Avoiding Probate, and When Not to Bother
Probate in Florida takes months and costs the family money and privacy, but a will does not avoid it, an unfunded trust does not either, and for some estates the sensible answer is to let it happen.
Key Takeaways Florida probate is...When Your Assets Are in More Than One State
A Florida probate does not transfer the lake house in Michigan or the apartment in New York; without planning, each state gets its own proceeding, its own lawyer, and sometimes its own tax.
Key Takeaways Real property is governed by the law...Privacy in the Sunshine State
Florida’s probate files are public, a deposited will is public even if never used, and the property appraiser already knows where you live; here is what a trust, a land trust, or an entity actually keeps private, and what nothing does.
Key TakeawaysMinimizing Estate Tax for Florida Families (Most of Whom Will Never Owe It)
Florida has no estate tax and the federal one starts at $15,000,000, so for most Florida families the real question is capital gains, retirement accounts, and the drafting that second marriages require.
Key Takeaways Florida imposes no estate, inheritance, or gift tax,...
Who Needs a Florida Land Trust?
A practical look at the Florida land trust - the privacy it actually delivers, what gets recorded, how it interacts with homestead and financing, and whether the trustee’s fee is worth paying
Key Takeaways A Florida land trust puts both legal and...Attorney Spiro J. Verras Admitted to Practice Law in New York
Verras’ recent admission to the New York Bar creates new opportunities for the firm to serve clients across state lines.
Verras Law, P.A. is pleased to announce that Founder and Attorney Spiro J. Verras, Esq., has been admitted to practice law in New York. His admission...
How to Resolve a Trust Dispute Without Going to Court in Florida
Many Florida trust disputes can be resolved without a trial through direct negotiation, mediation, greater financial transparency, or a written settlement agreement. Reaching an agreement outside the courtroom can give trustees and beneficiaries more control over the outcome while reducing the cost, delay, and conflict that often come with trust litigation.
How to Close an Estate in Florida
Closing an estate in Florida generally requires the personal representative to finish administering the estate, resolve creditor claims and expenses, address taxes, distribute the remaining property, and obtain an order of discharge from the probate court. The estate is not formally closed simply because beneficiaries have received their inheritances.
Florida Asset Protection: Tenants by the Entirety (TBE) Brokerage Accounts
Another Benefit of Marriage: How Fidelity, Vanguard, J.P. Morgan, Schwab, and other brokerage accounts fit with revocable living trusts and a holistic Florida estate plan
Key Takeaways Florida tenancy by the entirety can protect qualifying jointly owned property from a separate creditor...
Florida TBE Brokerage Accounts: Lawyer, Plan Thyself
My firsthand experience trying to establish tenancy-by-the-entirety accounts at Fidelity and Vanguard, with J.P. Morgan
Key Takeaways A brokerage account labeled “joint” is not necessarily owned as TBE. JTWROS and TBE are different ownership forms with different creditor consequences.