Florida Trusts Legal Questions

A parcel of real property that is titled in your name individually at the time of your death must go through probate. To avoid probate you must transfer the title of the property to the trust, or otherwise provide for the transfer of the property without the necessity of probate. There are several options for accomplishing that objective. The real property involved also appears to be your homestead. If you are married, there are limitations on who you can transfer the title to at your passing. I strongly recommend that you consult with an experienced estate planning, elder law, or real estate attorney regarding your options and the proper method of implementing those options. Florida homestead law is among the most complicated of all laws, and is commonly referred to as the "legal chameleon" because of how the law is applied based on your factual circumstances. C. Randolph Coleman... Read More

It appears that you already have a revocable trust.   If you added the house to the trust, you would avoid probate upon the death of the second to die.   You will probably need to do a simple filing with your local real estate tax assessor in order to maintain the homestead exemption, if you do transfer the property.   To transfer the property, a deed will have to be signed and recorded.   Whether or not you want to do this will probably depend in part upon your ages and your health.  As it is now, there's no probate on the death of the first to die, only the second.    ... Read More

I am glad to see that you are considering which options are best for you and your family moving forward.  In order to respond to your questions though,  I have some answers and questions for you: 1. Do you have a will?  If you have a will already, has a revocable trust been created at the same time?  You should definitely consider placing your home either in a trust or in some other type of estate (joint estate? life estate?) there are many options that may avoid probate.  2.  You may want (and I highly suggest) a Power of Attorney (naming your son and possibly your daughter as an alternate) as the agent to step in your shoes if you are unable to handle affairs or speak for yourself.  I would also suggest a Health Care Surrogacy (Health Care POA) to have your children (or other respected loved ones) as a surrogate if you cannot speak for yourself regarding health care decisions. 3. If you have a will, your son, daughter or another trusted advisor can be your personal representative (executor) and with a trust, you can name the trustee to handle any assets placed in the trust.  You should speak to an estate planning attorney or elder law attorney to help with these decisions.  I wish you best luck.  Andrea Jakob... Read More

Thank you for the question.  In Florida, a Last Will does not get filed with the Probate Court until someone passes away.  I would make sure your loved ones have a copy of your last will, your living will, health care surrogacy and Florida Durable Power of Attorney and that they know where to find the originals.  I often use a great resource called Docubank to store and retrieve my client's health care documents and you can contact them directly.  Good luck to you, here is the site I referenced: https://www.docubank.com/ ... Read More

Ok, these matters are very complicated and you've given me very few facts: 1. Did your mother die in FL? What county? 2. I presume there is a will as you said cousin is executor. Do you have a copy of the will? 3.  Are you a beneficiary under a will  4. Did your mother die having a trust as well?If there was a trust is cousin the successor trustee? 5. Was your mother survived by a husband? 6. Was mother's house her FL homestead?  7. Are there other beneficiaries and if so what were they to receive? &. Personal representatives (executors) do not have authority to sell homesteads so I assume that he actually owned the property by virtue of a will or trust. This is confusing. 9. What are the assets that your cousin controls? It sounds like your cousin might have been named as trustee of a trust for your benefit, although you would have a right to know about this if this were the case.... Read More

Dear Sir,   Assuming this is an irrevocable trust (Settlor has died), Trustees are required to advise qualified beneficiaries of the trust and, upon request, to provide them copies w/i 60 days of the trustee(s) assuming trusteeship. Also, trustees are to provide annual accountings of trust transactions. A trustee's authority derives from the terms of the trust so it is possible for co-trustees to have independent authority but this is rare. Improper distribution of trust assets can serve as a basis for action for breach of trust.... Read More

Call the attorney that filed the estate. Or look at the clerk's probate website online. Or go to the courthouse and check out the probate file. There are certain filings you can make to make sure you are notified, but if your brother was appointed PR (executor) then you probably should have gotten some type of notice. Note: You should make sure that an estate was actually opened. The will naming your brother as executor doesn't automatically entitle him to be the executor. The court must appoint an executor... Read More

Trusts are useful to avoid the expense and time of probate, to keep ownership and inheritance information private (probate documents are public), and to provide for more control over how assets are managed and distributed, both during your life and after your deaths.  Although trusts have been used in the past for estate tax avoidance, Florida does not have an estate tax and the federal estate tax only applies to estates worth more than 5.45 million.  Trusts cost some money to execute and administer, so you should balance your interest in saving your beneficiaries time and some effort after you die with your spending some money and effort now.  If you want to control your beneficiaries' access to their inheritances after your death (for example, distributing income only until beneficiaries reach a certain age or for life, with the principal going to second generation or even continuing), trusts also can be useful. If you do not end up forming a trust, I would recommend a Will.  Florida also has a somewhat unique homestead law that limits how your residence can be distributed upon your death.  This depends on how your house is owned and who survives you, and is worth your learning more about before you draft either a Will or a trust. ... Read More