Currents
November 2017
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rogate and requirements for initialing specific powers
for which the Durable Power of Attorney will apply. It
is unlikely that you can find on line the appropriate
language that is necessary to create documents that
will be effective in Florida. Our current Durable
Power of Attorney document is 26 pages to be sure
that it conforms to the new Florida law. If you have
similar documents from another State, it is likely that
they will not be valid in Florida.
Therefore, for my snowbird clients who divide
their time primarily between two states, I recommend
a set of documents for Florida and another set for
the other state. This will provide protection should
you become incapacitated in either state. You will not
have to worry if your out of state documents will be
honored.
If you have a Last Will and Testament that has
been properly executed in another state, and you die
in Florida, that Will is valid and can be filed in the
Florida Probate Courts. However, it becomes much
more time consuming, costly and difficult to probate
an out of state Will in Florida. A Commissioner in the
other state needs to be appointed
by the Florida Judge. The Com-
missioner must take the sworn
testimony of one of the witnesses
to the Will before it can be admit-
ted to the Florida Probate Court.
Sometimes, particularly if the Will
was done awhile ago, the wit-
nesses cannot be located. If you
have a Florida Will and it is prop-
erly executed and notarized,
these extra requirements and
Court Orders will not be neces-
sary. Therefore, to make it easier,
faster and less expensive to pro-
bate, you should consider making
a new Florida Will, particularly if
you are now a Florida resident.
If you wish to avoid probate on
real estate that you own in Florida
and in another state, it is a good
idea to consider a Florida Revo-
cable Living Trust and a Deed to
transfer your Florida property into
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