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What’s the difference between a Will and a Trust under Florida law?

What’s the difference between a Will and a Trust under Florida law?

At Longa Law we assist clients with will and trust plans, as well as business succession plans, real estate transfers and deeds for estate planning purposes, trust administration, and probate administrations throughout the state of Florida.  Many clients wonder – what is in an Estate Plan? One size does not fit all when it comes Read More

Welcome to Your Digital Afterlife: Estate and Tax Planning for Digital Assets, Cryptocurrency, and NFTs

Original Article Published in GPSOLO, Volume 39, Number 6, NOV/DEC 2022 © 2022 by the American Bar Association Click HERE for Mobile Version

How Much Does Probate Really Cost?

Many people choose to use a revocable living trust as a mechanism to avoid probate.  As I describe it, a revocable living trust is like a treasure chest because you can put your treasures in it while you are alive and still maintain complete control. The trust also avoids probate for heirs if it’s been Read More

The Real Cost of a DIY Plan

I have a lot of respect for Dave Ramsey, so I was surprised to see him endorsing Mama Bear, an online form will and trust document preparation service.  These services do not provide legal advice.  They state in the small print you consent to, repeatedly, that: “The information contained in the Site is general legal information and Read More

Wealth Transfer Strategies to Consider in an Election Year

With a push by the Democratic party to return federal estate taxes to their historic norms, taxpayers need to act now before Congress passes legislation that could adversely impact their estates. Currently, the federal estate and gift tax exemption is set at $11.58 million per taxpayer. Assets included in a decedent’s estate that exceed the Read More

TRUST BASICS: HOW DO YOU ESTABLISH A TRUST?

Trust law is state specific, and Florida Statutes Section 736.0402(1) provides certain basic requirements to establish a trust: The settlor has capacity to create a trust. The settlor indicates an intent to create the trust. The trust has a definite beneficiary or is: A charitable trust; A trust for the care of an animal, as Read More

TRUST BASICS: HOW MANY WITNESSES ARE NEEDED FOR A TRUST?

A Trust is essentially an agreement between the Grantor (sometimes called the Trustor) and the Trustees, who maintain the Trust in accordance with its terms.  I tell clients to think of a Trust as a private treasure chest or safe deposit box for assets.  Trust law is state specific, so in Florida, the Florida Trust Read More

FACE YOUR FEARS: Check Create Estate Plan Off of Your Year-End To-Do List

Last Friday, I helped one of my good friends complete her and her husband’s estate plan, and they finally signed the finished documents on a beautiful afternoon at her condo on the ocean.  The process was difficult for her.  Not because she had much to do; I did the hard work for her. But she Read More