Bivins & Hemenway, P.A., is pleased to announce that John Hemenway has been selected to the 2017 Florida Rising Stars list published by Super Lawyers. This marks John’s fifth consecutive year on the Rising Stars list.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
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A common question from new Florida residents is whether they need to change their existing estate plan from another state. Generally it is not necessary solely for legal effectiveness, but more often than not there are other reasons that make updates worthwhile.
A Will that was validly executed in another state is generally effective in Florida so long as it is in writing and signed by the testator and two witnesses.
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A common misconception is that estate planning is only for the wealthy. In fact, there is substantial benefit to estate planning for people in all stages of life.
For young adults, it is important to give someone authority to receive medical information and make medical decisions if they cannot.
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One practical but often overlooked benefit of beginning your estate planning sooner than later is the legitimacy that it can lend to your final documented wishes.
Exploitation of elderly individuals, whether by family or otherwise, has become common enough that many view estate plans made late in life with suspicion.
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Bivins & Hemenway, P.A., is pleased to announce that John M. Hemenway has been included in the 2016 Florida Rising Stars list published by Super Lawyers Magazine. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in Florida are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.
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If you die without a Will you are said to die “intestate.” In that case, the laws of intestacy apply to distribute your assets as follows:
First, if you are married when you die your surviving spouse will receive:
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Trusts were once the cornerstone of most estate plans, due largely to tax planning when the estate tax applied to estates of $1,000,000 or less. Now, where a person can leave more than $11,000,000 free of estate tax (updated for 2018), Trusts are not always necessary. However, Trusts still provide a great degree of flexibility and long term control that simply cannot be matched by a Will alone.
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In general, we recommend that everyone has a Will. However, more specifically, there are a few situations where a Will is particularly important:
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Effective October 1, 2015, the Florida Health Care Surrogate Act is amended to make two important changes:
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Homestead is found in 3 different contexts under the Florida Constitution: (i) taxation in Article VII, Section 6; (ii) creditor protection in Article X, Section 4(a) and (b); and (iii) devise and descent in Article X, Section 4(c). This post follows my post on taxation and my post on creditor protection,
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