Florida's Fix to Old Estate Planning Documents...For This Year Only
For this year only, Florida has come up with a way to fix old estate planning documents that have tax planning in them but did not contemplate the debacle that 2010 has caused without having an estate plan in place. One major problem that has arisen is that people have passed away with estate plans in place that implemented tax planning, usually a good thing. However, the tax planning stated that whatever could pass estate tax free upon their death would go to beneficiaries other than the spouse and anything left over would go to the surviving spouse. With no estate tax in place in 2010, this would leave the surviving spouse out of the estate plan.
So Florida has come up with a plan to allow the court system, upon the application of the personal representative or beneficiary, to construe the terms of a will to define the respective shares or determine beneficiaries, in accordance with the intention of a testator. This law is only in effect through December 31, 2010. Although the intent of the Florida legislature is good, the law allows almost anything to come into evidence that could determine the testator’s intent, including any evidence that contradicts anything clearly stated in the will. This could cause expensive litigation.
To discuss the new law or learn how to avoid the impact of the law, please consult with a Florida estate planning attorney.
