Husband Improperly Transferred Millions to His Girlfriend Without Wife’s Knowledge
Wallace v. Torres Rodriguez, — So. 3d —, 2022 WL 1481782 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022) This recent case from the Third District Court of Appeal involved a husband, a wife, and the husband’s longtime girlfriend. In 2010, the wife, Patricia, asked her attorney to draft an irrevocable trust agreement for both her and the husband, […]
Can an Irrevocable Trust be Modified Under Florida Law?
The short answer to this question is yes. What is an irrevocable trust? It is a trust document that generally is not subject to revocation or modification, once executed and funded. There are exceptions which may permit the changing of the terms of an irrevocable trust. The Florida Trust Code, Chapter 736 of the Florida […]
Florida’s Elective Share Overview
In Florida, one cannot completely disinherit their spouse. The right to a surviving spouse’s estate is called the elective share, which is thirty percent (30%) of the decedent-spouse’s estate. Fla. Stat. 732.2065. Indeed, a decedent’s surviving spouse is entitled to four different rights which come into play in the absence of a valid prenuptial or […]
Appointing a Trustee? Consider a professional.
A trustee is charged with protecting and investing trust assets and administering those assets per the terms of the trust agreement for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries. See Fla. Stat. 736.0801 et seq. While this sounds like a basic premise, there are some important functions which a trustee must do in their fiduciary role. […]
Unclaimed Property and Florida Probate
Unclaimed or abandoned property refers to financial assets which have not had contact with its owner, are unknown or lost, or have been left inactive or not generated any activity by its owner, or are otherwise somehow unclaimed or abandoned by its owner. Some common types of unclaimed property include bank accounts (both checking and […]
Termination of a Florida Trust
There are a handful of reasons why a Florida trust might be terminated. Often a trustee no longer wants to serve as a trustee or the beneficiaries no longer want a trust, but the trust may indeed terminate by its very terms. In other words, the trust may have an expiration date. Other reasons might […]
No Will? Who is to be the Personal Representative?
In an intestate estate – i.e., an estate in which the Decedent died without having a will – the state of Florida’s Probate Code statutes dictate how the Decedent’s assets will be distributed. Assuming the Decedent was married, the surviving spouse typically is the one appointed as the personal representative. Next in line would be […]
Void or Lapsed Devises
What To Do With Old Wills Updating your estate plan every few years, and particularly after a big life event (such as death, divorce, having a child, etc.), is most often an estate planner’s recommendation. That being said, people do not always follow those recommendations. Sometimes wills which are 10 or more years old are […]
Gifting Considerations
Gifting to your adult children a portion of their inheritances while you are still alive is a topic of discussion that is not always as simple or clear-cut as it may seem on the surface. Some reasons you might consider doing this may be if you have more in your savings than you thought you […]
All Shook Up: Lisa Marie Presley’s Trust
In January 2023, Elvis Presley’s only daughter, Lisa Marie, died. Multiple online news sources subsequently reported that Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla Presley, filed documents in a California court alleging that Lisa Marie’s 2016 Trust Amendment is invalid. More specifically, online news sources reported that the trust amendment contains a misspelling of Priscilla’s name, there was […]