Currents
July 2018
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doing your heirs a favor by eliminating the time and
money involved in going through probate. Probate
can take a year and cost thousands of dollars in fees
and costs.
Remember also that the Trust is called a “Revo-
cable Living Trust.” This means that, as long as you
are alive, the Trust remains with you. You can
always sell your home and buy a new home as
Trustee of your Trust. You do not need to change
the Trust unless you want to change the beneficiar-
ies for the new property. You can also buy additional
properties, in Florida or out of state, as Trustee of
your Trust.
Therefore, if you now have equity in your home,
you should seriously consider creating a
Trust. Transferring your home to the Trust will not
change your homestead or your real estate taxes.
In addition, regardless of the equity in your home,
it is extremely important to have current advance
care directives to protect you if you are incapaci-
tated. These include the Durable Power of Attorney
(which must specifically include the address of your
property) as well as the Designa-
tion of Health Care Surrogate and
Living Will. New Florida laws
could mean that your current doc-
uments need to be revised.
Please feel free to call me for
a free personal or phone consul-
tation regarding any issues per-
taining to Wills, Trusts, Deeds,
Probate, Power of Attorney or
Health Care Surrogate. I am also
available for free consultation
regarding personal injury claims
or car insurance coverage. Call
me at 954-569-4878. My address
is 3275 W. Hillsboro Blvd., Suite
204, Deerfield Beach, Florida
33442. My website is www.mart-
inzevinpa.com and my e-mail
address
is
[email protected].
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