Planning for what happens after you pass away can be emotionally and legally difficult, but advice and support are only a phone call away with the team at Bogin, Munns & Munns. Contact our Gainesville estate planning lawyers when you are ready to take steps to protect your legacy and secure your assets. We are here for Florida and here for you.
Reaching out to a Gainesville commercial lawyer is easy. Just call to speak with a member of our legal team who can review your options for setting up a trust, drawing up a will, or assigning a power of attorney to protect your assets and your loved ones.
Our Law Firm Can Help You Create a Comprehensive Estate Plan
On your own, it can be hard to understand the legal parameters and jargon that make your estate plan legal, binding, and complete. Our Gainesville estate planning lawyers can handle the complex details of your case while ensuring you understand each step of the process.
Based on your needs, we can do some or all of the following:
- Create or modify relevant documents
- Customize documents according to your wishes
- Ensure compliance with Florida laws
- Ensure your plan is stored in a secure location
- Answer questions and address your concerns
You, not the state of Florida, should make the final decisions for yourself, your health, and your possessions. When you trust your estate plan and its many documents to Bogin, Munns & Munns, we make sure your wishes and preferences are clear, detailed, and respected.
Why Entrust Your Future to Our Law Firm?
There are many estate planning attorneys serving Central Florida, but none are quite like us:
- We offer more than just estate planning services. If you want assistance with multiple legal matters, from estate and probate to family law, immigration, or real estate, we can take care of it all under one roof.
- We have an office conveniently located in Gainesville. We are right here in the community we serve, so you do not have to travel far for legal advice.
- We prioritize communication. Our team can explain your rights and options in terms you understand and keep you updated as we file all necessary paperwork and take all appropriate actions on your behalf.
With hundreds of years of combined experience, our attorneys know how to answer each legal question and tackle every challenge. Our dedicated estate planning lawyers are waiting to hear from you today.
Who Should Create an Estate Plan?
Many people don’t want to confront planning for their passing. Doing so, however, can help both you and your family in the future. Many people also mistakenly believe that estate planning is only for wealthy people, which isn’t true.
Estate planning is more than deciding who gets what after your passing. It also outlines:
- Who will take care of your children and/or dependents
- Your end-of-life wishes, including your funeral plans
- Who will inherit your business or real estate property
- Who will be in charge of settling your estate and taking any necessary legal actions on your behalf (this is generally a close relative)
Estate planning also includes your preferences about organ donation after your passing.
Having a plan in place after you can no longer make decisions can prove invaluable to your peace of mind. It can also provide reassurance, clarity, and stability for your loved ones during a very difficult time.
Special Needs Planning and Your Estate
While estate planning is essential if you have minor children, it is just as important if you have any dependent who is disabled or elderly and in need of long-term care. Depending on their needs, special needs planning may involve:
- Appointing a guardian to look after them and make decisions on their behalf
- Finding ways to leave them money without running afoul of Social Security’s income limits
- Deciding where and with whom your dependent will live
We know how much you love your family and want nothing but the best for them. Special needs planning allows you to keep taking care of your loved ones even when you are no longer around to look after them.
Use Estate Planning to Handle Your Assets in Gainesville
As stressful as it is to think about end-of-life issues, taking steps to complete the estate planning process can ensure protection for your hard work and legacy into the future.
Estate planning in Gainesville gives you the opportunity to control how to handle your assets after your death. In order to ensure your wishes are followed, the Gainesville estate planning lawyers at Bogin, Munns & Munns may advise you to create a(n):
Will
Your will can provide direction on the distribution of your assets so that your executor, or personal representative, knows what you want and can fulfill your wishes. However, you should be aware that probate court in Florida handles the dispensation of a will.
Your beneficiaries may have to wait a significant amount of time before getting the compensation that they need. Additionally, a percentage of your assets may pay court fees or debts on your estate.
Trust
Your lawyer in Gainesville may advise you to create a trust to protect your assets, per Florida Statutes Chapter 736. A trust can minimize the taxes on your estate. It may also be arranged to distribute your assets without the intervention of the probate court system. It allows you to have a greater level of control over your wealth.
There are many different types of trusts for you to choose from, including:
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILIT)
- Marital trusts
- Bypass trusts
- Generation-skipping trusts
- Revocable living trusts
Which type of trust is right for you? That depends on many factors, including what kinds of assets you have, how much control you want over the trust, and what you want done with your assets. You can rely on us to review your assets and advise you on the best way to protect them, both now and in the future.
You can discuss all your options for setting up a trust, a will, or another asset protection measure with an estate planning lawyer. Speak to Bogin, Munns & Munns about your unique situation right now.
Protecting Your Assets With an Estate Planning Attorney
You want your loved ones—not creditors or anyone with a legal claim on your estate—to get your assets. There are multiple ways you can protect your assets and ensure your money, property, and business interests go where you want them to.
Our attorneys can assess your specific situation and determine whether a trust or another kind of asset protection measure is right for you.
Medicaid Planning and Your Estate
Medicaid helps many people pay for necessary healthcare, but this assistance is not free. Even after you die, Medicaid is allowed to take some or all of your assets to pay for the care and treatment you received during your final days. This could leave little or no money for your loved ones—unless you take appropriate steps now.
Bogin, Munns & Munns can help you decide when and how to distribute or store your assets to maximize the amount your family gets. With a little forethought, you could prevent Medicaid from seizing your assets and continue providing for your family in the way you want.
Estate Planning and Business Succession Planning
Estate planning may be especially important if you own a family business in Gainesville. Your loss can greatly impact any closely held business. You can limit the disruption to your business by focusing on estate planning.
A Gainesville lawyer may help you record your intentions for your business. These intentions can serve as guidelines for family members or employees to follow if you are incapacitated.
You have likely put a lot of hard work into your business. Give your company the support it needs to continue to thrive by working with us to ensure your wishes are carried out, both now and in the future.
Focus on Healthcare Decisions With Gainesville Estate Planning
Many people think about the economic uses of estate planning in Gainesville. However, estate planning can also allow you to make arrangements for the medical care you would like to receive. You can set up an advanced healthcare directive under Florida Statute Chapter 765.
An advanced healthcare directive provides family members and medical professionals with information about your wishes for medical treatment. You can even use such directives to permit someone else to make choices about your medical care if you are incapacitated, per Florida Statutes § 744.3115.
Note that if you do not have an advanced healthcare directive, medical professionals are legally expected to do everything in their power to extend your life. If you do not want these steps taken, or if you only want specific medical treatment, it is important that you complete an advanced healthcare directive.
In Florida, examples of advanced healthcare directives may include:
- A living will. A living will can provide information about your wishes with regard to medical care.
- A durable power of attorney. You may also set up a durable power of attorney to permit someone else to make medical decisions for you, as defined under Florida Statutes Chapter 709. Note that you can also use a durable power of attorney to give someone else decision-making power over your finances.
Take steps to make sure your wishes are followed in relation to your health by working with a Gainesville estate planning lawyer. Your future is in your hands. You can find out more about methods to legally handle your medical decisions by speaking with the legal team at Bogin, Munns & Munns.
Keep Your Estate Plan Up to Date in Gainesville
It is not too late to plan for your future: you may begin the estate planning process at any point in your life. Making sure your wishes will be followed if you are incapacitated can be very important, regardless of your age.
However, this does not mean that your plan will never need adjustment. In fact, you may need to contact your estate planning lawyer again if you go through certain changes. Make sure that you adjust your estate plan if:
- You get married or divorced.
- A child or beneficiary gets divorced.
- Your spouse or a child passes away.
- You sell or purchase a piece of property.
- A designated personal representative or power of attorney is unable to fulfill their obligation for any reason.
These events may require changes to your will or your trust. Keeping on top of changes to your estate plan can make the process of distributing your assets much easier for your beneficiaries. Major changes that were not addressed in your estate plan can push your estate into the hands of the probate court system.
As we mentioned, your estate may also end up in probate court if you only leave behind a will. The court system should take steps to carry out your wishes. However, the court can levy fees on your estate, preventing your beneficiaries from getting the funds you intended to give them.
Bogin, Munns & Munns can provide the compassionate, knowledgeable representation you deserve as you seek to protect your family and your legacy.
Speak to a Gainesville Estate Planning Lawyer
You can get help with all aspects of estate planning by working with a lawyer in Gainesville. Reach out to the team at Bogin, Munns & Munns today and speak to us about concerns regarding your finances with a confidential consultation.
Our firm has been assisting people like you for over 40 years, and we are ready to put our experience to work on your case.
