Author: Benjamin Boyhan
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What insurance options do you have for your Florida home?
Knowing what type of insurance to purchase for your home can be confusing. This blog post will serve as a brief general overview of the most common types of insurance for a home: Title insurance – Title insurance is usually purchased at your closing when you buy your home. It is different from traditional insurance.…
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What happens if you add language to a pre-printed standard real estate contract that contradicts the pre-printed form?
It is common for buyers and sellers to use pre-printed form contracts for real estate transactions in Florida. The pre-printed forms have standard contract language, but you can add additional terms, cross out/delete sections, or otherwise modify the standard form contract. What happens if you add terms, and your added terms contradict the terms in…
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Can you transfer your house to your revocable living trust if you have a mortgage?
If your property is encumbered by a mortgage, then your mortgage likely limits transferring the ownership of the property. A “due on sale” clause is included in most mortgages, which can cause your entire mortgage balance to become due immediately if you transfer the property without your lender’s consent, but there are exceptions. One such…
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How do you transfer property to your trust?
Many think that a trust is like a will in that you draft a trust, indicate where your property goes when you die, sign the trust with the required formalities, and you are done. This is not the case. For your trust to be effective, your property must be transferred to the trust. This is…
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How do you change ownership of an LLC in Florida?
Changing ownership of a Florida limited liability company (“LLC”) is simple. You can change ownership by using an Operating Agreement or an amendment to your Operating Agreement. An Operating Agreement is a private document that governs the internal operations of the LLC. An Operating Agreement is where you list the members and managers of the…
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Can a trust own membership interest of an LLC?
Someone owning membership interest in a limited liability company (“LLC”) is considered a member of the LLC. Under Florida law, a “member” of an LLC is broadly defined as any “person.” Florida law defines “person” as an “individual, business corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, limited cooperative association, unincorporated nonprofit association, statutory…
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Does your ex-spouse still inherit from your Will in Florida?
If you write your will during your marriage, odds are, you are leaving some of your assets to your spouse in the Will. What happens if you write your Will while you are married, you are leaving property to your spouse, you divorce, and you do not update your Will before your death? Does your…
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Can you disinherit a spouse in Florida?
Florida law protects disinherited spouses. Surviving spouses are almost always entitled to at least an elective share (30% of deceased spouse’s estate) unless the surviving spouse waived the elective share in a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement. Elective share – The elective share is 30 percent a deceased spouse’s estate. Unless the elective share is waived,…
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What is a Living Will?
A Living Will (also known as an Advance Healthcare Directive) is a legal document that indicates the kind of medical treatment you want to receive if you became incapacitated and unable to make healthcare decisions for yourself. A Living Will is part of most basic estate plans (Will, Living Will, Financial Power of Attorney, and…
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Who can make healthcare decisions on your behalf in Florida if you become incapacitated?
There may be a time when you become incapacitated because of an accident, illness, old age, or some other reason and you are unable to make healthcare decisions. Ideally, you will have a written Designation of Healthcare Surrogate that appoints an individual whom you want to make healthcare decisions on your behalf. If you do…