Tag: legal-document
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Estate Planning: Death Soon After Divorce
During a divorce, it’s common for people to want to change their will and other documents right away. But in Florida, the law already protects divorced people from their ex-spouse inheriting their assets, even if they forget to update their will. However, it’s important to make sure beneficiary forms for things like life insurance and…
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Do You Speak Legalese?
Basically, lawyers often use language that is hard for most people to understand. This makes legal writing complex and hard to follow, not because of the topics being discussed, but because of the way it is written. So, complexity in legal writing is mostly due to bad writing practices. Legalese is a type of language…
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The Applicability of Foreign Powers of Attorney to Real Property Transactions in Florida
The Florida Power of Attorney Act has three categories: POAs executed in Florida before October 2011, POAs executed in Florida after October 2011, and POAs executed in another state. Foreign POAs could be important for out-of-state clients who own property in Florida or for snowbirds who spend the winter in Florida. This article discusses how…
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This Party’s Dead! But Will the Lawsuit Survive?
When someone involved in a lawsuit dies, it can get very complicated. There are rules from the court and from the probate process that lawyers have to follow. This can be tricky, because not all lawyers know both sets of rules well. But there are ways to handle it. The court rules tell lawyers how…
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2020: A Challenging Year for Keeping Up With Changes to Probate and Guardianship Rules and Statutes
Probate and guardianship laws in Florida had a lot of changes in 2020, which affected how attorneys handle these cases. These changes came from new laws and updates to existing rules. It’s important for attorneys to pay close attention to these changes to make sure they follow the right procedures when filing documents with the…
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Danger Will Robinson: The New Frontier of Remote Online Notarization and Electronic Wills
In June 2019, Florida passed a law allowing notaries to perform notarial acts remotely using audio-video technology and enabling the execution of electronic wills. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2020, with the electronic wills provisions becoming effective on July 1, 2020. The law includes details on how to become an online notary,…
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Homestead Planning Under Florida’s New Safe Harbor Statute
The new law allows a spouse to give up their rights to their home in a simple way, using specific language in a deed. This doesn’t give up other protections, like protection against creditors, and doesn’t affect other inheritance rights. It became a law on July 1, 2018. Homestead rights protect a surviving spouse from…
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Creating Vertical Subdivisions for Fun and Profit
Vertical subdivisions are when separate parcels with different uses are stacked on top of each other in one building. They are becoming more common in Florida as the state gets more urban. Developers might choose this type of project because it can make the different parts more valuable when they are all put together. For…
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Can Technology Bridge the Justice Gap?
In short, the legal firm is representing a client in a lawsuit against a big company for toxic waste pollution. The company is accused of not properly cleaning up the pollution and harming the environment. The legal firm is arguing that the company should be held accountable and pay for the damage they caused. The…
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Florida Irrevocable Grantor Homestead Trust: Having Your Cake and Eating it Too Second Course
The FIGHT is a way for people in Florida to pass on their homes to their family without having to worry about certain restrictions. But it’s important to understand the tax implications of using a FIGHT, because it could affect estate, gift, and income taxes. Basically, using a FIGHT means that the home will still…
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Understanding the New Florida Community Property Trust, Part II
When a married couple in Florida sets up a joint trust to hold their assets, if one spouse dies, the surviving spouse can change how their share of the trust is handled. But if the surviving spouse is the trustee, they might make mistakes that could cause problems, like giving away too much or not…
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Florida Workers’ Whistles Are Not Silenced
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that an employee does not have to give written notice to their employer of any unlawful activity in order to make a claim for being punished at work because of whistle-blowing. The court said that written notice is only needed for whistle-blowing based on disclosure, not for assistance or objection.…
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Will Police Body Cameras be a Mandatory Subject of Bargaining in Florida?
Will police body cameras improve policing in Florida? Yes. The purpose of affixing cameras onto the bodies of police officers is to record their citizen contacts, especially their uses of force, including deadly force. This can provide insight into policing for training purposes and document incidents for suspects’ criminal prosecutions. It also serves to assess…
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Discovery in ERISA Cases? How Florida Federal Courts Are Changing the ERISA Landscape One Case at a Time
When reviewing an administrator’s decision on ERISA benefits, Florida district courts are starting to allow limited discovery, even though the standard of review is typically limited to the administrative record. The 11th Circuit has a framework for reviewing these decisions, which includes determining if the administratorâs decision was wrong and if they had discretion. If…
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Private Sector Florida Whistleblower Act Opposition Claims: Is An Actual Violation Required To Be Engaged in Statutorily Protected Activity?
A TLDR is a summary of something complicated, like a long article or a legal document. It explains the main points in a short and simple way. It’s like a cheat sheet for understanding something without reading the whole thing. The relationship between employers and employees in Florida is usually “at-will,” which means either the…
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Calculating Economic Losses in 11th Circuit Employment Termination Cases
The recent Supreme Court decision now protects LGBT employees from discrimination at work, and this means that lawyers need to be able to calculate how much money someone has lost if they were unfairly fired. There are nine important things to think about when figuring out this amount, including things like back and front pay,…
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Serving Process in Brazil: Nascent Use of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
On June 1, 2019, Brazil joined the Hague Service Convention for serving legal documents. However, Brazil has made some reservations that may make the process more complicated. It can still save time and resources, but there are some risks involved. If you’re involved in a lawsuit that involves Brazil, it’s important to have a lawyer…
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International Commercial Arbitration: Hurdles When Confirming a Foreign Arbitral Award in the U.S.
Commercial arbitration is a popular way to solve disputes between companies from different countries. However, sometimes there are obstacles when trying to enforce a decision from an arbitral tribunal. In the U.S., there is a three-year time limit for filing a petition to confirm an arbitral award. This means that if a party wants to…
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Cross-Examining the Pension Expert
This article explains how to cross-examine a pension expert in a legal case. It shows that many so-called experts don’t actually understand pension valuation. It also gives criteria for measuring an expert’s expertise, such as their background and training. It explains that actuaries are the most qualified to give opinions on pension value. When questioning…
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Impact on Divorce Taxation Issues of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 affects how taxes are handled during a divorce. It changes how assets are valued and how capital gains are taxed. It also provides tax credits for having children, and waives penalties for early withdrawals from retirement accounts for certain expenses. When dividing marital assets in a divorce, it’s important…
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QDROsA Powerful Tool for Child Support Enforcement
If you’re a family lawyer with clients who are owed a lot of overdue child support, it can be tough to collect that money. One option that’s often overlooked is using a QDRO to get the money from the ex-spouse’s retirement plan. This worked for a client named Mary who hadn’t received child support for…
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Estate Planning Issues in a Dissolution of Marriage
If Luci becomes unable to make decisions for herself, her healthcare and finances will be handled by whoever she has designated in legal documents like a power of attorney. If she doesn’t have these documents, Florida law will determine who has control. A durable power of attorney is a document that lets one person make…
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Property Assessed Clean Energy: Is There Finally a Clear Path to Success?
PACE programs allow property owners to finance energy efficiency and wind resistance improvements through their annual tax bill. This helps property owners fund these projects upfront, and local governments support PACE because it creates jobs, generates revenue through permit fees, and increases property values. PACE also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money on…
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Conservation Easements, a Benefit to the Environment and the Landowner
Conservation easements are a way for landowners to permanently protect their land for conservation purposes. This means keeping the land in its natural state, preserving wildlife habitats, and protecting historical or cultural sites. By donating a conservation easement to a government or charity, landowners can prevent certain activities like building, dumping, or removing trees on…