The biggest enemy of proper estate planning is procrastination. As the world knows, Prince died last week. Today we find out that he died intestate, which is a fancy word that lawyers use for dying without a will. When you die intestate, the state determines how your property is distributed. Prince was not married and… Read More
Florida Supreme Court Updates Probate Rules -2013
Probate practitioners in Florida have to be familiar with both the Florida Probate Code, and the Florida Probate Rules. The Florida Probate Code is part of our statutes. It’s passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, and located under Title XLII, Chapters 731 – 735 of the Florida Statutes. Just like federal laws,… Read More
WSJ: What a Tangled Web We Leave
On February 2, the Wall Street Journal had published a great article on estate planning entitled “What a Tangled Web We Leave,” discussing the various problems people have when loved ones die. There is a common theme in the article – one that I’ve discovered myself. From the article: [the surviving spouse’s] biggest obstacle: the checking… Read More
Attorney Charged with Ethics Complaint over Probate Blog
Every now and then, blogging will get someone in “trouble.” See e.g. Rakofsky v. Internet, in which one Joseph Rakofsky sued a whole bunch of bloggers and other media over their posts criticizing among other things, his competency and ethics. I put the words “trouble” in quotes, because just because someone sues, it doesn’t necessarily… Read More
Probate, the Rapture, and You
So May 21, 2011 came and went, and despite the prediction of Harold Camping, we’re still here. The Rapture will take place another day. For those who don’t know, the Rapture is a belief among some, that all worthy Christians will suddenly disappear from earth and instantly join Jesus in heaven. The Rapture will be followed by all… Read More
Sun Sentinel: Legal Battle Begins Over Radio Personality Neil Rogers’s Estate
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has a story today about the coming battle over local radio personality Neil Rogers’s estate. According to the story, there are two competing wills filed in the probate case, and there are questions whether or not Rogers had testamentary capacity when he signed the second one. This case is just beginning,… Read More
Why I Don’t Like Codicils
I was talking to someone the other day who wanted to change their Will, which was not originally drafted by me, and asked me if I would do a a codicil for them. I told them no. While I would be happy to draft a new will from scratch, I don’t do codicils to wills… Read More
An In Depth Review of Michael Jackson’s Trust – Part 1
I don’t want people to think that I’m obsessed with Michael Jackson. I’m not. However, I am very interested in proper estate planning, and I think that others should be too. The Michael Jackson case is useful because it can show “ordinary” people what to do and what not to do with regards to their… Read More
2009 Legislative Changes to the Florida Probate Code (Part 2)
In my previous post, I discussed some of the minor changes to the Florida Probate Code enacted by the Legislature this year. In this post, I will discuss one of the major changes, and that is to the Elective Share rules. The Elective Share rules are based upon the old English common law rules of… Read More
2009 Legislative Changes to the Florida Probate Code (Part 1)
The Florida Legislature has made a number of tweaks, some major, mostly minor, to the Florida Probate Code in 2009. My summary of the minor revisions are below. The statute went into effect on July 1, 2009. First, the minor changes. In Section 731.201, the term “Incompetent” has been changed to “Incapacitated” (and the definition… Read More
