Elizabeth Fernandez

Woman Holding Mothers Hand
Trusts & Estates
Elizabeth Fernandez

What is a Revocable Trust in Florida?

A revocable trust is created to manage assets during the lifetime of the person who created it, a grantor, and to distribute any remaining assets upon the grantor’s death. The grantor may name a trustee, which is the person who will be responsible for managing the trust assets or appoint himself to do so.

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Holographic Wills
Trusts & Estates
Elizabeth Fernandez

Can I Handwrite my Will?

One of the conveniences of drafting a will is knowing that you can handwrite one yourself. With just one caveat, only about half the states recognize a handwritten as valid. A holographic will is a will that has been written by hand by the person that is establishing the will, known as a testator. A holographic will is different from a standard will because it is typically neither notarized nor signed by two witnesses and handwritten.

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Sr. Trust and Estate
Trusts & Estates
Elizabeth Fernandez

Florida’s Slayer Statute

One of the most bone-chilling and eerie probate laws in Florida is the “Slayer Statute”. Essentially, slayer statutes prevent murderers from inheriting from their victims. The majority of the states in the U.S. have enacted statutes preventing someone from inheriting from an individual whose death they have caused, but specific rules and provisions vary from state to state on how the Slayer statute is applied. 

For example, some states vary on whether an insanity defense is taken into account on the topic of inheritance and probate. Other distinctions include whether the “slayer” committed an intentional homicide and not a manslaughter, whether a criminal conviction is required for the Slayer statute to be applied in the probate context, and whether the heirs of the “Slayer” are also disinherited. 

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