tried to do this as tactfully as possible, as tell the person that you’re going to be living and that’s brought you there as they need to excuse themselves, wait in the waiting room, and I make a notation in my notes that I’ve excused them. And then discuss who you want to receive your estate and why you want to do that. In order to try and overcome these problems. In the event there is a will challenge after you’re gone. Also, you need to put in the will. If you’re leaving someone out, a child out, you need to just put in there expressly, make no provision for a particular child to show that you did not forget them. The old thing is leaving my dollar is a terrible idea and that you tasked the lawyer with having to, or the executor, trying to get them to receive for a dollar, particularly if they don’t like the provisions of the will. So just put in there that you didn’t forget about ’em. You expressly make no provision for them. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What Happens When Parents Pass Away Without a Will?
Video Summary
What happens when parents pass away without a Will? Well, whenever someone passes away without a Will, the Florida statutes designate who is to receive the assets or who the beneficiaries are. Since you’re using parents, I assume that they are married, and so you would record death certificates for both of those. Then you would look at the last parent who passed away and determine who the children are of that decedent, and based upon that, they’re the ones who would inherit his estate, his or her estate under the Florida statutes and the event that the decedent had no children, then the beneficiaries are his parents. If his parents had predeceased them, then it goes to his siblings and their siblings children. If any of them have predeceased them, this is, if you have any questions about it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
How Can I Reduce Potential Conflict Among Beneficiaries?
Video Summary
How can I reduce potential conflict among beneficiaries of my estate or trust? Well, one suggestion I have is to appoint an independent or third-party trustee who is not a beneficiary, so that they can state that he is favoring himself, and that way the independent trustee or personal representative can administer the trust or a state and make the distribution, pay the creditors’ claims. And then if the beneficiaries have problems with some of the other beneficiaries, well the trustee can say, well, that’s up to you if you wish to file an action as far as that’s concerned. But I’m willing to follow the directions under the trust and that way whatever assets are titled in the trustee’s name or in the decedent’s name will be distributed pursuant to the provisions in the will or trust, and so for which they’ll receive a fee for serving as an executor or trustee. If you have any questions about your will or trust and how to do this, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos
Probate Lawyer Vs Estate Planning Attorney What’s The Difference?
Video Summary
Probate lawyers versus estate Planning lawyers. What is the difference? Well, let’s talk about estate planning. Lawyers first, estate planning lawyers are employed while you’re alive, and they do the planning for whenever you do pass away. They can plan your estate through a trust a will. Most of the time, whenever I speak with my clients, as far as estate planning’s concerned, they wish to try and plan their estate to avoid probate. A probate lawyer is the one that is employed by your executor or trustee to assist in the administration of the estate or the probate proceeding and or the administration of the Trust, so they are employed by your personal representative or heirs. And in order to probate your estate and distribute your assets after the payment of creditors after your death, so one, the estate planning lawyer is employed while you’re alive to plan your estate, the probate lawyer follows the plan and is employed after your death to administer the estate and distribute your assets to your beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
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