Tampa Estate Planning Attorney - Wills & Trusts

At Peart Law Office, P.A. we have been preparing customized and professionally created Estate Plans for our clients since 2007. When you hire an established and experienced Estate Planning Attorney you get what you pay for: a reliable and dependable product. We promise to deliver to you the best possible customized estate plan that your money can buy, at a reasonable price. 

We do not just enter your information onto a form as some estate planning services or document preparation businesses will have you believe. Each document we prepare is hand tailored to each and every client.

If your estate is valued under $75,000.00 (excluding any protected homestead) then your estate could qualify for summary administration. However, if the value of your estate exceeds $75,000.00 then it will have to be probated, whether you have a Last Will and Testament or not. 

The six main reasons (one is optional) for planning your estate are:

1. To fulfill your wishes as to the distribution of your assets and real property through a Will and Final testament.

2. To legally grant powers to someone who would need to be able to carry out any task in your name, should you no longer be able to do so. This is normally carried out by drafting a a Durable Power of Attorney.

3. To grant powers to someone who would need to be able to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, for your benefit, should you no longer be able to do so. This legal assignment is called a Healthcare Surrogate.

4. To fulfill your wishes as to any life prolonging procedures by letting it be known to any healthcare provider whether or not you want a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order in place for yourself.  This plan is carried out by drafting a Living Will.

5. To decrease the tax liability/burden by any beneficiaries, triggered by the receipt of any gifts received through an estate.

6. An additional and optional reason for planning your estate is to save your loved ones and/or beneficiaries the grief, time and expense of probating your estate.  If you want to save people the time and expense of probating your estate then you will need to have a Trust drawn up for you. This is only one of the many benefits of having an attorney draft a Trust for you.

An estate plan is legally enforceable plan of action, delineated through a series of legally binding documents, which were drafted during a person's lifetime, with the intent of assigning and distributing powers and assets on a person's behalf to specifically assigned beneficiaries. 

The answer to this question depends on several conditions, most of which are listed above. A few reasons why you may want to hire an attorney to draft your estate plan are:

1. You want peace of mind. It's the reason why you find yourself on this website in the first place. 

2. You want to make sure that your beneficiaries and/or loved ones avoid having to probate your estate.

3. Unfortunately, you do not possess the knowledge of all of the estate planning procedures in Florida, necessary to best plan your estate.

4. You want to decrease any tax burden or tax liability by your loved ones and/or beneficiaries.

5. You would like to currently grant free use of your assets to your beneficiaries without any personal liability or burden to them.

6. You would like to decrease your personal liability through a Trust, similarly to how an LLC operates.

7. You would like to eliminate any exposure of your assets to any creditors seeking them out.

8. You would like to maintain anonymity of real property ownership in public records.

8. You want to minimize or eliminate any in-fighting in your family over your assets.

9. You want to exclude somebody from receiving anything from your estate (aside from a spouse or children, who in Florida will have a legal claim to a portion of your estate and cannot be written out of your estate).

All of these reasons aside, any mistakes made while planning your estate could cost your loved ones and beneficiaries thousands of dollars and could take months or even years to resolve.  Even worse, this all has to be carried out while your family members are grieving.  And somebody always comes out of the woodwork to make a claim for something. You know, that distant cousin of yours that you haven't seen in 30 years who thinks they are entitled to something. 

1. Call our office and book your free initial consultation.
2. Make a list of your goals. What do you want to achieve?
3. Make a list with all of your questions and concerns.
4. Make a list with all of your assets and liabilities. This includes your bank account(s), car(s), home(s), insurance policies, 401k, retirement plans, future income and expenses.
5. Make a list with all of your beneficiaries and what you plan to gift them.
6. Attend your free initial consultation with our attorney and ask a lot of questions. Make sure to keep notes!
7. Shop around. We're so confident in our products and services that we know that you will come back to do business with us once you compare us to what other law firms are offering.
8. Pick a package that we offer and call our office to move forward.
9. Schedule your signing day!
10. Attend the signing and fulfill your wishes! (Yes, we can provide witnesses, if you need them!)

"Probating an estate" or "probate" is the process of distributing assets and paying off creditors on behalf of a decedent, through a court action commenced by any heirs or beneficiaries to the decedent's estate. 

A judge will decide whether an estate plan exists and whether or not it is legally sufficient or binding. Furthermore, the judge will direct how to distribute any assets and pay any liabilities and expenses.

Again, the answer to this question depends on your arrangements.  As we mentioned above, probate is required in Florida when the value of a decedent's estate is above $75,000.00 (excluding any protected homestead).  Anything below that amount should qualify for summary administration. 

Either way, in Florida, your estate must be probated. Most people end up having to hire an attorney to represent them throughout the probate process. However, if you want your loves ones and/or beneficiaries to avoid probate entirely, then you will most likely need to have a trust set in place.

Unfortunately, we do not work in the area of probate. We only work with clients in planning for the future or litigating Trust disputes.