Year-End Estate Plan Review Checklist
By Spiro Verras
The end of the year is a useful time to check whether your estate plan still reflects your life. A new family member, a move, a change in health or an updated account may call for attention. A focused review can help you...
When to Consider a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust
By Spiro Verras
Trusts are key components of a comprehensive estate plan that offer a number of potential benefits. Two of the most common types of trusts used in estate planning are revocable and irrevocable trusts. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and deciding which one is...
Who Gets The Family Pet? Pet Trusts In Estate Plans
By Spiro Verras
Pets are part of the family, and planning for their care can be an important part of your estate plan. A Florida pet trust can set aside resources, identify responsible people and provide instructions for an animal’s needs if you die or become unable...
Planning for adulthood with a disability
By Spiro Verras
A child's eighteenth birthday is a natural moment to look ahead. For a family that includes someone with a disability, it is an opportunity to review financial support, benefits and decision-making arrangements together.
A supplemental needs trust can be established earlier, or...
Can A Handwritten Will Hold Up In A Florida Court?
By Spiro Verras
Marriage, children, and other changes in your life are good reasons to create or review a will. You may wonder whether writing down your wishes yourself is enough. In Florida, handwriting is not the obstacle; proper execution and clear instructions are what matter.
What...
Using Trusts in Estate Planning for Control and Tax Benefits
By Spiro Verras
A trust can help you decide how property will be managed and when your beneficiaries will receive it. Some trusts also serve specific tax-planning purposes. The benefits depend on the trust’s terms, the property involved and the way the plan is carried out; creating...
What Is a QPRT?
By Spiro Verras
A home can be both a place your family loves and an important part of the inheritance you hope to leave. A qualified personal residence trust, or QPRT, offers one way to plan for its future ownership while keeping the right to live there for a specified...
Supporting a Loved One Who Needs Help Managing an Inheritance
By Spiro Verras
An inheritance can provide support through many stages of a loved one’s life. The best arrangement depends on the beneficiary’s age, experience, needs, and circumstances. If continuing management would help, a trust can balance practical safeguards with flexibility and respect for the beneficiary.
Your...
Will Contest Actions
By Spiro Verras
A will contest asks a court to decide whether a will, or part of it, is legally valid. These disputes can be difficult for a family, especially while grieving. A useful first step is to separate disappointment about the result from a concern that the...
Trust Administration in Florida
By Spiro Verras
Trust administration is the work of managing trust property and carrying out the trust’s terms. It can occur during the creator’s lifetime, during incapacity, after death and for years afterward. The trustee’s authority and responsibilities depend on the trust, its revocable or irrevocable status,...