A client forwarded me an article last week. Same client who forwards me an article every couple of months. The article was real. The estate tax it described was real. It just doesn’t apply to anyone who lives in Florida. There is no Florida estate tax. There hasn’t been one in over twenty years. Florida’s...
Every time I tell another Florida lawyer I use AI in real client matters, I get the same reaction: “Aren’t you violating attorney-client privilege?” No. And the Florida Supreme Court has already addressed it. This is the first video in a series on how I actually use generative AI in my estate planning and probate...
Most law firms talk about personal service. Most don’t actually deliver it. The structural reality of how mid-size and large firms staff cases makes that hard. Jill on how this firm is different: The economics of a typical law firm push work down the chain. Partners bring in matters. Associates do the bulk of the...
Florida emergency temporary guardianship lasts 90 days and does not become permanent. Here is what families get wrong about ETGs under §744.3031....
Your IRA, 401(k), and life insurance go where the beneficiary form says, not where your will says. Here's what that means in Florida....
Families wait. That’s the answer. Jill has been doing this for a long time and the same pattern shows up in case after case. Something is clearly wrong — mom is signing things she doesn’t understand, the new boyfriend is moving money out of the joint account, the brother who lives nearby has started “managing”...
People come in expecting a probate proceeding. Contested guardianships are litigation. Real litigation, with depositions, motions, evidentiary hearings, and a trial. Jill on what the early days actually involve: The framework is §744.331, Fla. Stat. — the incapacity proceeding. Three examining committee members are appointed. Each one independently evaluates the alleged incapacitated person and files...
The hearing is maybe one percent of the case. People think a guardianship ends when the judge signs the order. That’s when it starts. The appointment is the entry point into a court-supervised fiduciary relationship that continues, in most of our cases, until the ward dies. Every year there is a plan to file. Every...