THE FLORIDA LAW BLOG

Estate Planning - What You Need to Know about Living Wills

A living will is often included as part of an estate planning package. The living will specifies whether you wish to be kept alive under certain circumstances, such as when you are in a terminal condition with no hope of recovery. You can specify whether you want food and water withheld, whether you want to be kept alive by mechanical means such as artifical  respiration. A living will does not dispose of your property and you still need a will or trust to accomplish that. I recommend a living will as part of all estate planning packages because without one, you may be kept alive against your will for long periods of time while family members battle it out in court over your condition and what should be done.  You can save yourself and your family a great deal of heartache and pain by simply completing a living will.

 

Estate Planning - What You Need to Know About Wills

Estate planning involves taking time to lay out a plan for your heirs after your death, either by will or trust, and making provisions for your care while you are living.

A basic estate plan includes a will, living will, durable power of attorney, and health care power of attorney. If you have these four documents, you have basically covered the bases, and protected yourself and your heirs under most circumstances.

The will is a documnent that sets forth your wishes for the disposition of your assets upon your death. In order to prepare a will, your lawyer will need to know several pieces of information including (1) the name of a designated personal representative (2) an alternate personal representative (3) the name of the beneficiaries of your estate.  The personal representative, formerly known as executor, is the person that will see that your wishes, as spelled out in the will are carried out. The personal representative will retain a probate lawyer, file probate in the court, via the probate lawyer, and over see the disposition of your property along with the probate lawyer, and the probate court.  The alternate personal representative is someone that can serve as personal representative in the event that the personal representative cannot serve. The beneficiaries are the people that will receive the gifts of  money and property from your estate, in the manner you state in your will.  You can specify anyone as a beneficiary and no one has the right to be a beneficiary.  You could leave your entire estate to an animal shelter or to one relative, so long as you are clear in your will that you are excluding others that might claim to be heirs to your estate.

 

Winning Divorce Strategies

Winning Divorce Strategies - Mediation

Almost every case involving divorce in Florida must submit to mediation prior to going to trial.  A mediation is where the parties, and their lawyers appear at the office of a professional mediator in an attempt to reach a settlemnet. The parties are normally separated into different rooms, with their lawyers. The mediator goes back and forth between the rooms with settlement proposals until either as settlement is reached, or the parties impase. A good mediator will not try to force a settlement upon either party, but will offer some insight as to the advisability of a certain course of action and whether the party might be successful in court.  Often parties appear at mediation seeking an outcome that they could not possibly expect on their best day in court.  A good mediation outcome is where neither party leaves the mediators office feeling like they won. About 80 percent of cases can be successfully settled at mediation. This saves the parties significant fees and costs associated with trial. Any legal matter is settled either by agreement or at a trial. So mediation is the parties opportunity to settle by agreement. If no agreement is reached, then they have little option other than a trial, which is costly, time consuming, and may not happen for several months or longer after the mediation.

 

Winning Divorce Strategies

Winning Divorce Strategies - Discovery

Another good discovery tool is the oral deposition.  The lawyer is permitted to schedule the deposition of any party to be taken under oath, before a court reporter. The lawyer can ask almost any question he can come up with,  and the deponent must answer the question under oath. The normal rules of relevancy that apply in court do not apply to depositions. The only real objection that can be raised is "form of question" and under that objection, all the lawyer must do is rephrase the question.   You can also take a video deposition, although this may be much more expensive. 

 

Winning Divorce Strategies

Winning Divorce Stategy - Discovery

In addition to the demand for compliance with mandatory disclosure, discussed in an earlier post, there are additional discovery tools for use by the divorce lawyer. One such tool is interrogatories. These are written questions submitted to the opposing party, to be answered in writing and signed under oath. There are standard family law interrogatories, based upon forms provided in the Florida Famly Law Rules and Forms,  and in addition, you can develop specific interrogatories based upon the facts of your case, and whether you need the answer to a particular question that is not part of the standard family law interrogatories. Another good discovery tool is request for production.  Similar to the request for compliance with mandatory disclosure, you can request specific documents and things, the nature of which may depend on your particular case.