Estate Planning Notes

Informal Posts for Everyone

The Designation of Health Care Surrogate: Immediate or Springing?

Posted on May 3, 2016 Written by Paul M. Stokes Leave a Comment

Florida’s Health Care Directives Chapter, Chapter 765 of the Florida Statutes, to which I will refer as “the chapter,” has an extensive definitions section.  That section at paragraph (21) defines surrogate to mean “any competent adult expressly … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Disability Documents

“Oh, My Wife and I Jointly Own That”

Posted on April 12, 2016 Written by Paul M. Stokes Leave a Comment

Recently a Georgia probate lawyer contacted me about an estate he was helping settle, that of a Georgia resident who had been a widow when she died, Selma Johnson. The lawyer represented her son, who was the personal representative of the widow's … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Famous Last Words

A Lawyer who’s a Nudge, a Client who’s Committed: An Estate Planning Engagement Made in Heaven

Posted on April 11, 2016 Written by Paul M. Stokes Leave a Comment

There are no deadlines in an estate planning engagement.  (So to speak.)   This is not the case where other kinds of legal services are in play.  In litigation, for example, there is built-in urgency.  Someone is suing your client or you are suing … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: General

Dealing with the “Stuff” that is Left Behind

Posted on April 2, 2016 Written by Paul M. Stokes Leave a Comment

By "stuff," I mean tangible personal property.   I have helped many sons and daughters, nephews, and nieces, and other younger people, settle the estates of the generation who just then went before them.  Deceased people often leave behind a lot of  … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: General

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About Paul M. Stokes

Paul M. Stokes works at Stokes McMillan Antunez, P.A., received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, and is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts & Estates.

This site focuses on Florida law and is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for an engagement with a competent attorney. The events in the posts do not identify actual clients. Those events are sufficiently fictional to preserve confidentiality. In telling his stories, however, the author does not compromise the points being made.

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  • Stokes McMillan Antunez, P.A.

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Recent Articles

  • Default Takers: Unmarried Decedents
  • Acquisition of an Asset by a Maiden-Name Couple: Another Estate Planning Event
  • Step-Dad as Health Care Surrogate for a Minor Child
  • A Health Care Surrogate for Children.
  • The Designation of Health Care Surrogate: Immediate or Springing?

Topics

  • Adoption
  • Assets
  • Disability Documents
  • End of Life
  • Estate Planning
  • Estate Planning and Divorce
  • Famous Last Words
  • General
  • Homestead
  • Joint ownership. Or not.
  • Minor's Guardianships
  • Prenuptial agreements
  • Safe Deposit Boxes
  • Same-sex Marriage
  • Trusts

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