Ways to Avoid Probate
All of us would like pass on a little something to our children or other loved ones. We save and save to make life a little easier for the people we care about. The last thing anyone wants is to give a large portion of their hard-earned money to the government in the form of probate fees. Nor do we want our loved ones, especially our spouses and children to wait months, even years to receive a penny.
Avoiding the delays and costs of probate is much easier than you think. Here are some basic tips to keep more of your estate in the hands of the people who matter most.
Estate Planning for Foreign Nationals
Foreign Nationals Must Plan, Even for Small Estates
We have found many foreign nationals unprepared for the consequences of their failure to do property estate planning for their United States assets. This is in relation to their assumption that their estate plan documentation in their home country will be valid in Florida, as well as the lack of estate tax planning.
What is Probate?
The Probate Court Process
Probate is a court-supervised process for identifying and gathering the assets of a deceased person (decedent), paying the decedent’s debts, and distributing the decedent’s assets to his or her beneficiaries. The Florida Probate Code is found in Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes, and the rules governing Florida probate proceedings are found in the Florida Probate Rules, Part I and Part II (Rules 5.010-5.530).
In Florida, generally a person is required to hire an attorney to assist them with filing a probate court case.
House Passes Bill to Fix Disclosure of Title Premiums
By a vote of 269-143, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that corrects the inaccurate disclosure of title insurance premiums on the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) and help consumers understand the true cost of their real estate transaction. Under the current regulation, the CFPB does not allow title insurance companies to disclose available discounts for lenders title insurance on the government mandated disclosures. This results in the inaccurate disclosure of title insurance premiums in about half of the states, including Florida.
Read more “House Passes Bill to Fix Disclosure of Title Premiums”
Lease Renewal is a Good Time to Resolve Tenant Damage
Managing many properties is challenging and demanding, and as such, requires proper procedures to reduce the risks and results of tenant abuse or misuse of the property. One notable area of risk management is preventing or mitigating a tenant’s damaging the property, and more particularly, to get the tenant to pay for damages to the property as quickly as possible and before having to make a claim on the security deposit.
Read more “Lease Renewal is a Good Time to Resolve Tenant Damage”
Wire Fraud is the Fastest Growing Real Estate Cybercrime in the U.S.
According to the FBI, the Internet Crime Complaint Center saw a 480 percent increase in the number of complaints filed in 2016 by those in the real estate industry. Most of these complaints were related to wire fraud, a scam becoming more common in the real estate industry.
Read more “Wire Fraud is the Fastest Growing Real Estate Cybercrime in the U.S.”
Managing Partner and Attorney
Holly M. Nikolich
Holly is regarded as one of the most trusted attorneys for real estate advice in Florida. She has closed over 2,000 simple and complex real estate transactions and is the premier attorney for various local property management companies.
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