If your family member passes away and you are mentioned in his or her Will as a beneficiary, or if you are one of his or her legally established heirs, you may find yourself involved in a legal process called probate. This term usually refers to court-supervised proceedings whose goal is to gather the assets of a deceased person and distribute them among the person’s heirs and beneficiaries of their Will. In this article, we will provide an overview of the process and laws governing it in the state of Florida.

As reported by Forbes, in any given year, 36%-53% of small business are involved in some form of litigation. Additionally, at any given time, as much as 90% of all businesses participate in a legal dispute. The real estate market is by no means an exception to this phenomenon. Real estate litigation is a tool used by – and against – real estate agents and brokers, buyers and sellers, and landlords and tenants in order to pursue legal rights and redress perceived or experienced wrongs. In this article, we will explore the 3 most common issues that lead to legal disputes in the real estate market.

Film industry aficionados may imagine that Will contests are both frequent and dramatic. In reality, of course, it is much more difficult to raise an objection against selected provisions of a Will, and even harder to contest in its entirety. The process in which both the authenticity and the validity of a Will are proven is called probate and it is conducted by a judge in a court. During a formal hearing, certain interested parties can raise their objections regarding the Will. However, the law specifies both who has a right to contest a Will, as well as specific reasons to do so. In this blog, we will discuss 4 of them.

The Florida real estate market is a competitive one. Tens of thousands of houses are currently for sale in the Sunshine State and, with approximately 19% of all residential properties vacant, more and more are being listed every month. Good news is that house sales have gone up considerably in comparison to last year, so if you are evaluating a decision to put your property up for sale, this may be just the right time to do so.

A written will is one of the most popular forms of making arrangements for the management of a person’s estate and securing their legacy after their passing. In fact, it is one of the estate planning essentials. It ensures that the assets of a deceased can be smoothly transferred to the designated beneficiaries. Without a will, this process is overseen by a court and there is no guarantee that it will be conducted according to the estate owner’s wishes.

If you are thinking about refinancing your home to get a better interest rate, or even to pull out some cash, you may think you know how to get through the process. You have, after all, already gotten a mortgage once before, so a refinance should be basically the same, right?

Regardless of your age or the size of your estate, you have undoubtedly worked hard to get where you are today. Protecting your assets and your loved ones, therefore, is something that you should take very seriously. One essential, but all too often neglected, way to do this is through estate planning. The following are several of the many reasons why you should start or update your estate plan right away.