September 11th Victim Compensation Fund If your loved one has passed away and was receiving benefits from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, the law may require you to open a Probate estate in order to collect the money. Our office has experience assisting those who need an Estate opened in Florida in order to collect fund benefits, life insurance benefits, or other assets held by the person when they passed away. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund also kno

A trust, unlike a will, is often not a public record. Only specific people are typically able to view a person’s trust. These people generally include successors listed in a trust, beneficiaries listed in a trust, heirs by law of a trustor, previous heirs of a trustor, the trusts’ accountants, the IRS, and even personal representatives listed on the trustor’s will. When these people, listed above, receive a copy of the trust instrument, they have an option to object to the tr

As technology continues to advance in the area of Florida estate planning, Florida’s legislature is exploring ways to make drafting a will easier. With the increase in online companies offering these services, there are many problems arising out of these make your own wills, and their validity. One recent proposal involved electronic signatures. The idea was that signatures may be signed electronically under certain, limited circumstances. That idea, while helping to make sig

Effective July 1, 2012, a former spouse of a decedent is automatically cut out of non-probate assets which include life insurance policies, annuities, employee benefit plans, payable on death accounts, individual retirement accounts, transfer on death accounts and securities, according to the language of a recent statute change. What does this mean for a divorcee? Even if your deceased ex-husband/wife intended for you to be a beneficiary on his or her life insurance policy po