Will Attorney Bradenton FL

Creating a last will and testament is a cornerstone of estate planning. If you do not have a will in place, your final wishes may not be carried out, which could hurt your intended beneficiaries and cause disputes among your loved ones.

Wills are one part of a comprehensive estate plan. It helps to have experienced lawyers on your side who can aid in drafting various crucial documents as you get your affairs in order. The estate planning team at Luhrsen Goldberg is here for you.

If you live in Bradenton, FL and need to speak with a will attorney near you, contact our Lakewood Ranch law office today. You can also set up a consultation with our lawyers by calling 941.740.6159.

Also known as a last will and testament, a will is a legal document that outlines how an individual’s assets should be distributed when they die. The document helps ensure the final wishes of a testator (the person who made the will) are respected and carried out after they’ve passed away.

A will allows a testator to designate beneficiaries and appoint a personal representative for their estate. If a testator has minor children at the end of their life, the will can also name a guardian or guardians for these minor children.

Without a valid will, the decedent has no say in how the property should be divided. Instead, their property will be distributed to surviving relatives in accordance with Florida’s intestate succession laws. Generally that means assets will go to a surviving spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, and so forth. This could lead to many disputes among surviving relatives, and lengthy legal battles.

If you are not survived by any relatives, your estate will escheat to the state of Florida, meaning the state will get your assets. However, this is a very rare situation.

Not necessarily. There are many step-by-step guides online on how to make a valid will, with reminders that you need two witnesses present to sign the will.

However, working with a lawyer when drafting your last will and testament can help you avoid major mistakes that could undermine the validity of the document.

Rather than creating a will on your own, it’s in your best interests and the interests of your beneficiaries to hire our estate planning lawyers serving Bradenton, FL. We can assist you in writing a will, create other important end-of-life documents, and help you anticipate potential difficulties when it comes to disputes, taxes, and other issues during probate.

Over the years, our Southwest Florida lawyers have noticed these common errors when people create a DIY will:

Problems with the Will’s Execution – In many cases, DIY wills are signed incorrectly or the testator does not sign the will in the presence of two witnesses.
Invalid Oral or Handwritten Wills – If someone waits for the last minute to create a will, they may wind up handwriting a will without proper execution formalities (holographic will) or providing an oral will (noncupative will) on their deathbed. These may not be permitted unless they meet certain statutory requirements.
Failure to Address Complicated Issues – If you have a blended family, children from another marriage, estranged relatives, or other potentially complex relationships, you could spark disputes if these matters are not addressed in your will.
Failure to Update the DIY Will – Life is always changing, and your will should ideally reflect your current situation. Failure to account for financial or life changes could impact your estate and beneficiaries.

Again, it’s in your best interests to speak with our estate planning attorneys near Bradenton about your last will, elder law concerns, and other crucial end-of-life needs.

Established in 2016, our women-led law firm has built a strong reputation for headache-free estate planning in Bradenton and other Southwest Florida communities.

At Luhrsen Goldberg, our attorneys have nearly five decades of combined experience practicing law. This extensive knowledge informs our holistic approach to estate matters, family law, and civil litigation.

Our attorneys will carefully consider the needs of veterans when drafting wills, setting up trusts, and creating an estate plan. We can review various concerns affecting veterans reaching retirement age and the realities that military families experience.

The team at Luhrsen Goldberg has strong ties to this part of Florida. We are proud to be members of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance (LWRBA). Our attorneys strive to help people in growing cities like Bradenton, FL.

Luhrsen Goldberg is here to support the Spanish-speaking community in Southwest Florida. If you or an elderly family member speaks Spanish, our Sarasota law firm can provide assistance in Spanish. Get straightforward answers about last wills and living wills so you can have peace of mind.

The team at Luhrsen Goldberg is ready to help you draft a valid last will and testament and assist with any other estate planning needs. We’re here to make sure you have all of the necessary documents in place as you get your affairs in order. To discuss drafting a will with experienced lawyers near Bradenton, FL, contact our estate planning attorneys in Lakewood Ranch.

Last wills and living wills are different documents but both are important to have in place. A last will outlines a testator’s wishes after they have died, while a living will communicates a person’s medical care preferences when they are unable to express these wishes themselves. This may be due to incapacity from an accident, other physical trauma, or an illness.

In a living will, you can say whether to receive or refuse life-sustaining care in certain, very narrow circumstances. You can also state whether you’d like your organs to be donated upon your death.

A living-will allows you to provide advanced directives and make end-of-life decisions yourself rather than placing the burden of those decisions on your loved ones.

In addition to having a living will in place, our team can also offer assistance with end-of-life care and advanced directives.

Durable Power of Attorney – A durable power of attorney (DPOA) allows you (the principal) to name an agent to manage your finances if you become incapacitated and cannot make financial decisions yourself.

Health Care Surrogate – A health care surrogate is someone you’ve picked to access your medical information and make health decisions on your behalf. A living will generally addresses specific end-of-life wishes rather than putting that burden on your health care surrogate.

You can write a living will and other supporting documents on your own without an attorney. However, the team at Luhrsen Goldberg can help you create these crucial documents and consider important questions about the people in your life you’d entrust with your finances and your medical choices.

As your life changes, your will needs to reflect those changes. Generally, it’s a good idea to check your last will every three to five years to make sure it aligns with your financial situation and current wishes.

If you need to update your will, our lawyers serving Bradenton can help. Rather than drafting an entirely new document, our attorney may simply add a codicil (a short writing) to amend the current will.

Consider updates after any of these events occur:

Your marital status changes
Your family structure changes
A beneficiary has a major life event (positive or negative)
Your assets increase or decrease
You relocate to a new state or new country
You have a change of heart about a person in your life

Our lawyers are ready to help amend your will, or can simply discuss if changes are necessary based on your new situation in life.

As noted earlier, we take a holistic approach to our legal services. If you have been with your spouse for many years and then get divorced in the Bradenton area, you may need to change your will, any trusts that were set up, or perhaps even your entire estate plan. Similarly, you may choose to remarry after a divorce, and perhaps even adopt a stepchild.

The attorneys at Luhrsen Goldberg can help you update your estate plan after a divorce. This may include amending your old will, naming new beneficiaries, picking a different health care surrogate, and adjusting other essential documents.

Any time your marital status or household composition changes, feel free to contact our law office to discuss potential changes to your will and estate documents.

The team at Luhrsen Goldberg can offer help if you need to write a last will, a living will, or have other estate planning needs. We’ll make sure all of your necessary documents are in place so you can have peace of mind. If you live in Bradenton, FL and need to speak with a will attorney near you, contact our law office in Lakewood Ranch.

An out-of-state will is usually valid in Florida as long as it was properly executed in the state it was drafted and signed. This is important for state residents who divide their time in different parts of the country as well as people who decide to move to Florida to live out their retirement.

If you are a snowbird or have moved to Florida from another part of the country, Luhrsen Goldberg can answer questions about the validity of your will and other potential concerns.

Yes, you can contest the validity of a will, and this goes beyond a lack of witnesses or invalid execution.

You can challenge a will if it was signed while the testator was incapacitated, under duress, or pressured by another person or party. Challenges can also be made if a will was altered and the testator was the victim of fraud or misrepresentation.

Before you challenge the validity of a will, it’s important that you consult the attorneys of Luhrsen Goldberg. We can let you know if your concerns are valid and what steps to take next.

Wills are not the only way to ensure your beneficiaries receive property. Our Bradenton lawyers can help clients set up a trust as well.

Put simply, a trust is a property interest held by one person (the trustee), at the request of another (the settlor), for the benefit of someone else (the beneficiary).

Trusts are more flexible than wills and often provide benefits during a person’s lifetime and after they’ve passed. Trusts are also one option to avoid probate, but we can discuss other probate-avoidance options that may make more sense for needs during a consultation.

Different Types of Trusts

Some common types of trusts include:

Revocable Trusts – This type of living trust can be modified or ended at any time during the settlor’s life.
Irrevocable Trusts – Though this type of trust cannot be terminated or altered without court intervention, it has potential to offer greater protection of assets from a beneficiary’s creditors.
Testamentary Trust – This type of trust is created through your last will or revocable trust and is only activated when you have passed away.
Spendthrift Trust – These trusts involve periodic payments to beneficiaries under certain circumstances and is designed to restrict a beneficiary’s access to principal and income from a trust. It is distinct from trusts that require single or multiple lump sum payments.

Drafting a will and setting up a trust may be right for your final wishes and the lasting happiness of your beneficiaries. The team at Luhrsen Goldberg can consider your financial situation and help draft documents and set up protections that allow your wishes to be enacted.

Need help getting your affairs in order? Come to a law office with almost half a century of combined legal experience and the ability to provide information in Spanish. Luhrsen Goldberg is proud to help people throughout Southwest Florida.

For more answers about trusts, living wills, and last wills from experienced Will Attorneys Bradenton FL Law Firm, contact our law firm serving Bradenton, FL. You can also reach our law office in Lakewood Ranch by calling 941.740.6159.