I WISH I COULD RECORD MY DREAMS AND WATCH THEM LATER

Do you ever wake up in the morning and you can vividly remember the details of a crazy dream you just woke up from? Then you get out of bed, start your day, drive to work, and make a few phone calls. By the time you get to work and want to tell your best friend about your dream, you realize you can't remember what the dream was even about. 

The dream obviously had some meaning to you, but without it being written down, it just slipped through your fingers and *poof* no longer exists.

“You may not be able to record your dreams and watch them later, but you can record your wishes and your loved ones can watch them fall into place when you are gone.”

 

People always say that they are 'thinking' about the perfect estate plan. They have it written in their head but it's not quit ready to be written down on paper.  They feel that once they have  come up with the perfect plan, they will write it down. Until then, ehh, it can wait for a rainy day.

Don't delay- start today. You may have forgotten what you want to happen.

What should an estate plan consist of in South Florida?

Last Will & Testament: State your final wishes regarding who will receive or who will not receive from your estate, name guardians for your minor children, state directions regarding organ donation and burial.

Revocable Trust (Living Trust): In depth document that will state your final wishes. You are able to place stipulations and retain control of your assets during your lifetime. 

Durable Power of Attorney: Name someone to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become unable to do so yourself. 

Healthcare Surrogate: Name someone to act on your behalf if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

Living Will: Document that will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state

REMEMBER:  Your estate plan will never be perfect. Stop using the excuse that you will start planning once you know exactly how you want it written. There are so many moving parts in your life, that your estate plan will be consistently changing.

However, if nothing is written down, your wishes will not be known to your loved ones.

You may not be able to record your dreams and watch them later, but you can record your wishes and your loved ones can watch them fall into place when you are gone.  

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start discussing with loved ones their estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Plantation, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

Heroes Get Remembered, But Legends Never Die

Legend: MICHAEL JACKSON   

Estate Planning Mistake: FAILURE TO FINISH WHAT YOU START

The singer's fame and place in pop culture is so big that even though he was a human being like the rest of us, it seemed he would somehow live forever. That's partly why nearly everyone was shocked at his 2009 passing and still are today. 

Although the music legend, Michael Jackson, did so many things right in the music industry, one thing he failed to do right was his estate planning. One major lesson that can be learned from Michael Jackson's estate is: FAILING TO FINISH WHAT YOU START

Michael Jackson created a trust, but never fully funded it, which defeated a primary purpose of having a trust. This caused a lot of fighting within his family. His estate was made public when filed with the probate court and all secrets were let out for the world to see.

“If you never place the items you wish to keep protected into the safe, and someone robs your house, your assets are not protected. ”

Why would someone want a revocable trust?

What is a revocable trust?

A legal document that allows you to state your final wishes. In Florida, you can state who will receive and who will not receive from your estate. You are able to retain control of your assets during your lifetime and place stipulations on those who are to receive from your estate after your passing.  

What are the benefits of a revocable trust in Florida?

(1)Keep assets out of the probate court. Eliminates court fee and attorney's fees

(2)No delays and hassles associated with the probate process

(3)Private document. No one will ever have access to your financial information or who benefited from your estate.

How do you 'fund' a trust in Florida?

A trust is only as valuable as the assets that 'fund' it. If the trust is not funded, the trust is nothing more then a sheet of paper. Funding a trust simply means transferring property into the trust as well as retitling bank accounts, real estate and investments. 

For example, you purchase a safe that is fireproof, waterproof, and is drilled into the ground so a burglar cannot remove it easily from the home. If you never place the items you wish to keep protected into the safe, and someone robs your house, your assets are not protected. They were never placed in the safe. Same is true if you don't fund the trust with your assets. They will have to go through probate if not properly placed in your trust.

If you go through the effort of drafting a trust, make sure you complete the process and fully fund it. Last thing you want to do is pass away with a trust, and not get the full benefits of a trust.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach County contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Digital Assets: Why They Need to Be Part of Your Estate Plan

What’s going to happen to your Facebook account when you die? Or all the songs you’ve downloaded from iTunes? 

As digital assets become more common for all of us, it is important to incorporate them into estate plans. Unfortunately, that is not always easy to do.

The average person has roughly $35,000 worth of assets stored on digital devices. That value includes purchased movies, books, music and games as well as personal memories, communications, personal records, hobbies and career information. More than 1/2 of the digital assets stored would be impossible to recreate, re-download or repurchase.

Unfortunately, those assets are increasingly at risk of being lost when the account owner dies. Many digital accounts are subject to complicated terms of service agreements, which can often make it difficult or impossible for surviving loved ones to access them. Additionally, state and federal laws could put friends and relatives who try to log on to your accounts at risk of violating anti-hacking and privacy statutes.

“The average person has roughly $35,000 worth of assets stored on digital devices.”

Initiatives are under way to put more consumer-friendly laws in place regarding digital assets. Until then, though, it’s important to incorporate detailed directions and information surrounding your digital assets into your estate plan. Here are four steps to take now: 

STEP 1: TAKE A DIGITIAL INVENTORY

Complete an annual review of all your online accounts and subscriptions and then prepare a list.

·       Examples: Computing hardware: computers, external hard drives or flash drives, tablets, smartphones, digital music players, e-readers, digital cameras, and other digital devices.

·       Any information or data that is stored electronically, whether stored online, in the cloud, or on a physical device.

·       Any online accounts, such as email and communications accounts, social media accounts, shopping accounts, photo and video sharing accounts, video gaming accounts, online storage accounts, and website blogs that you may manage. 

·       Domain Names 

·       Intellectual property, including copyrighted materials, trademarks, and any code you may have written and own.

STEP 2: DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT DONE WITH YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS

What do you want to happen to these assets? You might want some to be archived and saved, others you may want deleted or erased. Possibly you may want to transfer accounts to family members or friends.

STEP 3: GATHER YOUR PASSWORDS AND STORE IN SECURE BUT ACCESSIBLE LOCATION:

Make a list of all your passwords and keep it in a safe place. Include a copy in your estate-planning portfolio. Make sure your spouse and children are aware or your plan and how to access it.

STEP 4: BE SPECIFIC:

Make sure your durable power of attorney includes specific provisions authorizing someone you trust to deal with your digital assets and online accounts. Your will or trust will have similar provisions to allow loved ones to deal with those assets after your death.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs. You can't predict the future, but you can plan for it.

A Will Was Drafted, But We Can’t Find It!

Congratulations! You decided not to procrastinate and your actually prepared your estate planning documents. You realized you have family members that will likely fight to the death to get that antique mirror hanging in your bedroom. You decided that it was important to draft a will to specifically state who will receive specific items from your estate when you pass away. Your first thought was, “What do I care? I am dead.”  But you know that your son holds grudges for years and you do not want a family riff to occur at the time of your passing.

“What happens if you pass away and nobody is able to find the will that you drafted? ”

What happens if you pass away and nobody is able to find the will that you drafted?  Florida law allows for the contents of a will or a codicil (amendment to an old will) to be proven even if the will cannot be found. 

Florida Statute §733.207 provides that the contents of a will that was lost or destroyed can be proven if either;

(1) two disinterested witnesses testify as to the contents of the will, or

(2) a correct copy of the will is provided and one disinterested witness testifies as to the contents of the will.

Florida courts have looked at various methods to fulfill these requirements. They had to decide whether a handwritten draft or a typewritten original qualifies as a correct copy. Neither qualifies. There must be a carbon copy of the original instrument.

If you go through the effort of drafting a will, make sure you keep it in a safe place, but also inform someone you trust as to its whereabouts. Last thing you want is to pass away with a will, but no one can find the original or a copy of it.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start preparing your estate-planning portfolio. Take charge of your last wishes and make sure your loved ones receive from your estate when you are gone. You can't predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

One Father Per Child

You married a woman who has a son from a previous marriage. You have raised him as if he was your own since he was 2 years old. You hang out all the time, you are his baseball coach, and you attend all his school functions. He pretty much thinks you are the coolest step-dad ever. You call him your ‘son’, but the reality of the situation is, he is not your son under Florida law.

“Even if you are completely involved in your step-son’s life, when it comes to being a legal heir and receiving inheritance, he can only receive from his biological father.”

When it comes to inheritance, you only have one father or one mother. Raising a child is not the same as ‘adopting’ a child.  Adoption is going to court and getting a judgment or decree of adoption and legally cutting the ties with one parent and giving it to a new parent.

Even if you are completely involved in your step-son’s life, when it comes to being a legal heir and receiving inheritance, he can only receive from his biological father.  If you want to make sure a step-son receives from your estate and they have not been legally adopted, specific language needs to be placed in your will or trust. If you do not prepare a will or trust, your step-son will receive ZERO from your estate.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start preparing your estate-planning portfolio. Make sure your loved ones receive from your estate when you are gone. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

Pass the Turkey, Pass The Gravy, Pass the Durable Power of Attorney

It is that time of year again to sit down with your loved ones, over eat, and go around the table and say what you are thankful for. The reality of the situation is that you sit down to eat an overabundance of food with extended family members you sometimes wish were strangers. You hope you don’t come across as rude when you would rather pay attention to the football game on the television as opposed to listening their mundane stories. After all, if you really wanted to hear their stories throughout the year, you could have called them, texted or even sent a Facebook message.  

It is the start of the holiday season in South Florida and the last thing on your mind is planning your estate for when you pass away or preparing documents in case you become incapacitated. But in reality, this time of year makes you realize that if you do not properly plan your estate, family members that you are not too fond of might fight over your estate (and win). Is that really something you want to happen when you pass away?  I think not!

Start thinking about who you would like to make medical and financial decisions for you in case you are unable to make those decisions for yourself. Remember, if you are married, your spouse is not legally given the right to make medical and financial decisions for you.  That right must be placed in writing. Also, if you have “children” in college, you will need their written permission to make decisions for them. “Because I said so”, is no longer a valid answer as a parent once your child reaches the age of eighteen! 

“But in reality, this time of year makes you realize that if you do not properly plan your estate, family members that you are not too fond of might fight over your estate (and win)”

It is the perfect time for South Florida residents to think about building (or updating) their estate-planning portfolio:

Will: State your final wishes regarding who will receive or who will not receive from your estate, name guardians for your minor children, state directions regarding organ donation and burial

 Revocable Trust(living trust): In depth document that will state your final wishes. You are able to place stipulations and retain control of your assets during your lifetime. 

Supplemental Documents 

Durable Power of Attorney: Name someone to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become unable to do so yourself. 

Living Will: Document that will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state.

 Healthcare Surrogate: Name someone to act on your behalf if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start discussing with loved ones their estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.