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Question: I want to give gifts to my family. What are the tax rules on giving away gifts during your lifetime? Answer: You are free to give away gifts forming part of your estate while you are [...]

Question:     Are the federal income tax incentives for donating conservation easements going to change in 2014? Answer:    The “enhanced conservation easement incentive,” which applied to [...]

Question:     I was the guardian for a ward who has recently died.  Can I petition to open a probate proceeding and be appointed personal representative also? Answer:    Usually, the named [...]

Question:     Should I let the person I have designated as my personal representative know about my estate plan? Answer:    Your personal representative—referred to as an executor in some [...]

Question:  If I am the personal representative for an estate in Florida, am I required to have an attorney for the probate administration in the Florida circuit court? Answer:    Florida law [...]

Question:     Where can I find trusted, general information on the probate process in Florida? Answer:    One obvious source of information on probate law topics in Florida is on the Bach & [...]

Question:     How do I talk to my family about my estate plan?  We’ll all be together this year for the holidays and I thought now would be a good time. Answer:    Talking to your family and [...]

Question:  I was appointed personal representative of an estate and I saw in the will that the lawyer who drafted it wrote himself in as a beneficiary of the estate.  That seems inappropriate.  [...]

Question:   I read on the internet that I could handwrite my own will without having the formality of witnesses and that the will would be valid for probate.  Is that true? Answer:    While you [...]

Question: I am the personal representative of an estate located outside of Florida.  The deceased died in Florida in an auto accident.  However, the deceased did not reside there or own any [...]