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Florida Estate Planning: The Time To Update Your Will or Estate Planning Documents Is Now

Spring is just around the corner, and while you're deep in the midst of spring cleaning your house, you should do the same with your estate planning documents or will.

If you decide it is time to review your Florida Will or Florida Estate Planning Documents contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or to review your documents immediately.

Drop us a line and we'll be glad to meet with you at your convenience, to make sure that your estate planning and asset protection documents meet your needs.

Florida Tax Planning: Memo on Foreign Tax Compliance

Recently, I wrote a memorandum to outline the tax compliance matters you will need to attend to regarding the estate planning or corporate work we have structured for our clients. (Click here to read the entire memo.)

Upon the creation of a foreign trust or other type of entity (including but not limited to a foreign corporation), or a domestic trust which contains provisions to become a foreign trust, and at other intervals during the existence of those trusts, there are various informational and tax return filing requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) on the parties connected to the trust or other entity. This memorandum briefly explains the various potential filing requirements for a foreign trust, foreign corporation, or other type of foreign business entity, as well as for a settled trust that may in the future become a foreign trust. This memorandum is not intended to take the place of competent advice from an accountant, tax return preparer, or other tax professional experienced in the filing of tax and informational returns relating to international transactions, but only to put you on notice of filings that may be required. Failure to comply with these reporting requirements may subject the fiduciary, grantor, settlor, and/or the beneficiary(ies) to possible civil penalties, and in some cases, if the failure to file is intentional, criminal penalties. It is highly recommended that professional advice be sought and adhered to in complying with the IRS requirements regarding your activities.

Click here to read the memo.

--Stuart Morris, Esq.

Florida Estate Planning: Estate Planning Article in the New York Times

I recently came across a fascinating article on estate planning in the New York Times. It's a quick read and provides an interesting overview of what's happened in estate planning over the past year (and in the year to come) even for those of us Florida estate planning attorneys.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/your-money/estate-planning/09wealth.html

If you have any questions about how this may impact your estate planning, please do not hesitate to contact me a info@law-morris.com for all of your Florida estate planning needs.

- Stuart Morris

Florida Estate Planning: Cartoons for the Estate Planning World

I know, I know, lawyers aren't supposed to have much of a sense of humor. But I came across a great site that has funny -- really funny -- cartoons about Estate Planning: http://stus.com/stus-category.php?cat=TOP&sub=WIL&name=estate+cartoons+will+trust

Of course, if you would like to consult with a qualified Florida estate planning attorney about asset protection, tax planning or estate planning regarding your particular set of circumstances, please call or contact us.

Florida Estate Planning: 2010 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion $13000

The IRS recently announced that the gift tax annual exclusion will remain unchanged in 2010 at $13,000.

The yearly amount of the exclusion is based on the Consumer Price Index and has increased from $10,000 in 1997 to $13,000 in 2009 and 2010. As long as your gifts to an individual are less than the exclusion amount, there is no gift tax return that is required to be filed and no gift taxes are due. Each spouse gets an exclusion so a married couple can actually gift $26000 to each individual without creating a tax liability or necessity for reporting.

With proper gift planning a family can transfer a significant amount of money to their children and grandchildren. Take a family who has 3 kids, each married and each with 2 grandchildren.

This creates 3 kids + 3 spouses + 6 grandchildren. A gift of $13,000 to each by each parent could remove $312,000 a year from your estate. Do this for 10 years and you could remove more $3.1 million. Given that the current tax rate is 45%, this could save $1.4 million in estate taxes.

There are other ways of reducing your estate taxes and you should discuss your objectives and goals with a Florida Estate Planning Attorney or Florida Asset Protection Lawyer who will review your individual circumstances and make recommendations based on them.

Remember that gifting is not for everyone and as you get older and your chance of needing Medicaid increased, gifting can disqualify you from certain government benefits. If there are issues or concerns you should discuss them with your Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

Florida Estate Planning: Is a Will Contest Clause in Florida Valid? How About a Trust?

Will Contest Clauses are generally included to prevent children or beneficiaries from attempting to dispute their portion of an estate. In some states they are valid and many others like Florida they are not valid by statute.

Given that a No Contest Clause in a Will is invalid in a Florida Probate case, should they be used in Florida? If your will is contested and the end result under the state statute may be the same, it may provide any benefit to include the no contest language.
Today people move quite often and may have assets in other states that do recognize Will Contest clauses. Given that one of these situations may enable a no contest clause to be enforced, it might be a good idea to include them in your Florida Estate Planning Documents.


Under the Florida Trust Code a Florida Revocable Trust is not able to have a contest clause, unless the right to revoke the trust terminated prior to October 1, 1993.
While its not possible to have a no contest clause in a Florida Revocable Trust, Florida does allow a trust to specify the laws of another state to be used in interpreting and administering the trust. So in effect, by drafting your trust correctly, you can have a no contest clause.

There are several ways to accomplish the desired results from a no contest clause in a will or trust. To discuss your specific issues and how one might benefit you, contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or Boca Raton Estate Planning Lawyer.