June 5, 2010 by Kevin G. Staas, Esquire
Florida Estate Planning: Every document drafted in a properly set up Florida Estate plan is important. However, one document above all the others may prove to be the most important. That document is the a Florida Durable power of attorney. A durable power of attorney is a document in which you nominate an individual, often times a spouse or family member to step into your financial matters if you become incapacitated or unable to handle your affairs yourself. Typical powers granted in a Florida Power of Attorney grant the agent the right to access bank accounts, pay bills, enter into business transactions, and any other financial transaction necessary to carry out your affairs.
While such a Florida Power of Attorney is helpful, Florida Elder law attorneys can supplement your Florida Estate Plan by drafting an enhanced durable power of attorney often referred to as a Medicaid Power of Attorney. Your agent only has the specific powers granted to him or her in the durable power of attorney. In addition to the traditional powers granted in a durable power of attorney, a Florida Medicaid Power of attorney will also granted your agent specific powers enabling them to make gifts on your behalf and the right to create and participate in certain types of trusts. Such powers can be used in a crisis situation where nursing home care becomes necessary for you. Even if your incapacitated, your agent can use these enhanced powers to gift away or plan your estate in a manner which ultimately qualifies you for public benefit such as Medicaid. The importance of this Florida Medicaid power of attorney cannot be overstated, as having these enhanced powers can mean the difference between preserving the majority of your estate and spending all of it on skilled nursing care. Contact a Florida Elder law attorney immediately to ask if a Florida Medicaid Power of Attorney is right for you.
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April 26, 2010 by Kevin G. Staas, Esquire
Florida Estate Planning: Why is it important to update your will? The median age in Venice, Florida where I practice is 69 years old. I frequently see clients in my office that had their wills done in their 30’s in 40’s. These outdated Florida wills were frequently written when an estate of $600,000.00 was subject to inheritance tax. These wills also frequently set up trusts for children who have since grown to adulthood.
Maintaining updated Florida estate planning documents will alleviate an otherwise unnecessary burden on loved ones after you die. If you leave behind a will that is obviously outdated, your loved ones may have to guess what your true wishes were. If you procrastinate too long, it may be too late to update your Florida will. If you are struck by incapacity or death, you will be unable to accurately represent your wishes to your loved ones. It is also true that a current Florida will is likely to deter fighting among your beneficiaries. Finally, an outdated will may result in you unintentionally leaving out a loved from inheriting from you.
While you take the time to update your will, it is the perfect time to make sure your advance directives are in order as well. Any good estate plan will also include a Florida Financial Power of Attorney, a Florida Designation of Health Care Surrogate, and a Florida Living Will. If you reside in Sarasota, North Port, Englewood or Venice, Florida, call my office today for a free consultation to review your Florida estate planning documents.
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April 21, 2010 by Kevin G. Staas, Esquire
Florida Estate Planning: In a recent article for the Associated Press, Matt Sedensky examined the effect of the fight over Terri Schiavo life five years later. With the local, state, and national attention that Terri Schiavo’s end of life saga generated, it would be logical to assume a great number of people would see the importance of having a living will. Terri Schiavo collapsed in 1990 and remained in a persistent vegetative state until her death in 2005. Will no living will in place, Schiavo’s family struggled and fought over whether Schiavo would want artificial life support.
Despite what Sedensky describes in his article as a “worse-case scenario” playing out in front of millions of American’s on the nightly news, it is estimated that only 20-30 percent of U.S. adults have a living will. What is surprising is that these numbers are consistent with the number of adults who had living wills prior to the Schiavo case.
Having a living will is really a part of the planning that each of us should do to address our end of life issues. Another crucial document is the Florida Designation of Health Care Surrogate. This document allows you to designate one or several people to be responsible for your medical decisions should you become incapacitated. Suffering on illness and/or incapacity is a stressful and difficult time for your family and friends. Taking the steps now to plan for such events will alleviate much of the stress and difficult decisions for your loved ones should you be unable to discuss your wishes with them.
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April 20, 2010 by Kevin G. Staas, Esquire
Florida Real Estate Lawyer: In the case of Virgilio v. Ryland Group, Inc., 2010 WL 503023, home owners sued multiple parties including the land developer under a theory of negligence for failure to disclose a former bombing range was on or near their homes. The United States District court for the Middle District of of Florida granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment against the homeowners, noting that the developer did build, own or sell any of the homes. Instead, the developer only sold the lots to other home builders making the transaction purely commercial. When it comes to commercial real estate transactions in Florida, always remember “Buyer Beware!”
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April 19, 2010 by Kevin G. Staas, Esquire
Dennis Kennedy, a lawyer and technology blogger recently wrote about the ever increasing need to estate plan for our “digital assets.” What is a “digital asset” you ask? More and more frequently, our worlds are interconnected with the internet. Many of us have Facebook and MySpace accounts, post and store family photographs online, post family videos on YouTube.com, save work files on Google Docs, research our family geneaologies on Ancestry.com, and do online banking.
In his blog, Kennedy suggests a five step approach to incorporating your “digital estate” into your estate plan.
Step 1: Inventory your Digital Assets. Make a list of all the hardware you own. Your desktop computer, your laptop, flash drives, CD’s, DVD’s, digital cameras, etc. On your list also include a list of important software programs you use, whether it is an accounting program, calendaring program or music program. It would also be helpful to sketch out a list of folders and subfolders that contain important information. The key is to keep in mind that the person reading these materials may not know a thing about what is on your hard drive. Finally, make a list of websites and online accounts you have.
Step 2: Identify the Appropriate Help. Just as the person you choose to make make financial decisions while you are incapacitated may be different from the person you choose to make medical decisions for you, you should be careful who you trust with your digital information.
Step 3: Provide Access. Passwords can be a tricky issue with digital estate planning. Your IT may will tell you to make them complicated, varied, and constantly changing. While this provides for maximum cyber-security, it makes leaving a list behind for someone difficult. Some accomodation must be made in this regard as the failure for your representatives to have passwords after your death can create great difficulties. If you choose to make this comprehensive list, it should be held in a secure location such as a safety deposit box.
Step. 4: Provide Instructions. Let your Personal Representative or Trustee know what you want to do with your on line accounts. Instruct your fiduciary to close the accounts you want closed, and leave or pass on other accounts of assets as you see fit.
Step 5: Give Appropriate Authority. Make sure you have documents in place that designate who will have powers to manage your digital assets.
Click here http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr03103.shtml for a complete read of Dennis Kennedy’s complete article on digital estate planning.
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