Articles Posted in Uncategorized

By Phil Rarick, Jacqueline Bowden Gold, and Jay Beskin, Miami Lakes and Weston Business Law Attorneys

Note: The following is a preliminary review of key parts of the CARES Act; this commentary is  subject to change upon guidance from the SBA and U.S. government

On March 27^th, Congress passed and the President signed into law a $349 billion “Paycheck Protection Program” as part of the massive Coronavirus relief package.  This program will likely be a life safer for many small businesses.  It is available through June 30, 2020, however Congressional leadership has already discussed extending it for additional months.

By: Phil Rarick, Weston Estate Planning Attorney

Editor’s Note:  The following is a public service Alert from Rarick & Bowden Gold, P.A.  This firm does not offer  or recommend Remote Online Notarization Service providers.

Beginning January 1, 2020 Florida joins 20 other states allowing Remote Online Notarization or “RON” for deeds, mortgages and other instruments. Beginning July 1, 2020 RON will be available for “electronic wills” and other testamentary documents. See Florida Ch. 2019-71. This Alert will discuss the RON process for non-testamentary documents that will be of interest to real estate attorneys. A subsequent Alert designed for estate planning attorneys will discuss the new law’s requirements for Florida electronic wills and other estate planning documents that commence July 1.

By Phil Rarick & Jacqueline Bowden Gold, Weston Estate Planning Attorneys

In 1992 estate planning attorneys  Robert Esperti and Renno Peterson wrote the best selling book, The Living Trust Revolution that captured the major shift in estate planning arising from the $6.8 trillion worth of wealth transfer beginning to take place in the United States.  That was 1992.   With the baby boom generation now retiring it is estimated that nearly 45 million U.S. households will hand down about $68.4 trillion over the course of the next quarter-decade, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.  Note: the estimate of this massive wealth transfer is now ten times the size from 1992!

The living trust revolution correctly foresaw the shift in estate planning from wills, as the cornerstone of estate plans, to living revocable trusts.  This revolution has helped many families avoid the cost of probate and keep legal control within the family for managing the wealth transfer.   I am convinced it has helped prevent many family disputes and outright family wars that break out when the family patriarch or matriarch dies without a well drafted trust. A well drafted trust lays out clear instructions about the family matriarch’s wishes and intentions.  It is when the matriarch leaves “in a vacuum” instructions that she creates an environment for family warfare.

By Phil Rarick

All modern passenger jet planes have at least two engines.  Similar reasoning applies to prenuptial agreements.    Many will argue that a good prenuptial agreement should fly safely on its own without the need for a “second engine.”   However, a second engine could be a Nevada Asset Protection Trust (“APT”) that could only be contested in a Nevada court.    Simply by requiring a litigant to seek redress in another jurisdiction will present a strong financial and psychological deterrent to a disgruntled spouse seeking to overturn the prenuptial agreement.  Two engines are safer and stronger than one!

Here are two initial objections that I hear from some of my Family Law attorney friends: