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Condo Assessments Can Grab Heirs in Cases of Homestead

It may not be safe for the heirs to just “walk away” from a homestead condo due to the law on condo association assessments. Inheriting a condominium is no longer safe to walk away from. The condo associations in Florida obviously have great lobbyists, because the Florida statute on fees and assessments owed by condo… read more

No One HAS To Serve as Personal Representative

Sometimes the best advice is “Don’t Do It.” Sometimes the best advice we can give to prospective executors (in Florida called Personal Representatives) is, “Don’t do it.” Just because a Last Will names you as executor, that does not bind you. In some estates, the Will (usually not drafted by a lawyer) is so hard… read more

Are Life Insurance Proceeds Assets in Probate?

Normally life insurance proceeds go directly to the name beneficiaries and are not probate assets. Unless payable to your own estate, death benefits payable under your life insurance policies are NOT estate assets, which means they do not go according to your Will and which sometimes means they go to the “wrong people.” Money paid… read more

Move Cars Out of Estate Quickly

We do not like cars or trucks in an estate. Under Florida law, the owner of a vehicle is normally liable for accidents caused by the car, and that liability is not limited to the car insurance limits. So an estate with $200,000 in stocks and bonds can see all of that disappear in the… read more

“You Get What You Pay For”

We are often asked, “Would I be OK with a Will from Legal Zoom or drafting one on my own from a software program?” The answer is complicated because (1) not everyone needs a Will, although most do; and (2) so much depends on what the person already knows about the laws of property and… read more

Why Is Florida Probate So Complicated?

We hear that question a lot. Some of the complexity is due to legal protections. Some of it is just unnecessary. Compared to the probate systems in other states, according to some of our clients, Florida’s rules are complicated, complex and apparently designed so that a “consumer” (non-lawyer) cannot possibly work through it herself, no… read more

Life Tenant Expenses in Florida

Despite a surviving spouse’s right to elect 50% of an inherited homestead when the homestead was not in joint names, instead of the traditional “life estate,” there are still a lot of life estates in Florida. A life estate is a type of real property ownership for a period of time, measured by the life… read more

Children Inherit Assets Not Debts

Why do some people worry about having to pay their parent’s debts? It always surprises us when our clients ask us if they are responsible for the debts of their deceased parents. We scratch our heads and ask, “Where would you get such a thought?” We are sure that in some societies at some times… read more

The Quick and the Deed

There is a type of deed called a “quit claim deed,” the name of which comes from an archaic verb that actually says the person signing the deed “quitclaims” the title to the other person. Literally, it means “I will not make any claim to the title after I record this deed.” Because the word… read more

Florida’s Two Kinds of Probate

Probate is a court process, which varies from state to state. People use it to transfer ownership of assets (land, houses, stocks, money) from people who died (decedents) to the people who under the law inherited those assets (heirs or beneficiaries). Sounds simple? Sadly, it often is not. In Florida, there are two very different… read more