Our Estate Planning and Probate attorneys serving Clearwater believe that your assets should be safeguarded against lenders, predators, separation, and even the poor decisions of your beneficiaries themselves. We feel that you, not the government, should decide on how your possessions are dispersed when you perish. Your estate should not be gutted by burdensome death duty, and your life savings should not be depleted for you to get long-term healthcare. Our estate planning attorneys can help you safeguard your legacy and your loved ones.
We provide Administration, Litigation and Estate Planning services to Clearwater Residence.
Administration in Clearwater
The administration of an estate after a member of the family or someone dear to you ceases living can be immensely nerve-racking. At a time when you are more focused on mourning, you may quickly find that getting the affairs of a loved one in order are a lot more complicated than just memorial service preparation. You may be confronted with legal terms and requests for information that are unfamiliar to you, adding a bit of confusion to your distress. An qualified administration attorney at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus and McQuaid, P.A., is here to help dissect and explain the process to ensure you can smoothly satisfy your responsibilities and disperse possessions of the deceased according to the laws of the state of Florida.
Executor of a Will
The executor of a will is the individual you name to carry out your desires after you pass. Whenever you pass away with a legally-valid will, a judge will approve the executor you’ve named in it to act on it. This could include paying outstanding debts with the money left from your estate, distributing your money and property to your heirs, and more.
It’s important to choose a reputable, organized individual you trust to be your executor. They’ll have an important role in ensuring everything goes smoothly with your estate after your death.
Probate Administration
When a loved one passes on, their assets and liabilities don’t pass with them. These assets and liabilities will need to be dispersed according to the laws of the state of Florida, under a process called probate administration. Simply put, probate is a procedure in which a court supervises the distribution of a deceased person’s assets and the paying of their debts. However, this procedure may be rather convoluted. It can even be difficult to know if it is necessary, but the experienced Estate Planning and Probate attorneys serving Clearwater are here to help.
Trust Administration
Trust administration in Florida pertains to the duties and procedures by which a successor trustee a living trust carries out the terms of the trust document. A successor trustee of a living trust has a large range of capabilities and responsibilities which become successful upon our death or incapacity of the trustmaker or grantor. The trustee has a legal responsibility to the trust beneficiaries that include proper administration of trust assets. The trustee can be liable for damages caused by improper handling of trust assets or inappropriate trust administration.
Litigation in Clearwater
If you believe your rights have been violated as a beneficiary in a Will or Trust in Florida, then you should contact an Estate, Trust & Trustee Litigation attorney as soon as possible. Doing so will provide you with the legal skills to file a petition that could protect your family’s assets, rights and future.
Alternatively, if you are facing accusations and claims as a Trustee, it is critical that you get in touch with a lawyer to help prove that your decisions were justified.
Beneficiary Rights
If you’re a beneficiary of a Florida estate or trust and think your rights have been breached, then you should speak to a Beneficiary Rights attorney as soon as possible.
Elder Abuse in Clearwater
If you speculate or know that someone in your life has been the victim of Elder Abuse, then you should get in touch with an Elder Abuse attorney to protect them and their finances as soon as possible.
Trust Accounting Disputes in Clearwater
If a Trustee has neglected to provide you with accounting information or you presume malpractice, then you should get in touch with a Trust Accounting Disputes attorney as soon as possible.
Trust Contest
If you suspect a trust has been improperly created or managed, you will need a Trust contest attorney to prove its invalidity. Doing so will allow you to file a lawsuit and fight for your inheritance.
Clearwater Trustee Defense
If you’re a Trustee experiencing incriminations of mishandling, fraud, breaches of fiduciary obligation, self-dealing or any other misconduct, then you may wish to consult with a Trustee Defense attorney.
Trustee Removal
If a Trustee has breached their fiduciary duties or functioned irresponsibly, then a Trustee removal attorney can file an action to exterminate the Trustee to safeguard your rights as a beneficiary.
Will Contest
If you feel that your inheritance rights have been mismanaged, you will require the professional assistance of a Florida Will contest attorney. Doing so will allow you to file a petition that could change the method the estate is distributed.
Clearwater Estate Planning
If estate planning is something you would rather not think about, try envisioning the laws of the state of Florida dictating what comes about to your property, who administers your estate, even who becomes the legal guardian of your children. An entity with no direct connection to your family or everything you’ve worked for could become the ultimate decision maker without the proper execution of a Last Will and Testament. This very real likelihood can manifest in ways you would never have imagined, leaving your final desires unsatisfied and your family members possibly uncared for. Effective estate planning offers you the chance to prepare for these contingencies as well as the opportunity to cement your legacy. Our Clearwater Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys cover every element of Estate Planning, consisting of but not confined to:
Advance Directives
An Advance Directive is an oral or written statement. This statement will explain how you want your medical resolutions to be made when you become unable of arriving at these resolutions yourself.
Asset Protection
Asset Protection Planning is an lawful and legal process that involves reviewing your financial holdings and restructuring them to ensure that you can get legal exemptions.
Business Succession Planning
Business succession planning is a strategy for passing on administration tasks to an employee or group of employees.
Charitable Lead Trust
A charitable lead trust is an irrevocable trust designed to provide financial support to one or more charitable organizations for a time frame, with the remaining assets ultimately going to family members or other beneficiaries.
Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder trust is a tax-exempt irrevocable trust constructed to minimize the taxable income of people by first spreading income to the beneficiaries of the trust for a specified time frame and then awarding the remainder of the trust to the designated charity.
Dynasty Trusts
You might have heard that “dynasty trust” is a phrase used for denoting trusts that last for more than a generation. In truth, this term is used for denoting trusts that are developed to stay for generations.
Generation-Skipping Trust
A generation-skipping trust is a form of trust that specifies someone who is at least 37 1/2 years younger than the settlor as the beneficiary of the trust.
Grantor Retained Annuity Trust
A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is a financial instrument utilized in estate planning to reduce taxes on large financial gifts to family members.
Health Care Directives
Health care directives are written or oral guidelines that give instructions regarding the potential medical care that a individual should get when he/she is not in a place to decide.
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust
An intentionally defective grantor (IDGT) allows a trustor to separate certain trust assets in order to segregate income tax from estate tax treatment on them.
Irrevocable Trust
An Irrevocable Trust is an agreement between a settlor, trustee and specified named beneficiaries that can not be modified or revoked unless there is a mutual understanding between all impacted parties.
Last Will and Testament
A last will and testament is a legal document describing your desires concerning assets and dependents after your death.
Living Trusts
A living trust is a legal record, or trust, created during an individual’s lifetime where a designated individual, the trustee, is granted responsibility for managing that individual’s assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary.
LLC Formation
An LLC can help you transfer assets down to your heirs while staying clear of taxes. Our Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys can help you with LLC Formation.
Pet Trust
A pet trust is a legally sanctioned plan providing for the care and maintenance of one or more companion animals in the event of a grantor’s handicap or death.
Power of Attorney
A power of attorney may be a useful resource that allows you to be involved in monetary transactions. This tool is essential when you can not be present to sign legal documents.
Qualified Personal Residence Trust
A Qualified Personal Residence Trust or QPRT is a special kind of irreversible trust that has been created to eradicate the value of your prime residence or a secondary property from your taxable estate.
Transfer Tax Planning
Transfer tax planning includes using various tax-favored techniques to move assets to your designated recipients during your lifetime and at death.
Our Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys Provide Service to Clearwater Residents
In order to ensure that your rights and the wishes of your loved ones are fully upheld, it is important to have the representation of a skilled attorney. Our Estate Planning & Probate attorneys recognize just how much these challenges matter for you and your family, and we have the legal knowledge you need to prepare and protect your legacy.
Call us today at (727) 381-2300 or schedule a consultation online and speak with one of our top rated Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys.
