Estate Planning in Florida
Sarasota Estate Planning Law Firm: Here to Help You Plan Ahead
In determining the distribution of your assets, there are a number of estate planning tools we can help you with at our law firm in Sarasota, Florida. For an overview, here are the ones we work with most of the time.
- Last Will & Testaments: Your will allows you to specifically designate how your assets will be distributed upon your death. You name a trusted person to be your personal representative and make sure that your wishes are carried out. If you die without a will, the state will determine who inherits your assets.
- Revocable Trusts: Also known by other names, such as a “Living Trust,” this is a document you create that determines how your assets are managed during your lifetime and provides a way for transferring them to your heirs after your death in a way that avoids them having to pay federal taxes.
- Powers of Attorney: A Power of Attorney is a document where you give someone you trust the authority to act on your behalf when you cannot act for yourself. It is up to you to determine how much authority you want to give someone and for how long you want them to be able to act for you. We help you determine the type of power attorney that you need and draft it for you.
- Health Care Surrogate: This is a document where you name someone you trust to make health care decisions on your behalf when you are unable to make them yourself.
- Living Will: A living will gives you the opportunity to articulate exactly what end-of-life care you want to have provided. You can specifically outline whether or not you want life-prolonging measures to be taken when there is not a medical probability that you will survive.
- Do Not Resuscitate Order: If you know for certain that you do not want to be resuscitated if you have a cardiac or respiratory arrest, we will prepare for you a Do Not Resuscitate order (DNR). There are certain requirements that must be met for the document to be valid.
- Medicaid Planning: Qualifying for Medicaid coverage for nursing home expenses is a detailed, time-consuming process. We offer assistance to families who currently have a loved one in a nursing home, OR who are contemplating that nursing home care may soon become necessary.
- Irrevocable Trusts: An irrevocable trust may sound intimidating, but there are many purposes for it and is designed to give you control over your assets, prepare for nursing home and long term care costs and protect your assets from creditors.
- Deeds: There are different types of deeds that can be prepared documenting the transfer of real property from one person to another. We prepare the correct one for you and be sure it is properly filed with the appropriate County Clerk of Court.
