Articles and practical guidance on Florida estate planning, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, incapacity planning, and related topics.
Short answer: A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is an irrevocable trust. You transfer assets to it, often an interest in your company, and keep the right to
Short answer: Divorce does not revoke your whole Florida will or trust. Under §§ 732.507(2) and 736.1105(2), provisions affecting the former spouse generally become void, as if that
Short answer: Generally, no. Florida Statutes § 732.201 and § 732.2065 give a surviving spouse the right to elect 30% of the deceased spouse’s elective estate. That estate
Adding an adult child as a joint owner can hand them the entire account at your death, regardless of your will. Here’s what Florida parents should consider instead.
Florida law can limit who receives your homestead if a spouse or minor child survives, even when a will or trust says otherwise. Here’s what families should understand.
Equal inheritance and identical ownership are not the same thing. For a family business, succession planning should separately address economic value, ownership, management, control, governing documents, liquidity, and family expectations.
Asset protection works best before a creditor problem becomes concrete. Florida law permits legitimate prospective planning, but transfers made after claims arise can face very different scrutiny and should not be treated like ordinary planning.
Advanced trust planning often asks clients to separate legal ownership, decision-making authority, and beneficial enjoyment. The right structure depends on which powers actually matter and what tax, protection, and family consequences follow from keeping or surrendering them.
An irrevocable trust can serve important tax, asset-protection, family, charitable, and succession objectives. The real question is whether giving up some ownership, access, control, or simplicity produces a benefit important enough to justify the trade.
Reducing the taxable estate and reducing a family’s total tax burden are not always the same thing. For highly appreciated assets, estate inclusion, basis adjustment, lifetime gifting, and future capital gain should be considered together.
