While there are countless big companies out there with shareholders and boards of directors, there are far more small, family-run businesses run by a sole owner and a few support staff. It's not uncommon for family members to heavily rely on the continued success of...
Serving Northwest Florida Families For More Than 25 Years
Estate Planning
What happens if you die without a last will on record?
Procrastination is part of human nature. The more unpleasant the task is, the more excuses someone will find to delay doing it. Estate planning doesn't feature highly on anyone's list of fun activities. Thinking about your death and about the financial needs of the...
How important is your health care proxy?
Even though you are young, if you’re looking into creating an estate plan, you should also consider designating someone as your health care proxy. A health care proxy is a legal form that gives someone else the ability to make medical decisions for you if you cannot...
A durable power of attorney is a powerful planning tool
Power of attorney documents help round out your estate plan. They ensure that you have protection if you experience a serious medical event or get into a car crash by giving someone else the legal right to act in your stead. You might have multiple different power of...
Relative, friend or stranger: Who makes the best executor for your estate?
Choosing an executor for your estate can be hard. There are lots of tips out there on how to pick someone with the right characteristics for the job -- and they’re good to know. However, you may have to start with one basic question: Do you want a relative, a friend...
Learn about trusts to protect your home and assets
As you start working on your estate plan, one thing you may want to do is to protect your family home. In the event that you’re ever significantly in debt or you don’t have your financial affairs in order, there is a risk that your home could be lost. Fortunately,...
Do you take on liability as the executor of someone’s estate?
When someone you love asks you to be the executor of their estate, you may feel honored and possibly cornered as though you have no option but to say yes. There is a reason that asking someone is commonplace when deciding on an executor or administrator for an estate,...
How to deal with the beach house in your estate
Living on the Florida panhandle often means that your estate includes a condo or beach house. But when elderly parents who own beachfront property die, their adult children may squabble over who will get that prime piece of real estate. Some may angle to keep it in...
Should you sell your home or leave it in the estate?
Many people decide to sell their homes when they get older. Others decide to leave their home to their heirs. Which one is the right option for you? That depends on what you want to do as you get older. If you want to move, downsize or give monetary gifts to your...
What happens if an heir has the right of first refusal on a home?
Serving as the executor or administrator of an estate is hard enough without any special requirements, but many testators will include complicated provisions in their estate plan that make your job even harder. For example, if there is real estate, such as a family...

