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Currents
February 2019
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“ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY”
Bailey Woodruff Real Estate Co., Inc.
SPECIALISTE DE LA
CLIENTELE FRANCOPHONE
ENGLISH & FRANCAIS
27 Years Real Estate Experience
Pauline Morissette, P.A.
954-899-7967
954-482-0352
DIRECT
OFFICE
[email protected]
1874 C West Hillsboro Blvd. • Deerfield Bch Fl 33442
payable to your Estate. For example, if you were to
be killed in a car accident due to the negligence of
another driver, your Personal Representative would
be able to settle your Estate’s claim and “pourover”
the proceeds into your Trust.
If you are not a Florida resident, you can still cre-
ate a Florida Revocable Living Trust and execute a
Quit Claim Deed to put your Florida property into the
Trust. Your Last Will and Testament will be done by
a lawyer in the state in which you have your legal
residence. In addition, that lawyer can prepare a
Deed to transfer the out of state property into the
Florida Trust.
For Canadian citizens, there are possible tax
aspects to be considered before you create a Florida
Trust. These should be discussed with your Cana-
dian accountant or tax attorney. In general, you will
have to weigh the tax consequences versus the
money and time that your heirs would save by avoid-
ing probate in Florida.
Another favorable factor in creating a Revocable
Living Trust is that you can always amend the Trust
without having to change the Deed. In addition,
once you create the Trust, you can always buy new
properties in any state in the name of the Trust.
The Revocable Living Trust is recommended by
most lawyers over a Deed which includes names of
other persons, either as joint tenants, tenants in
common or a Life Estate Deed. Once another per-
son’s name is on a Deed, there are potential risks to
you and your property. These include the possibility
that the other person may undergo a divorce, bank-
ruptcy, have a judgment against that person, or die
before you or with you in a common accident. It may
also affect your homestead exemption. All of these
risks should be discussed with your attorney before
deciding to put someone else’s name on your Deed.
By contrast, the Revocable Living Trust eliminates
those risks, since no other name is on the Deed.
You simply transfer it from yourself to yourself as
Trustee of your Trust.
This article covers only some basics regarding
Revocable Living Trusts and Deeds. For further
information, please feel free to contact me. I provide
a free personal or phone consultation regarding
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