Many of us were saddened to hear that the Argentinian soccer star, Diego Armando Maradona, died in November at the age of 60. Arguably the one of the greatest soccer players of all time, after his death, Argentina issued a three-day period of mourning in honor of his passing. Known to live large, Maradona’s estate [...]
This hits a little too close to home. Now y’all know my (not so) secret love of reality TV and my passion for the law, but this story is a troubling mashup. A Miami Judge, the Honorable Carroll Kelly, of the 11th Judicial Circuit, is facing ethics charges for allowing the producers of a reality [...]
I binged the Crown recently (don’t be so judgy LOL. In episode 4 of Season 4, The Queen sets up meetings with each of her four children to see them, for the first time, as humans and decide who is her “favourite.” This got me thinking about our estate planning and the roles we usually [...]
The masterminds behind the series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Ken Spears (age 82) and Joe Ruby (age 87) died within three months of each other of natural causes earlier this year. Of course, their production company produced several other animated series including Alvin and the Chipmunks, Superman and Thundarr the Barbarian, but Scooby Doo is [...]
Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, has it in his contract that his character can't a lose fight in the Fast & Furious franchise films. In fact, his contracts specify how badly he can be beaten up on screen. It's clear that these clauses are to avoid looking "wimpy" or changing the narrative without [...]
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are fighting (again, sigh). What happens when they divorce, they're Florida residents and Kanye's too busy taking over the world and forgets to remove Kim as his beneficiary on his life insurance? According to Florida law, Kim, as the former spouse is not entitled to the benefits. Section 732.703 states [...]
The term "super influencer" has emerged as a public figure critical to a brand's success, amassing followers and shortly after wealth. Most likely, it'll be your teenager that's the influencer in the family, but it could be you (heck-yeah, we're still cool!) The lack the proper business succession and estate planning tools to safeguard these [...]
The outbreak of Coronavirus has people all over the world thinking about their advanced directives. While this topic is generally annoying to think about (adulting is annoying) and even more annoying to discuss with your loved ones, estate planning is now more than ever a critical tool that can be used to assure that your [...]
The legendary county singer, Kenny Rogers passed away on March 20 at the age of 81. The six-decade superstar sustained 5 marriages and a restaurant chain. Given his entrepreneurial ambitions, there is a chance that the Gambler's Personal Representative will need to act before the Judge makes it into his chambers to sign the probate [...]
Florida Homestead laws, actually a part of the Florida constitution, are difficult to navigate and what better guide than King Henry VIII and his former 6 wives! Lets assume that the 1509-1547 English Monarch resided in Florida, never added any of his victims (er...wives) to the deed on his homestead property and didn't have a [...]
By now, we've all digested the controversial news that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are stepping down as senior royals and moving to Canada. A lot of opinions have been shared, but I'm going to unpack the estate planning lesson from their withdrawal. Should the Sussexes embrace Canadian culture and get a winter residence here [...]
Strip club king Peter Stringfellow left only a £1M estate despite amassing a £37M fortune. Flamboyant Peter, who died in June of 2018 at the age of 77, left most of his surprisingly small estate to his third wife, Bella, 41 years his junior. It's unclear whether the businessman's estate was smaller than he anticipated [...]
Gloria Vanderbilt, the railroad fortune heiress, left most of the Vanderbilt fortune to her youngest son, Anderson Cooper. On a personal note, I just love Cooper’s giggle, and feel for that reason alone she made the right choice! Vanderbilt’s eldest child, Leopold Stanislous Stokowski, was left with his mother's apartment in Manhattan and Vanderbilt's other [...]
It happens sometimes. Not to me, because I have the BEST clients ever, that read my crazy newsletters diligently (love you too baby)! But my estate planning lawyer friends tell me that it happens....a husband and wife come in for estate planning and then one of the spouses reaches out "privately" to the lawyer to ask [...]
Although they both reached out to lawyers for a prenup, Justin and Hailey contacted their attorneys the very same day that they got hitched. There’s no way to get a prenup drafted and signed that quickly. It turns out Justin is so in love he doesn't see the need for one. Justin's net worth is [...]
George H.W. Bush’s death, less than eight months after his wife’s does not feel like a surprise. We often see the death of a longtime married couple in quick succession and even have a name for it, “broken-heart syndrome” a romantic notion that two hearts are so entwined that they can’t bear to be without [...]
Five people reached out to me to let me know that the Queen of Soul passed away intestate, without a will or trust. You guys are reading my emails and know my genre! Franklin’s lack of an estate plan is surprising for three reasons. (1) She had been ill for quite some time with pancreatic [...]
Anthony Bourdain not only loved to explore but also made it a point to inspire others to travel. In his Last Will and Testament, he specifically bequeathed his frequent flyer miles to his wife and asked that she “dispose of [them] in accordance with what [she] believes to have been my wishes.” Although most loyalty [...]
I spend a lot of my day talking about and planning for death. Until now, it’s been an inevitability of life. However, a la Black Mirror, artificial intelligence specialists and computer scientists say they are close to creating programs to digitize the mind. A startup claims to have successfully preserved an animal’s brain connectomes to [...]
Just like cars, there are many different types of trusts out there for you to select. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, here is a run-down; a trust is a legal arrangement that allows a third party, or trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary or beneficiaries. Most trusts [...]
Hey, we do live in South Florida. But seriously, I come across many trusts created in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s where life was slower, and trusts were irrevocable. These irrevocable trusts had a goal to reduce the size of a person's estate to avoid estate tax. If you've been reading my newsletters, you [...]
There’s no other way to say it. Almost two years after the legendary singer died, Prince’s estate is more convoluted than ever. To the best of our knowledge, the Purple One didn’t have a will. Leaving behind an estimated $300 million estate, Prince died without parents, children or a spouse declared as his heirs. As a [...]
Just when you think you’ve seen it all….an unconscious patient was brought into a Miami emergency room with the words “Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed across his chest. The word “Not” was underlined, and the tattoo included a signature. The patient had a history of pulmonary disease and lived at a nursing home. He was found [...]
I'm often asked how to prevent family squabbles once a loved-one passes away. Surprisingly, the answer is to ensure a common understanding of the estate plan. Even an "unfair" plan, where one person doesn't feel they are receiving their fair share, is more easily digestible if communicated correctly. Coincidentally, Holidays are a perfect time to [...]
There are currently 18 states plus the District of Columbia that impose either an estate or inheritance tax or both. Nine of those states are introducing death tax changes in 2017, and they’re all changes that lessen the tax bite. How much you may leave your heirs free of state death tax depends on where [...]
In case you haven’t heard, Hugh Hefner “Hef”, the publisher of Playboy Magazine, died last month, at the age of ninety-one. Although his Will was not made public, It’s clear that Hef took the necessary steps to ensure that his estate plan was iron clad. Hef is survived by his third wife Crystal Hefner and [...]
The US Supreme Court, in United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013) recently held that for purposes of applying federal law, same-sex married couples residing in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriages (like New York) are to be treated the same as opposite-sex married couples. The Court, however, did not decide the legal [...]
