The Brevard County community is unlike most of Florida. Military retirees from Patrick Space Force Base have pension and benefit structures that do not fit standard estate planning templates. Aerospace and defense professionals carry business interests, partnership stakes, and equity positions that require planning if they are going to pass to the right people. Blended families from second marriages face competing interests that a generic will almost never resolve cleanly.
Bogin, Munns & Munns represents Melbourne residents and Brevard County families in estate planning matters. Our estate planning attorneys understand the specific assets, relationships, and circumstances that make planning in this community different. Free consultations available.
Call (321) 254-3939.
What Does Estate Planning Include for Melbourne Residents?
A complete estate plan addresses what happens to your assets at death, who makes decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and how the people who depend on you are protected. The core documents, which include a will, one or more trusts, a durable power of attorney, a health care surrogate designation, and a living will, are the foundation. What goes inside those documents depends entirely on the specifics of your family, your assets, and your goals.
For some Melbourne residents, a basic plan is sufficient. For others, including military families, business owners, blended families, and those with a family member who has special needs, the planning requires additional tools. An attorney helps you identify which tools fit your situation.
Call (321) 254-3939 to start the conversation.
What Is a Special Needs Trust and Does Your Family Need One?
A special needs trust, also called a supplemental needs trust, is a legal arrangement designed to hold and manage assets for the benefit of a person with a disability without disqualifying that person from government benefit programs like Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income, known as SSI.
Without a special needs trust, an inheritance that passes directly to a beneficiary with a disability can immediately disqualify them from Medicaid, which has a $2,000 individual asset limit, and from SSI. The inherited assets would need to be spent down before government benefits could resume. A properly drafted special needs trust avoids this outcome by holding the assets in a structure that supplements, rather than replaces, the government benefits.
What Is the Difference Between a First-Party and Third-Party Special Needs Trust?
A first-party special needs trust is funded with assets belonging to the disabled person, such as a personal injury settlement, an inheritance they received directly, or their own savings. Because the assets originated with the beneficiary, Florida law and federal law require that upon the beneficiary’s death, the trust reimburse Medicaid for any benefits paid on the beneficiary’s behalf.
A third-party special needs trust is funded by a parent, grandparent, sibling, or other family member, not by the disabled person’s own assets. These trusts are not subject to the Medicaid payback requirement. Assets remaining at the beneficiary’s death pass to other designated heirs rather than to the government. For parents planning for a child with disabilities, a third-party special needs trust is generally the preferred tool.
What Are ABLE Accounts and How Do They Complement a Special Needs Trust?
An ABLE account, which stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience, is a tax-advantaged savings account available to individuals with a qualifying disability that began before age 26. ABLE accounts allow the beneficiary to save and spend funds on qualified disability expenses without affecting eligibility for Medicaid or SSI, subject to contribution limits and account balance thresholds.
ABLE accounts are simpler and less expensive to establish than a special needs trust. They are most useful for current disability-related expenses. A special needs trust is better suited for holding larger assets, receiving inheritances, and providing for long-term care and housing. Many families use both tools together. An attorney advises on how to coordinate an ABLE account and a special needs trust within the same overall plan.
Call (321) 254-3939 if you are planning for a family member with a disability.
What Estate Planning Do Military Members and Veterans Need in Brevard County?
Military service creates a set of financial assets and benefit structures that require specific planning. A standard estate plan built around a will and general beneficiary designations often leaves significant gaps for military families.
How Does SGLI Work and Why Is It Not Enough on Its Own?
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, known as SGLI, provides up to $500,000 in life insurance coverage to active-duty military members at low cost. SGLI designations are made through the military’s online system and are entirely separate from any will or trust. The beneficiary named on the SGLI form, not the will, receives the proceeds.
This creates a common planning problem: a servicemember names a parent or sibling as the SGLI beneficiary before marriage, fails to update the form, and years later the spouse receives nothing while the estranged family member receives the full amount. Coordinating SGLI designations with the rest of the estate plan is essential. An attorney reviews both the SGLI designation and the broader estate plan to make sure they work together.
What Is the Survivor Benefit Plan and How Does It Interact With an Estate Plan?
The Survivor Benefit Plan, known as SBP, is a government-subsidized annuity program that provides a portion of a military retiree’s pension to a surviving spouse or eligible beneficiary after the retiree’s death. Without SBP, the military pension ends the day the retiree dies.
SBP elections are made at retirement and are difficult to change afterward. They interact directly with estate planning because the SBP payout affects the surviving spouse’s income and may affect the estate’s need for life insurance, trust distributions, or other income-replacement mechanisms. An attorney helps military retirees understand how SBP fits into the complete picture of what the surviving spouse will receive.
Veterans may also be eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, known as DIC, from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for Aid and Attendance benefits that help cover long-term care costs. These benefits interact with Medicaid planning and estate planning decisions about asset transfers and trust structures.
What Happens to Your Business Without a Succession Plan in Melbourne?
For Melbourne’s aerospace subcontractors, technology consultants, and small business owners, a business interest is often the largest asset in the estate. Without a succession plan, that asset creates serious complications when the owner dies.
Without planning, a deceased owner’s business interest passes through their estate to their heirs, who may have no interest in the business, no ability to run it, and no relationship with the remaining partners or co-owners. The result is often forced liquidation at a fraction of the business’s actual value.
What Is a Buy-Sell Agreement and How Is It Funded?
A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding contract between business co-owners that controls what happens to an owner’s share when they die, become disabled, or want to exit the business. The agreement typically requires the surviving partners or the business itself to purchase the deceased owner’s interest at a predetermined or formula-based price.
The most common funding method is life insurance. Each owner holds a life insurance policy on the other owners in an amount sufficient to buy out their interest. When one owner dies, the death benefit provides the cash to complete the purchase. This structure is called a cross-purchase arrangement. An entity redemption arrangement uses the business itself as the policy owner.
A buy-sell agreement also prevents the deceased owner’s heirs from inheriting an active role in a business they are not qualified to fill. An attorney drafts the buy-sell agreement, coordinates it with the business’s existing operating agreement, and advises on the most appropriate funding structure.
Call (321) 254-3939 to discuss business succession planning in Melbourne.
How Do You Protect Children From a Prior Relationship in Your Estate Plan?
Blended families face one of the most persistent estate planning challenges: how to provide for a current spouse while also protecting the inheritance rights of children from a prior marriage. A simple will that leaves everything to the surviving spouse creates the risk that the spouse, after the first death, changes their plan and leaves nothing to the children.
What Is a QTIP Trust and How Does It Work for Blended Families?
A QTIP trust, which stands for Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, is a tool specifically designed to address this problem. Assets placed in a QTIP trust provide income, and in some cases principal distributions, to the surviving spouse for the rest of their life. When the surviving spouse dies, the remaining assets pass to the children named by the first spouse, not to whoever the surviving spouse might choose to benefit.
This structure allows a blended family to honor the commitment to the surviving spouse while preserving the deceased spouse’s assets for their own children. The surviving spouse cannot change who ultimately receives the assets. An attorney determines how much of the estate should flow into the QTIP trust versus passing outright to the surviving spouse, and drafts the trust with the appropriate distribution standards.
Blended family planning also requires careful attention to beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and financial accounts, which pass outside the will and trust and must be coordinated intentionally.
What Is Medicaid Planning and Why Does It Matter for Your Estate Plan?
Long-term care is one of the most significant financial risks facing Brevard County residents as they age. The average cost of a nursing home in Florida exceeds $9,000 per month. Most people cannot sustain that expense from their own assets for long, and Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care.
Medicaid does cover long-term care for those who qualify, but eligibility requires meeting strict income and asset limits. For an individual, Florida’s Medicaid program limits countable assets to $2,000. The home, one vehicle, and certain other assets are exempt.
What Is the Five-Year Look-Back Rule and How Can It Affect Your Plan?
Florida Medicaid imposes a five-year look-back period on asset transfers. If you transfer assets to family members or into certain trusts within five years before applying for Medicaid, Medicaid may impose a penalty period during which you are ineligible for benefits despite meeting the income and asset tests. The length of the penalty period depends on the amount transferred.
Proper Medicaid planning must begin well before a nursing home stay becomes necessary. A Miller Trust, also called a Qualified Income Trust, is used when a person’s monthly income exceeds Medicaid’s income cap but is insufficient to cover care costs. An attorney evaluates your current asset and income picture and advises on the planning steps available given your timeline.
Call (321) 254-3939 to discuss Medicaid planning for yourself or a family member.
How Do Charitable Trusts Work in a Florida Estate Plan?
For Melbourne residents with charitable goals, two trust structures allow you to support causes you care about while also providing financial benefits to yourself or your heirs.
A Charitable Remainder Trust, known as a CRT, pays income to you or another beneficiary for a specified period, after which the remaining assets pass to the charity. A CRT is particularly useful for contributing appreciated assets, such as stock or real property, because the trust can sell the asset without triggering immediate capital gains tax.
A Charitable Lead Trust, known as a CLT, works in reverse: income goes to the charity for a period, and the remaining assets pass to your heirs. A CLT is useful for estate tax planning and for leaving assets to the next generation at a reduced taxable value.
Donor-Advised Funds, known as DAFs, are a simpler alternative for people who want to make charitable contributions now and direct them over time without establishing a formal trust structure.
For individuals 70 1⁄2 or older with an IRA, a Qualified Charitable Distribution, known as a QCD, allows you to transfer up to $108,000 directly from the IRA to a qualified charity each year without the distribution counting as taxable income.
How Can You Transfer Assets Without Full Probate in Brevard County?
Probate is not always necessary or mandatory. Several planning strategies allow assets to pass to beneficiaries outside the formal probate process, saving time and cost.
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and financial accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations pass assets directly to the named beneficiary without probate.
Joint ownership with right of survivorship means the surviving owner automatically inherits the deceased owner’s interest in the property. This applies to jointly held bank accounts, investment accounts, and real property titled with right of survivorship language.
For smaller estates, Florida’s summary administration process provides a simplified alternative to formal probate for qualifying estates. A procedure for disposition of personal property without administration is also available in limited circumstances. An attorney evaluates which assets require probate, which can pass outside of it, and how to structure the plan so that your estate reaches your heirs as directly as possible.
Why Melbourne Residents Choose Bogin, Munns & Munns for Estate Planning
Bogin, Munns & Munns has served Brevard County and Central Florida since 1979. Our Melbourne estate planning attorneys work with the full range of situations that arise in this community, from military families coordinating pension and life insurance benefits to business owners building succession plans, to parents of children with disabilities protecting access to government benefits.
We offer free consultations and approach every plan with a clear focus on what actually matters: that the documents work when they are needed, that they reflect your real intentions, and that they are built around your specific assets and family.
Our Melbourne office is at 7195 Murrell Rd, Suite 101, Melbourne, FL 32940.
Talk to a Melbourne Estate Planning Lawyer at Bogin, Munns & Munns
Estate planning is not a one-size document. The plan that works for a military retiree is different from the plan that works for a business owner, a blended family, or a parent of a child with disabilities. Bogin, Munns & Munns builds plans that match the real circumstances of each client.
Free consultations available. No obligation.
Call (321) 254-3939 or contact us online.
7195 Murrell Rd, Suite 101, Melbourne, FL 32940 | (321) 254-3939
