When you create a Will, you must obtain signatures from at least two witnesses at the time you sign it for it to be considered valid. The purpose of having two witnesses is so that, if the validity of your Will is ever challenged, they can both attest to your state of mind. These witnesses do not have to read your Will or even be aware of its contents, they just have to be able to certify that you were competent when you signed it. If you are working with an attorney, they should make you aware of this information and help explain the process of having a document witnessed. However, it is good to know some general information regarding rules for witnessing so that you feel more prepared when the time comes to make your Will official or update it.
If you would like to choose your own witnesses, be careful who you pick. Select individuals that are credible and will likely live longer than you, in case they are later asked to testify about the validity of your Will. If possible, avoid having beneficiaries of your Will also be witnesses, as this could be considered a conflict of interest. However, having a beneficiary or interested person witness the Will does not automatically invalidate the Will. If you would rather not choose witnesses, the attorney that you have been working with will likely have paralegals or legal assistants on-hand that can serve as credible witnesses. This eliminates the added stress of having to choose your own witnesses and bring them to the signing. At Bach & Jacobs, members of our team generally serve as witnesses during Will and trust signings.
Make sure you have the right number of witnesses, as every state requires that you have two individuals sign your Will in order for it to be legally binding. Additionally, these witnesses must sign your Will in front of you. Generally, your witnesses will sign the Will immediately after you do.
Attorney Babette Bach Esq. is looking forward to speaking on the topic of “Estate Planning Documents Everyone Needs To Have” at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, 7333 Scotland Way, Sarasota, FL 34238 on Thursday, January 26th, 2017 at 1pm. Please call Dr. Smith at The Glenridge on 941-552-5369 for more information on this event.
If you have further questions on this topic or wish to discuss having your estate planning documents drafted, please contact our office at (941) 906-1231 to schedule an appointment to meet with one of our attorneys.
As our society has increasingly high divorce and remarriage rates, more individuals are faced with the task of updating or revising their Estate Planning documents to account for their change in partner. However, remarriage can make Estate Planning quite complicated, especially if each or either spouse has children by a previous partner.
The first step in updating your estate plan if you plan on getting remarried is to review yours and have your current partner review theirs. If you both decide that you would like to continue to keep your assets separate and leave everything to your respective children, then you will need to contractually agree to this by entering into a prenuptial agreement or “prenup”. At this time you may want to amend your advance health care directives and medical release forms as well.
If you have further inquiries, the skilled attorneys at Bach & Jacobs can assist you with Estate Planning. Please call our office at 941-906-1231 to schedule an appointment.
Yesterday a historic bill was signed into law by President Obama. It allocates over $1 billion to fund Alzheimer’s research to find a cause and a cure, and methods of prevention. Since so many of our elderly we serve and their families are devastated by this terrible disease, we have been given hope that the necessary amount of attention has been given by this bipartisan legislation to address this issue which left unchecked, could overwhelm our institutional care programs and service delivery infrastructure.
In addition it immediately gives a disabled individual, who is legally competent, the right to establish their own self- funded d4A Special Needs Trust. This is a trust which exempts assets from being considered by Medicaid. However all self- settled special needs trust are subject to a Medicaid payback on the death of the beneficiary. This will end the foolish waste of time getting an elderly parent or a court to establish an individual SNT for a person who could do so himself or herself, but for the mistake made in the original OBRA ’93 act that left out the word “individual.”
If you have further questions on this topic please contact our office at (941) 906-1231 to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.
As of June 1, 2016 the Department of Children and Families has amended their Medicaid rules to increase the penalty divisor for uncompensated transfers (i.e. gifting) from $8,346 to $8,662. This new penalty divisor reflects the estimated monthly average cost of skilled nursing home care in the state of Florida. Any transfer for less than fair market value made within 60 months (5 years) of applying for Medicaid will be subject to a penalty. For example, if someone gifted $86,620 within the 60 months, it would result in 10 months of ineligibility for Medicaid.
Anyone who anticipates needing to apply for Medicaid for skilled nursing home care costs should avoid gifting and should not gift without consulting with a board certified elder law attorney. It may be possible to avoid this penalty with good planning.
Contact our office to schedule an initial consultation for any of your Medicaid Planning, Estate Planning, or Veterans Benefits needs.
Babette B. Bach, Esquire, Board Certified Elder Law
Bach & Jacobs, P.A.
240 S. Pineapple Avenue, Suite 700
Sarasota, FL 34236
941-906-1231
941-954-1185 facsimile
www.bachjacobs.com
