Articles Posted in Elder Law

By Phillip B. Rarick, Esq., Miami Probate Attorney I. Executive Summary Attorney’s fees and personal representative’s (“PR”) fees make up most of the costs for Florida Probate. The biggest cost are usually attorney fees. Florida probate attorney fees depend on whether the proceeding is Summary Administration – usually the quickest and least expensive – or…

Answer by Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. Below is a summary of the basic obligations of a successor trustee of a trust. Note: Trust administration requires strict compliance with the trust terms and often analysis of complex tax requirements. If you are a successor trustee, we can help. It is important that you…

Answer by Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. The most common purpose of the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (“ILIT”) is to help preserve the full value of the policy by protecting the insurance proceeds from the U.S. federal estate tax – currently at a 40% rate. The ILIT is the owner and beneficiary of…

By Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Eq. Is there someone in your family who has or may have special needs? Does someone in your family currently receive, or potentially in the future will be receiving, government benefits for their medical or other needs? If so, it is important that you know the benefits of…

Answer by Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. The estate tax exemption for 2012 is $5.12 million; estates above $5.12 million are taxed at the rate of 35%. Unfortunately, absent congressional action, the estate tax exemption will fall back to $1 million per person with a top rate at 55% on January 1, 2013.…

Answer by Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. The best way to avoid probate is to have a basic estate plan that includes a living revocable trust as your master set of instructions to make sure you give what you have, the way you want, and when you want. When you set up a…

Answer by Miami Probate Attorney Phillip B. Rarick Esq. Probate is the legal process through which the court makes sure that, when you die, your Will is legally valid, your debts are paid and your assets are distributed according to your Will and Florida law. It is a bureaucratic, costly, and time consuming procedure to…

Answer by Phillip B. Rarick, Miami Probate Attorney Everyone has a will, whether you know it or not. If you fail to plan for this certainty, the state of Florida has a will for you: it is called intestate succession. A common question we get from relatives of family members who die without a will…

I. Executive Summary Florida probate attorney fees depend on whether the proceeding is Summary Administration – usually the quickest and least expensive – or Formal Administration. Many factors will enter into the fees, including whether the probate is contested, is subject to estate and other taxes, involves the sale of real estate, and requires advice…

A common over-sight of persons moving to Florida is failing to take their trust. They may have packed their trust and taken it with them, but the trust situs remains in their original state. This is usually a mistake. The fact that a client has moved to Florida will not generally mean that the law…