Issues such as protecting assets against the erosive effects of taxes and personal lawsuits, passing on a business or inheritance, caring for elderly or infirm parents, handling divorce, and maximizing the value of charitable giving, have a huge impact on one’s material and emotional well being. Because of this, we have carefully built a broadly experienced and highly respected Trusts, Estates, and Family Law Practice. Not only do we draft Wills and Trusts to protect families and maximize inheritances, we also administer and litigate estates, trusts and personal legal matters.

Personal, Business, and Family Wealth Planning
Making Life Management Decisions

Whether starting out in life or preparing for retirement, the legal objectives in structuring assets are largely related to tax minimization and management control. Our attorneys are versed in, and experienced with, the available legal strategies.
Unfortunately, many people fail to address issues concerning estates and their succession before it is too late. We are here to present our clients with all their options, and to help them get the most out of life, with a minimum of worry over the future.

Business Succession Planning
Business owners often want their children to benefit from the long-term viability of the business. Some of their children may want to make a life out of running the family firm, whereas others may not. Regardless of the type of entity, we help clients to maintain family control of the business while ensuring that the relevant heirs benefit, in the prescribed amounts, from its success.
In business succession planning, it is critical that the estate is properly structured so that a transfer of assets will not overwhelm the liquidity available to satisfy estate taxes. Insurance, maintained outside the estate in an irrevocable insurance trust, is one possible solution. Or the business can be gifted over time at discounted values to remove it from the estate’s taxable base. We help to prepare agreements now that will avoid potentially undesirable succession issues in the future.

Retirement Planning
Significant pension or profit sharing plan assets can be subject to significant taxes upon liquidation, death, or transfer. It is not unusual for individuals who fail to take proper precautions to lose up to 70-80% of retirement plan benefits to estate, income and excise taxes. We are experienced in designing employee benefits programs, and knowledgeable in managing and protecting executives’ benefits. Our skills go far beyond basic tax qualified plans to non-qualified deferred compensation plans, stock option plans, and other employee incentive programs, many of which are extremely creative in structure.

Trusts, Estates, and Guardianship Administration
Fiduciary Advice and Counsel

Managing an estate, trust or guardianship requires not only good intentions, but also strict adherence to often complex laws and regulations. Our attorneys provide advice to fiduciaries with the goal of avoiding suits or, in certain circumstances, of instigating legal action to protect the interests of the heir, beneficiary or ward.

Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Planning
We have significant depth of experience when it comes to helping clients to substantially reduce transfer taxes so that succeeding generations are able to receive the wealth.

Guardianship
There are a number of circumstances in which people become wards. They may be incapacitated; minors with substantial assets; orphans; they may have been removed from their parents; or they may be elderly individuals unable to care for themselves. Whatever the circumstances they require a guardian, and the guardian is required to have an attorney. We assist in this regard and marshal the assets of the ward. We then represent the ward in the guardianship court, filing any needed petitions for disbursement of funds. Should litigation be necessary to protect the rights of the ward, our Trusts, Estates, & Guardianship Litigation Practice is prepared to help.

Trusts, Estates, and Guardianship Litigation
Securing Justice in Probate Court
Representing both individuals and corporate fiduciaries (including many of the largest banks and trust departments in Florida), we provide a full slate of probate litigation services. Probate issues arise as a result of a contested will or trust, alleged mismanagement of an estate, trust or guardianship, a creditor’s claim, missing assets, or other circumstances.
Although we specialize in large cases, our experience in the courts enables us to handle small cases efficiently, with the expectation of satisfactory returns when we prevail.
Sensitivity to the confidential nature of these cases is important. We take every action to keep private family information outside of court records and away from the public. The variety of specialists in other practice areas within our firm is an asset in this regard as we rarely go outside for assistance even in the most intricate or unusual of circumstances.

Family and Marital Law
Managing the Legal Aspects of Relationships
While the details of divorce, adoption, dependency, and guardianship demand that the attorney be a skilled legal practitioner, the emotional aspects require that they are also a compassionate individual. Our family law attorneys have a deep commitment to helping their clients resolve matters in a way that safeguards their material well being, and their spiritual comfort as well. And this commitment is particularly applicable where the interests of children are concerned.

Elder Law
The aging of our population has resulted in a rapidly growing need for attorneys who are knowledgeable in the laws that apply to the care and disposition of senior citizens. Akerman Senterfitt is one of only a few large law firms with an attorney who is nationally recognized in this practice. Richard Milstein has spent many years helping to craft, the applicable body of law.

We represent the interests of individuals needing to protect and care for parents who have lost their physical and/or mental abilities. We advise and represent clients in every aspect of the resulting circumstances. What makes us different from the typical large law firm is that we offer a broad-based practice in family law and also in probate and guardianship issues. This is critical because elder care lies at the crossroads of these areas.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are important tools in the effort to manage family wealth and business interests. For the family head or business owner, such contracts are intended not only for their individual use. When business owners and their children or grandchildren marry, such agreements can prevent the dilution of assets, and the loss of business control. And, for existing agreements to maintain their validity they must be revisited periodically and as financial circumstances change. We advise on the creation of these agreements and each arrangement is a unique contract that takes into account the complex details of the parties’ financial and personal situations.

Alternative Relationships
While our society has come a long way in its attitude toward non-traditional relationships, including same sex partners and other unmarried cohabitants, the laws have not yet accorded these couples the same status and protections that belong to married men and women.
When the relationship ends or when a long-term partner dies, the same emotional and economic issues exist as for opposite-sex married couples. But in the absence of a pre-existing property agreement spelling out the division of assets, the rights of the partners are not clearly defined and lengthy litigation may be required to reach a resolution.

We help clients to prepare for problems like these and other issues that may arise during the relationship. A healthcare surrogate form can be prepared appointing one person to act as the decision maker on behalf of the other. Powers of attorney can provide for the management of another’s affairs.

Charitable and Tax-Exempt Organizations
Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risks and Liabilities
With record amounts of wealth flowing into, and out of, charitable organizations and charitable trusts, the need for experienced legal advice and counsel is greater than ever. Despite this, few attorneys devote more than a small amount of their time to the study and practice of this area of law and even fewer have hands-on experience. However, the Charitable and Tax-Exempt Practice at Akerman Senterfitt is regarded as an exception.
From planning a charitable trust or the application for charitable status of a foundation, and creation of the by-laws and policies; to operational oversight, fund raising issues (governed by the State of Florida Solicitation of Funds Act), and the filing of annual reports, we assist clients with all the legal issue affecting charitable trusts and organizations. We advise clients on the tax benefits of and draft charitable trusts.
We have significant experience in presenting sensitive matters to the IRS. Our attorneys understand how the IRS works so this, together with a substantive understanding of the laws and practical experience, makes it a lot easier to get favorable results.

Private Foundations
We have assisted in the establishment and ongoing operation of some of Florida’s largest family foundations and many more modest family foundations as well. Through years of hands-on experience we have developed a body of knowledge that enables us to effectively and efficiently accomplish the philanthropic and other goals associated with family foundations.

Please contact us today for a free initial consultation.