Real Estate Closings and Title Insurance

First- attend the Peace of Mind Planning Session. Before the meeting I’ll send you a document to complete online so I can learn a little more about you and be ready for our meeting. If you want to move forward, I’ll send you an engagement letter and invoice.

Next we’ll have a “Estate Plan Design Meeting.” We will go through the documents you provided and our discussions, and design the framework for your estate plan. It should take around 2-3 weeks for the drafts to be sent to you, and then we’ll discuss any changes you may want.

Then- its “Signing Day” ., which should occur about a month or so after our “design” meeting. All documents will be properly signed, witnessed, and notarized per Florida law. We can do it at my office or schedule a convenient location. After all is signed, your estate is “secure” and you can contact me whatever you want to discuss it

No- I will not. No social security numbers or tax returns. We will need information about your assets if you want to properly secure them, such as your house, cars, brokerage accounts, etc..

Yes. We will include documents such as

Powers of Attorney– you can appoint someone to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated (ie: pay bills, manage businesses, etc.)
Health Care Surrogates- you can appoint someone you trust to manage medical decisions.
Living Will- you appoint someone to make certain “end of life” decisions.

and Living Wills.

In addition, we will discuss who would take care of your children if something happened to you.

Probate is a court process that must be followed if someone dies without a will.

BUT- your estate will also have to go through probate even if you HAVE a will.

The judge would determine who your “heirs” are, and what happens to everything you own. Even if you used a will to write down all your wishes, a judge still needs to review the will and “admit” the will- so either way- its going to Court.

The only way to avoid probate is to have a living trust.

That’s a big myth. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if you are single, married, or if
you have any kids.

Estate planning is just making sure that your assets go to who you want, and making it as easy
as possible on your family.

Easy- prepare an estate plan, because if you don’t, your kids will inherit on their 18th birthday. A
proper estate plan let’s you decide when, and how much they will inherit. I can be done in stages and amounts at various ages- whatever you decide.

No. I am licensed in Florida, and estate planning laws vary by state. However if you need a “referral” to an attorney in another state I should be able to assist