gibbslawfl

Probate in Florida, as in most other states,  is a court process which is utilized to re-title the assets in a Florida estate  into the names of heirs and designated beneficiaries. The Florida Probate Process Like any other court process, there is a strict process for completing a probate in Florida. This process is governed by the […] Read more

While it’ll be years before we fully grasp all the consequences of COVID-19, an apparent pattern of occasionally high-profile relocations—Texas and Florida being the two most prominent destinations—has already stirred a lot of discussion. Although the total number of moves nationwide has actually decreased (according to Bloomberg), COVID has almost certainly had a big impact […] Read more

D.C. veteran Joe Biden has ascended the presidential throne, and rumors of potential legislation impacting estate plans across the country are rampant.  Candidate Biden generally advocated for increases to the estate tax (death tax) rates on wealthy taxpayers and repeal of the tax cuts passed under the Trump administration.  Although the new Biden administration has […] Read more

Everyone in the family has fond memories of listening to Grandad strum on his old guitar.  So, when Grandad passed away, that old guitar was one of the most coveted items among surviving family members.  Unfortunately, two of Grandad’s daughters each remember him saying he wanted her to have the guitar after he passed.  And […] Read more

For most people, having any estate plan is preferable than not having an estate plan.  However, like the wind, life changes often occur and when this happens your Florida estate planning can suffer.  An updated Florida estate plan reflects your financial and personal situations as they currently are—not how they stood five years ago when […] Read more

Successful marriages are often described as partnerships.  Ideally, there’s a mutual respect and appreciation for one another’s contributions.  And, although marriage usually involves a bigger emotional commitment than a business partnership, in either relationship you’re likely to find jointly owned property. However, when it comes to joint ownership, a spouse gets the edge over a […] Read more

Protecting and promoting healthy relationships is near and dear to everything that we do when helping people with estate planning matters.  A couple of caveats for this article are as follows.  First, estate planning is all about identifying key relationships with family and friends, both past, present and future, in so many ways.  Second, estate […] Read more

There’s no one-size-fits-all estate plan in Florida.  Factors like your marital status and the ages of your children (if any), the complexity and size of your estate, and your personal goals and preferences can all make a huge difference in deciding on the right strategy.  Whatever your situation, the core idea is to coordinate transferring […] Read more

This week’s topic stems from a client question of what exactly is a successor trustee?  It reminded me that the concept of trust and estate successors can be about as foreign as everything else in the odd world of estate planning legal mumbo jumbo.  Thus, in my relentless pursuit of providing a quality Florida estate planning […] Read more