The Blog

Until recently, electronic wills weren’t legal in Florida. Back in 2017, there was a unanimous vote in the Florida Senate to make electronic wills legal. However, the former governor vetoed the bill, so there were no changes made to probate...

At the end of the year, many of us think about tax savings. However, if you have a pending divorce, there are some issues to consider before filing your taxes. Should you file jointly or singly? Here, we take a...

Anyone who has dealt with surrogacy cases will be aware of how complex this element of reproductive law can be. However, when it comes to single women wishing to use a surrogate to have a baby, it’s even more complicated....

There are more than 7.5 million couples who live together in the United States without being legally married. The number of unmarried couples is rising all the time. However, if you’re not married and you’re in a long-term relationship, it’s...

All too often, Millennials believe estate planning is not necessary for them. However, every Miami, Florida, probate attorney will advise that, even at this life stage, it is essential.  There are many reasons why Millennials think estate planning is not...

The state of Florida has now legalized same-sex marriages. This is great news for people in same-sex relationships who want to make the commitment of a legal marriage ceremony. However, it also raises the issue of prenuptial agreements. Any Miami...

How Can I Provide for My Pets After My Death? If you’re seeking a probate attorney in Miami, you’re probably drawing up your will. It’s important to arrange how you would like to distribute your property and assets after you...

How Can I Secure My Former Spouse’s Social Security Benefits? Are you wondering how you can secure the Social Security benefits of your former spouse? Our family attorney in Miami gives you an expert guide. Am I Eligible to Collect...

What’s in a name? How to Amend A Birth Certificate to Remove a Named Father. Just imagine: a mother gives birth. She is unmarried, but the name of the child’s father is listed on the birth certificate. What happens if...

Handling a Missing Person’s Estate – How Can a Probate Attorney in Miami Help? Losing a loved one is always an emotional upheaval. However, this often pales in insignificance when compared with the distress facing someone whose loved one goes...

Hiring A Family Lawyer in Miami? These Top Tips Will Help You Reduce Your Legal Costs Any family lawyer in Miami will tell you that divorce can be expensive. However, for some people, the costs are higher than for others....

Discussing Collaborative Divorce with Your Spouse – A Guide from a Family Attorney in Miami Are you keen to keep your divorce out of court? If so, a collaborative divorce could be the ideal solution for you. The question that...

A Florida Probate Attorney Dispels Common Misconceptions Probate law is frequently seen as a mysterious process. Most people don’t really want to think about death, so they push it out of their minds. Others are confused by the way movies...

Is There A Deadline When Contesting Wills in Florida? A Florida Probate Attorney Gives Advice Amazingly, more than half of all American adults have no will. In fact, 55 percent have no estate plan at all. This is very worrying...

A Probate Attorney in Miami’s Guide to Probate for a Missing Person’s Estate The death of someone close to you can be unbearable. However, what is even worse is when your loved one goes missing. If his or her body...

A Miami Family Lawyer’s Guide to Getting Green Card After Divorce Love (and separation) from afar; divorce and deportation. The world is shrinking. No, not in physical size; but with ever growing technological advances two people, even continents apart, are...

A Miami Family Lawyer’s Guide to Legal Separation For anyone who wants to leave his or her spouse legally, there are usually three options available. These include separation, annulment, and divorce. Most states recognize all these options in some form,...

A Probate Attorney’s Guide to Preventing Intestate Succession in Miami FL Florida residents often fail to understand the importance of estate planning. However, without the services of a probate attorney in Miami, they could find courts ignoring their wishes when...

For divorced couples with children, making sure their little ones don’t miss out during the holidays is challenging. Deciding which parent will have custody over the holidays is a minefield. This is especially the case if the court has awarded...

Sometimes wills don’t accurately reflect the wishes of the deceased. Knowing how you can contest the will could prevent somebody from profiting inappropriately. As a Miami probate attorney, this is our expert advice to help in such a situation.

While hopefully it will not be needed, there may come a time when you might need a power of attorney or need to become one for a loved one. A power of attorneyis a written document granting authority from one...

There are numerous situations that could result in another individual being named a child’s guardian. This expert advice from a family lawyer in Miami, FL, helps to explain what guardianship means in Florida.

The law in Florida puts a strong emphasis on statute compliance when it comes to will execution. As a probate attorney in Miami, it’s a key duty to ensure you have followed all statutory provisions when executing wills. Should you...

When one parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed in a time-sharing modification, it matters when a party is seeking family law attorney’s fees in Miami.

Upon final judgment regarding dissolution of marriage, either the parents agreed, or the court determined, the child’s time-sharing plan. But what happens when some time passes since the initial time-sharing plan and the other parent now believes there has been...

In many homes, pets are treated as part of the family but in the eyes of most divorce courts in the U.S., including Florida, the law views our furry friends as nothing more than marital property—meaning, like your home, they...

The term “non-final order,” also known as an “interlocutory order,” is a temporary order entered before the end of a case and entry of a Final Judgment. An appeal cannot be taken from every non-final order family law case. The...

The old adage “the only guarantees in life are death and taxes” must have been uttered before the inception of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay debts to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is...

Currently, when an ex-spouse is legally obligated to pay alimony, the ex-spouse gets a tax deduction even if the ex-spouse doesn’t itemize the deduction whereas the receiving spouse must include the alimony as taxable income. Many divorce agreements took that...

A pour-over will is a special type of last will and testament used in conjunction with a trust-based estate plan. It can save the day when the grantor of a trust — the person who created it — neglects to transfer all...

You Have a Chance to be Heard In contrast to court, where you won’t get to talk to each other, the divorce mediation process offers both the setting and support you may need to talk. Directly. And this is critical...

People don’t often associate minors with probate, but personal injury settlement for persons under the age of 18 can be tricky because these settlements require the attorney to be vigilant of special procedural requirements in cases involving minors. To begin with,...

Most of us know that a trust is a useful way to safeguard financial assets for your benefit or for someone else. But the common misconceptions about trusts could cause you to bypass them entirely, or plan to use them improperly....

Women typically outlive men by an average of about five years. According to AARP, more than two-thirds of Americans 85 years or older are women. And about 79 % of 65-year-old women will need long term care in their lifetime,...

Jessica Ciencin Henriquez pens an honest essay about raising a son with ex-husband/actor, Josh Lucas. Her words ring true to many ears when she says, “What I know now and desperately needed to hear then is this: Let go of...

Divorces are messy. Filing taxes with your estranged spouse is even messier. Now, throw in tax changes in 2018 from D.C.’s recent tax reform. It is a lot to process. Read here to find some updates to the tax laws...

By Aislynn Thomas-McDonald, Esq. “When you run, your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.” —Tim Noakes Sometimes, lawyers can be...

10. Don’t push send. Email. Text. IM. Tweet. Whatever. When you ex irritates you and you are tempted to shoot back a zinger, resist. Wait three hours and revisit the issue once you’ve calmed down. Then, craft a diplomatic response....

No one with young children wants to think that something might happen to them. But for a single parent, that difficult thought brings on added worries. After all, what will happen to your child should the unthinkable happen. Everyone with...