Category Archives: Estate Planning

Moving Closer to Family

Senior enjoying the beach with family

You’ve made the call: It’s time to be nearer to the grandkids, to share birthdays, school plays, and simple dinners with your children in Florida. But this isn’t just a zip code update. It’s a life transition. Moving later in life invites layers of emotional weight, financial math, and relationship rewiring. For seniors making this […]

Top Estate Planning Mistakes in Florida

Senior Online Magazine Top Estate Planning Mistakes In Florida

It’s a topic many find uncomfortable to talk about, but it’s common fodder for poets, songwriters, novelists and artists: death. We all have to face it one day, and if we’re lucky we have loved ones to be there for us when the time comes. One of the best things we can do to help […]

How to avoid probate by “operation of law”

probate-senior-800

| Written by Wendy Mara | One of the goals of estate planning is to help clients avoid estate planning probate. No, everyone does not have to go through probate. And no, contrary to popular belief, a will does not avoid probate. A will is not self-executing; that is, it doesn’t transfer ownership of assets […]

What happens to your assets if you or your spouse need to go into a nursing home?

medicaid

| Written by Wendy A. Mara, J.D., M.B.A | Long-term care planning is key to protecting your assets should you or your spouse need to go into a nursing home.  In Florida, the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) determines your eligibility for Medicaid Long Term Care (“Medicaid LTC”).  DCF looks at two separate things: […]

What is a revocable living trust and do I need one?

will-testament-800

| Written by Andrew C. Grant | One of the most frequent questions I get when meeting with new clients to plan for their estates is whether they need a trust or not.  This question is usually prompted by a lack of information, or misinformation, as to what a trust does as part of a […]