Identifying your beneficiaries and paying attention to the costs involved with the Florida estate planning process are just some of the many tasks you need to complete in order to set up an estate plan. You should also know how to identify your creditors, and how to properly identify transferable and pay-on-death accounts. These documents will help you protect your loved ones and avoid costly litigation.
Costs of a Florida estate plan
If you are in the process of creating an estate plan in Florida, you need to consider the costs involved. A Florida last will and testament is just one component of a comprehensive estate plan, and you will need other documents as well. There are several different flat fee packages available for Florida estate planning, and the costs will depend on your specific circumstances. For instance, you might need a Florida health care surrogate or a Durable Power of Attorney. For these, you will need a Florida estate plan attorney.
When creating a Florida estate plan, you need to know that a portion of the estate must go through probate, which is a court process in which a person’s estate is settled, and remaining assets go to the beneficiaries. However, this process is not required in all cases.
Documents to include in a plan
A basic Florida estate plan should include a will and power of attorney. These documents give someone authority to make decisions on your behalf, such as who should make health care decisions. A living will, on the other hand, states what you would like to happen to your life if you become incapacitated. Estate planning in Florida can also include a living trust and planning for estate taxes.
A good estate plan will include several documents, and which documents you need depends on your specific situation and the services of a Florida estate lawyer. However, there are some documents that will be included in almost every estate plan. These include a power of attorney document, which gives your beneficiaries the authority to make legal and financial decisions for you, as well as a document detailing how your assets will be distributed.
Identifying creditors
If you have a family member who passed away, you may be concerned about the process of settling the estate. This process can be frustrating, and even close family members can become frustrated when they learn that the decedent left behind debt they cannot pay. An experienced estate lawyer Florida can help you settle the estate and handle multiple creditors, even if the decedent died insolvent.
Florida law has a few rules that protect you and your family from creditors. First, the personal representative has to pay off debts before they distribute the assets. There are different categories of debts, and Florida law outlines which debts are paid first. If you do not pay these debts, your personal representative may be personally liable for them.
Transferable and payable-on-death accounts
You may be wondering how to transfer control of payable-on-death accounts to your beneficiary after a loved one passes away. The process is usually straightforward, and all that is needed is a death certificate and identification. Accounts are a part of the decedent’s estate and can be subject to taxes and creditors. The process can be more complicated if the account has multiple beneficiaries.
In Florida, transferable and payable-on-death designations can protect funds from the probate process. These designations direct the transfer of money in a bank account upon the death of the account owner. The account owner has the right to access the money while he or she is alive, but the remaining funds go to the beneficiary upon his or her death.
Personal property memorandum
A personal property memorandum is a great document for establishing who gets what and settling disputes. It is also much easier to modify than other legal documents, because personal items come and go more frequently than high-value assets and real estate. Therefore, a memorandum can help smooth the way for your loved ones.
In Florida, personal property memorandums are not considered a will and can be executed without the procedural protections that are associated with a will. However, the statutes governing this type of document allow for certain situations. For example, if the deceased loved one had a dog, the memorandum could provide instructions to the dog that will let him take care of the dog, but not the other dog.
The memorandum is not necessary if the deceased person owns a motor vehicle. This is because motor vehicles have titles that will determine who owns them. If the deceased left a title to his or her car, it will be transferred to the Florida personal representative or the trustee. Likewise, if the deceased had created a revocable living trust, the trustee or personal representative would sign over the title to the beneficiary.