Articles Posted in Trust Administration

By Phillip B. Rarick, Miami Trust Attorney You are named the successor trustee and the trustmaker has just died. No doubt these are difficult times, but thankfully there are many resources to help. The following is a checklist of initial important tasks to help guide you after the funeral or memorial service. Note: You are…

____ 1. Minimum of 10 death certificates (these can usually be obtained through the funeral home) ____ 2. Original Will and all codicils (or amendments to the Will) Note: If you have the original, either personally deliver to the attorney’s office or send via Federal Express or certified mail. ____ 3. Originals of all trusts…

By Phil Rarick, Esq. The sole reason most trusts exist is to serve the needs of the beneficiaries. It is not an employment program for the trustee or any other person. Therefore, a core test for whether a trust is performing – and performing efficiently – is to examine whether the needs of the beneficiaries…

Know your rights. If you are a qualified beneficiary of a Florida trust you have important legal rights protected by Florida law. The trustee of an irrevocable trust in Florida is a fiduciary with numerous responsibilities that run like a laser beam to the qualified beneficiaries. See our 12 Point Summary of Florida Trustee Duties.…

By: Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. Most divorce judgments call for one of the parties to obtain a life insurance policy for securing the payment of child support, alimony or some other financial obligation. Let’s assume the obligation is solely child support: a potential mistake is failure to secure payment of the policy premiums by use…

By Phillip B. Rarick, Esq. and Jacqueline R. Bowden, Esq. In Florida, when you die, your debts remain in your estate – and are not transferred to a surviving spouse or family member. However, this simple legal concept does not stop some creditors from harassing the surviving spouse or a family member into payment of…

How fundamentally has the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) changed estate planning? It may have taken a year for this consensus to develop, but the simple answer that was apparent at the recent 48th Annual Heckling Institute on Estate Planning is this: Profoundly; there is a new paradigm in estate planning. Paul Lee, the…

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 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…

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…