CURRENTS Currents | Page 12

12 Currents May 2017 > continued from page 11 on death,” “transfer on death,” or “in trust for.” Similarly, if a person has a brokerage account either Prices subject to change FRI. in joint names or with a named beneficiary, that TUES. WED. THUR. without notice SAT. account will not have to be probated but will go SHAMPOO, SET or BLOW STYLE.....$15.00 $15.00 $16.00 $18.00 HAIRCUT.........................................$14.00 $14.00 $15.00 $16.00 automatically to the beneficiary upon the death of AND TOUCH-UP SINGLE PROCESS.........$22.00 $22.00 $22.00 $22.00 UP the account holder. Therefore, it is possible to avoid probate on most assets by simply designating benefi- MANICURES .....$11.00 Tue. & Wed. Special ciaries. PEDICURES ......$17.00 Mani/Pedi Combo $25.00 However, real estate is different. It is not advis- FULL SET NAILS, GEL $30.00 and Up FILLS $15.00 able (for legal and tax reasons) to add children's POLISH CHANGE $6.00 names to a Deed. If a home is owned jointly by a 6884 W. Atlantic Blvd. — 954-973-6615 husband and wife and they both die, their heirs will Atlantic Plaza Shopping Center — Ad expires 05/31/2017 need to go through the probate process. While the ESTABLISHED AT THE SAME LOCATION FOR 32 YEARS property is tied up in Probate, expenses must con- REFERENCE PRICE LIST NOUS PARLONS FRANCAIS tinue to be paid. This includes taxes, maintenance, utilities, etc. Probate in Florida generally lasts about a year. It involves filing the original Will (if there is one) and preparing initial pleadings requesting that the Court appoint the Personal Representative designated in the Will in a court Order called “Letters of Adminis- From tration.” Once the Letters of Administration are issued, it is required that there be a publication in the newspaper, primarily so that any creditors can put in a claim against the Estate. This would include credit card debt, unpaid hospital and doctor bills, unpaid funeral expenses, etc. Florida law requires that no assets can be dis- tributed for the first ninety days from the date of first publication. If the only asset that is being pro- Kitchens, Bathrooms & bated is the home of the deceased, the Court can be peti- Full Interiors tioned to declare the property homestead, thereby exempting it from claims of creditors. Florida Law entitles an attor- ney to charge up to 3% of the gross value of the assets that are being probated. A lawyer can charge less than the 3% but not Palm-Aire Resident more if the fee is based on a per- centage. Lawyers can also charge Visit our website at: www.PalmAireKB.com an hourly rate if the client (the Happy Mother’s Day Currents Builders of Fine Custom 48 Years Experience Lic#16-CRP18810-X continued on page 13 >