Summer Move? Update Your Estate Plan Right Away!
By Spiro Verras
A move brings new routines, new opportunities and a long list of practical tasks. Add a review of your estate plan to that list, particularly if you have moved to another state. Your existing documents may still be useful, but local rules and changes...
The 2021 For the 99.5 Percent Act: Historical Proposal and Current Estate-Tax Context
By Spiro Verras
Historical context: This article originally discussed Senator Bernie Sanders's 2021 proposal, the For the 99.5 Percent Act, introduced as S. 994 on March 25, 2021. The figures and proposals below describe that bill, not the law governing an estate today.
What did the 2021 proposal seek...What to Consider in Choosing a Personal Representative for Your Estate
By Spiro Verras
Your personal representative will be responsible for administering your probate estate. The role involves collecting and protecting property, addressing claims and expenses, keeping records, communicating, and making appropriate distributions. Choosing someone suited to that work is an important part of the plan.
Begin with trust and...Florida Elective Share Law
By Spiro Verras
Florida's elective-share law can protect a surviving spouse when the deceased spouse's arrangements provide less than the statutory amount. It is an important part of planning for married couples, particularly where there are children from another relationship or assets passing outside probate.
What is the elective...What Should I Do with My Original Estate Planning Documents?
By Spiro Verras
Your estate plan should be easy to find when the people you have chosen need it. Protecting the original documents matters, but so does making sure that an authorized person knows where to look and how to obtain them.
Give the original will particular careA scan...
Why Does “Domicile” Matter in Estate Planning?
By Spiro Verras
Domicile is an important estate-planning concept for people who divide their time between states. It generally refers to the place you regard as your permanent legal home. You can have several residences, while domicile usually identifies one legal home for the question being considered.
Intent and...Using a Prenup in Your Estate Plans
By Spiro Verras
A prenuptial agreement can help a couple discuss financial expectations before marriage, including what should happen when one spouse dies. In estate planning, its usefulness comes from coordinating those expectations with wills, trusts, titles, and beneficiary designations.
Address spousal rights directlyFlorida gives a surviving spouse certain...
What Is the Difference Between Tangible Property and Other Property Types in an Estate Plan?
By Spiro Verras
An estate plan should distinguish tangible personal property, intangible property and real property. Tangible personal property includes physical belongings such as furniture and jewelry. Intangible property includes account and ownership rights. Real property includes land and buildings, which are physical assets but have different...
How Remarriage Can Impact Your Estate Plans
By Spiro Verras
Remarriage is a useful time to review an estate plan. You may be balancing care for a new spouse, commitments from an earlier marriage, and the needs of children from different relationships. The documents and beneficiary arrangements should reflect those priorities together.
Review the people named...What Does It Mean that the Estate Tax Exemption Can Be Portable?
By Spiro Verras
Portability can allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion. It is a valuable planning tool, but the unused amount does not transfer automatically just because the couple was married.
What portability transfersThe unused amount is commonly called the deceased spousal...