Estate Planning and Estate Administration Services in Jacksonville, Florida
Elrod & Elrod - Probate Services for Northeast Florida Since 1966
Elrod & Elrod offers northeast Florida residents a full range of estate planning, probate, and estate administration services to help you and your family meet your financial goals while minimizing estate and wealth transfer taxes.
Elrod & Elrod has been serving northeast Florida since 1966, and proudly offers estate planning services that include:
- Wills
- Trusts
- Living Wills
- Healthcare Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives
- Durable Powers of Attorney
Basic Estate Planning in Jacksonville, Florida
A basic estate plan includes a Last Will and Testament, a Power of Attorney, a Healthcare Power of Attorney, a Living Will, and Advance Directives. Together these documents ensure that you can pass on your legacy and that your wishes will be carried out once you are gone. These documents also ensure that someone you trust will make decisions for you if you lack the physical or mental capacity to handle your business and legal affairs yourself.
A Will describes how your assets will be distributed at death, and names the executor of your estate and a guardian for any minor children.
A Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney designate an agent to manage your business, financial, and healthcare decisions if you become unable to do so.
A Living Will and Advance Directives spell out your wishes regarding end-of-life decisions, extraordinary life-saving measures, and medical treatment you do or do not wish to receive. These documents give you control over decisions made at the end of your lifetime.
Estate Planning for Complex Estates
In addition to basic estate planning services, Elrod & Elrod offers estate planning tools for large and complex estates, and for unique circumstances.
In some situations, a trust may be a beneficial estate planning tool. A trust can be used to avoid probate, minimize potential estate taxes, and manage trust assets during the lifetime of the grantor.
A trust is a flexible document that allows the trust-maker to specify how and when assets will pass to trust beneficiaries. When a trust is created, the trust-maker transfers assets to the trust, which is managed on behalf of the beneficiaries. In many situations, the trust-maker and the trustee are the same person.
A trust allows a person to quickly transfer assets at the time of death without the need to go through the probate process. People choose a trust to save time, court costs, and estate taxes, and to keep wealth transfer private.
While there are benefits to a trust, not everyone needs one. A trust is more expensive to create than a will, and often only makes sense if the trust-maker will be transferring a substantial amount of assets.
Florida Probate and Estate Administration
Probate and estate administration is the process by which a deceased person’s assets are collected and inventoried, debts and creditors are paid, and the remaining assets are distributed to beneficiaries and loved ones.
If a parent, family member, or close friend recently passed away, you may have been named as the Executor of the Estate in their Last Will and Testament, or as a Trustee in their Trust Agreement. The responsibility of administering an estate or trust can seem overwhelming, especially during such as stressful time.
Elrod & Elrod has been helping people in northeast Florida with estate administration needs since 1966.
When a person dies, an estate must be opened in the probate court in the county where they resided. If the person died with a Last Will and Testament (testate), the Will names an estate executor who will be responsible for handling the affairs of the deceased person. If the person died without a Will (intestate), an estate administrator will be appointed by the probate court.
A Florida estate administration attorney at Elrod & Elrod can assist you in all phases of the probate process. Elrod & Elrod will investigate any claims made against the estate, address all legally enforceable debts and obligations and any relevant estate and income taxes, and carry out the instructions of the deceased and the probate court to distribute the remaining assets to the heirs of the deceased person.
Because probate and estate and trust administration are complex legal processes and because the stakes are high, it’s important that you work with an experienced Florida probate and estate administration attorney.
Elrod & Elrod - Serving Jacksonville, Florida
Based in Jacksonville, the Florida estate planning and probate law firm of Elrod & Elrod proudly represents people throughout northeast Florida in Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St.Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, and Union counties.
Contact an experienced northeast Florida estate planning and probate attorney at Elrod & Elrod today. Call 904-356-1282, email robert@elrodjaxlaw.com, or complete our online form.
