If you’re working with the trustee of an irrevocable trust that needs fixing for some reason, your first thought should be to simply re-write the thing by using F.S. 736.04117, Florida’s trust “decanting” statute. Decanting allows you to re-write an irrevocable trust agreement by figuratively pouring the assets from the old trust into a new trust (like decanting a bottle of wine, get it?). And to make a good thing better, our decanting statute…

Irrevocable trusts stay “irrevocable” only as long as everyone with a stake in these trusts wants them to stay that way. They’re products of private law, which means there’s no “trust police” walking the beat making sure they don’t get tinkered with. And sooner or later, they all get tinkered with. Bottom line, if everyone’s in agreement, no irrevocable trust is impervious to modification or termination. Same goes for removing trustees of irrevocable trusts or…

One of the most confoundingly difficult challenges we all face as trusts and estates attorneys is what to do if a client’s cognitively declining or otherwise impaired in a way that is clearly affecting his or her decision making. The two most common scenarios for how this dilemma plays out in real life are: (i) elderly estate planning clients slowly sliding into dementia, and (ii) cognitively impaired adults in contested guardianship proceedings. The core question…

  If you’re a trusts and estates lawyer, you’re in the business of making sure people get a say in what happens with their stuff after they’ve died — even if there are a lot of living people who aren’t at all happy with what the dead guy wanted. Giving preference to the wishes of the dead is what estate planning is all about. It’s legal, but is it “moral”? It’s not like you’re going to harm…

https://vimeo.com/389845900 If you’re a vet, at some time in your life you’ve probably interacted with one of the many great not-for-profits dedicated to helping fellow vets and their families. One of my favorites is Mission United in Miami. They’re local, and they’re focused on the kind of nuts and bolts practical assistance that really makes a difference for vets transitioning back to civilian life. So here’s the ask. If you’re looking for a way…

This is the second and final installment of the 2020 legislative update. Part 1 focused on non-tax changes to our probate and trust codes. This post focuses on CS/HB 1089, a single-purpose bill introducing new F.S. 736.08145, a tax-planning measure involving irrevocable “grantor trusts”. What’s a “grantor trust” and why should I care? According to the IRS: All “revocable trusts” are by definition grantor trusts. An “irrevocable trust” can be…

2020 was another busy year on the legislative front. The vehicles for changes to our probate and trust codes were CH/HB 505, CS/HB 1439 and CS/HB 1089. The last bill is an interesting tax measure involving “grantor trusts” that deserves its own stand-alone post. Here’s my summary of the non-tax legislation I found most significant. [1] Attorneys need signed written consents to write themselves into their client’s wills or trusts as personal representatives…