Your Florida Wills, Trusts, & Estates

by Ashar, Linda C.

• ISBN13: 9781601384133
• ISBN10: 1601384130
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-30
• Publisher: Atlantic Pub Co

Summary

Few people want to think about what would happen to their family if they become disabled or die; however, planning for these occurrences in advance will reduce potential stress on your family later in life. This new book will take the guesswork out of planning your estate and help you finally understand the complex processes. The right plan can protect the value of your estate and spare your loved ones unnecessary hassles and legal conflicts. Your Florida Wills, Trusts, & Estates will help you glide through this complicated process. This new book has been adapted to offer Florida residents state-specific advice for estate planning. Author Linda C. Ashar, Attorneys at Law, has crafted an estate planning primer, allowing Florida residents to become more informed and more involved during the process. Your Florida Wills, Trusts, & Estates will provide all the information you need to choose, set up, and execute a will, trust, or estate. You will learn the legal terminology, including beneficiary, probate, trustor, trustee, assets, guardianship, and executor. You will also learn about trust agreements, trust property, settlement costs, life insurance, durable power of attorney, marital deductions, gift splitting, survivorship deeds, gift tax issues, generation skipping transfer tax, tax deferred accounts, and advance directives. Florida -specific information is offered throughout this book, including: Florida probate code; Florida rules, regulations, and laws specific to estate planning; elements of a valid Florida will; planning your living will in Florida; explanations of Florida laws regarding durable health care power of attorneys, do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, and directives to withhold CPR. The book's easy-to-understand context clarifies this complicated and sensitive subject and gives readers the power to take control of their future. Whether you are writing your will, establishing a trust, planning your estate for the first time, or updating and revising your previous plans, Your Florida Wills, Trusts, & Estates will give you all the tools and knowledge you need to decide where and to whom your assets will go when you die. Other books offer a non-state-specific overview of estate planning, causing many readers to be misinformed about rules and regulations particular to their state; but, this new book provides information Florida residents need to know. Do not get outdated or wrong information that does not pertain to you specifically. Use this new book to craft an estate plan that is not only legally sound but also fully carries out your last wishes and protects your loved ones.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Estate Planning: What Is It?	p. 9
Getting Started	p. 11
Estate Planning Simplified	p. 12
Everyone Dies: A Simple Statement, Complicated Implications	p. 13
Money Talk	p. 15
I Do What with All This?	p. 16
Here and Now	p. 19
What This Work Can Do	p. 23
What Exactly is Involved	p. 24
Estate Planning Basics	p. 29
Debunking Myths	p. 31
Your Estate	p. 33
People	p. 35
Who Will Carry Out Your Wishes in Your Place?	p. 44
People of Influence	p. 52
Components of an Effective Estate Plan	p. 57
Legally Speaking	p. 58
Defining Your Estate	p. 62
Pass the Parchment	p. 62
Taxes	p. 79
Federal First	p. 80
Now for the State	p. 85
When, Not If, You Pay	p. 87
Wills	p. 97
Will Basics	p. 98
Wills Defined	p. 99
The ôOtherö Will	p. 107
People Speaking for You	p. 109
Change and Your Will	p. 111
Trusts	p. 115
What is a Trust?	p. 116
Types of Trusts	p. 120
Pros and Cons of Forming a Trust	p. 126
Insurance	p. 129
Insurance for Here and Now	p. 131
Insurance for After You Are Gone	p. 139
Varying Beneficiaries	p. 142
Retirement Accounts	p. 147
Your Nest Egg	p. 148
IRAs and Then Some	p. 152
Your Government Nest Egg	p. 154
Protecting Your Eggs	p. 156
Retirement/Estate Planning Strategy	p. 158
Setting Priorities	p. 163
Your Own Who's Who	p. 164
Memory Lane	p. 169
Your ôPeopleö	p. 172
Must-Do	p. 173
Choosing Who, What, How, When, and Why	p. 177
Who and When: The Matching Game	p. 178
When: Today, Tomorrow, or Later?	p. 181
How: The Professionals	p. 183
Planning Your Estate: Last Will and Testament in Florida	p. 191
Changing Your Will - Codicils	p. 193
Revocation of Your Will	p. 194
Effect of Subsequent Marriage, Birth, Adoption, Divorce, Annulment or Dissolution of Marriage	p. 195
Penalty Clause for Contest	p. 196
Incorporation of Another Writing by Reference	p. 196
Where to Keep Your Will	p. 196
Beneficiaries, Debts, and Entitlements	p. 197
How Your Will Might be Challenged	p. 197
Lost, Spoliated, or Destroyed Will	p. 198
A Different Type of Will - Your Living Will (Advance Directive) in Florida	p. 199
Keeping it Current	p. 207
What Changes?	p. 208
What Does ôMaintenanceö Look Like?	p. 210
What to Go Over	p. 214
Your Desk	p. 215
One Last Motivator: Probate and You	p. 217
Conclusion	p. 227
Estate-Planning Worksheets	p. 229
Your Estate in Black and White	p. 229
Prioritization	p. 232
Who, What, How, and When	p. 233
Essential Documents and Accounts Inventory	p. 234
Party Planning with an Unusual Twist	p. 253
Estate Plan Summary Sheet	p. 255
Annual To-Do List	p. 256
Glossary of Terms	p. 259
Bibliography	p. 281
Author Biography	p. 283
Index	p. 285
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