Ridiculous Lawsuits for the Month of August
1. Michigan woman sues Facebook "boyfriend" in Washington after their "relationship" ends. She wants more than $8,000 from the man she blames for breaking her heart. She's an unemployed 50 year old paralegal. She claims in her lawsuit that the boyfriend "led her on" after "meeting" him while playing "Mafia Wars" on Facebook.She said they were "smitten" with each other and she sent him gifts and booked a trip to visit him. He is a 35 year old server at Applebee's. After she planned her trip to Washington to visit, but the week before the trip, he told her he met another woman in a bar. She feels "foolish [and] dissillusioned." She then started a Facebook group calling him a predator.
2. Prison sued for banning pornography. A Macomb County (Michigan) inmate is suing the governor and the State asserting he is being subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment" because the jail ... << MORE >>
Revocable Living Trusts Are Not Just for the Rich
The primary advantage of a living trust based estate plan compared to a will based estate plan is the avoidance of probate - if, and this is a really significant if — the trust is properly funded. What do we mean by properly funded? A properly funded revocable living trust is one in which you have re-titled your assets and changed the beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirment plans, and any other asset that has a beneficiary designation.
"Funding" your trust is not always simple, and it is always somewhat of a hassle. It is necessary that you visit each bank in which you have accounts, contact each brokerage house and mutual fund company in which you have an account, contact your ... << MORE >>
The Estate Planning Conference for Women (and the Men Who Love Them)
You can find more details, become a sponsor, or order tickets at The Estate Planning Conference for Women.
The Cheryl Coleman Foundation for the Early Detection of Cancers is a private foundation that I established to honor my wife, ... << MORE >>
Charging Orders and How the Charging Order Remedy Results in Asset Protection
Charging Orders
When someone obtains a judgment (the "judgment creditor") against another person (the "judgment debtor"), there are various remedies available to the judgment creditor that provide alternatives for the judgment creditor to collect the judgment amount from the judgment debtor. Typical collection activities include filing the judgment in the public records which gives the judgment creditor a judgment lien against the real and personal property owned by the judgment debtor. Personal property to which the lien attaches includes both tangible personal property (jewelry, automobiles, furniture, art work, etc. - things you can touch and hold) and intangible personal property (stocks, bonds, money, promissory notes, trade ... << MORE >>
Florida Legislature Confirms Charging Order Exclusive Remedy for Multi-Member Limited Liabilty Companies
In the 2011 legislative session, the Florida Legislature, responded with a resounding, emphatic, and absolutely clear message that multi-member LLCs continue to provide the owners of the LLC with the protection of the charging order with respect to the rights of a judgment creditor against the LLC member's ownership interest in the LLC. This protection is clearly delineated in the rewrite of Florida Statutes, §608.433. The amendment keeps Florida among the small handfull of states (6 others besides Florida) who provide that the charging order is the sole and ... << MORE >>
Medicaid Planning for the Middle Class - Protecting Family Assets from Nursing Home Costs
Earlier this week, at a lunch meeting with a financial advisor who has referred many estate planning
clients to me over the past 15+ years, our discussion turned to an issue one of his clients was experiencing with regard to his elderly parents. This client’s mother is in an assisted living
facility, and his father is in a skilled nursing facility. The father suffers from Alzheimer’s and the skilled nursing home bill is over $8,000 per month. The mother is paying about $2,500 per
month for the assisted living facility, and likely will be moving to the skilled nursing facility within the next 12 months. The advisor’s client was complaining that the drain on the family’s
assets had reached a point where the parents remaining funds (approximately $200,000) would be used up within the next year, and he didn’t know what he would do from that point forward to avoid
using his own funds to pay for his parents’ nursing home bills.
Giving an Inheritance The Right Way
Ridiculous Lawsuits of the Month
1 - Unemployed Graduate Sues Law School over Lack of Job Offers
A 2008 graduate of San Diego based Thomas Jefferson School of Law has field a class action lawsuit in California state court, alleging that the school committed fraud by misrepresenting the employment statistics for its recent graduates. The complain alleges that the lawyer graduated from the school in 2008, with honors, and passed the California bar exam, but she has been unable to find full time employment as a lawyer since graduating. She claims she was "lured to the school by statistics reported by U.S. News & World Report in 2003 indicating that 80% of [the school's] graduates were employed after nine months [and that she] reasonably intyerpreted those figures to mean that the vast majority of TJLS graduates would find employment as full time attorneys." She then claims the statistics were "false, ... << MORE >>
Estate Planning is a Women's Issue
Caring for Yourself is No. 1
One of the first things a woman needs for estate planning purposes is to provide for someone to take care of her in the event she becomes incapacitated, whether temporarily or permanently. There are two primary ... << MORE >>
Nine Things Women Should Know About Estate Planning
Over the next few days, I will take each of the "Nine Things Women Should Know About Estate Planning" identified in the article, and explore them in the context of Florida law and my thirty plus years of working with business owners, both women and men, professionals, and executives, to expand upon the issues that Deborah Jacobs has raised in this very thought provoking article.
Women, and women business owners in particular, will find this discussion of particular interest and well worth the time taken. I encourage each of you to read the article, and let me know what questions you might have about any of the Nine Things Women Should Know About Estate Planning. ... << MORE >>
Small Business Owners at High Risk for Employment Violations
The article, entitled "3 Legal Landmines You Must Avoid", discusses Wage and Hour Violations, Termination Retaliation Claims, and Employee Misclassification Violations. The article also provides some useful legal advice on how to avoid these types of claims.
The article provides a clear illustration of why small business owners need asset protection planning. Labor violations typically result in fines, penalities, or damage awards against the company only. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, etc., statistically have greater exposure to employment law violations than to ... << MORE >>
"Exceptional" Estate and Gift Tax Planning Opportunity for 2011 and 2012
As usual, Friedman was outstanding in his presentation and gave what can only be considered as an objective analysis of what Congress, and the White House, is likely to do with tax policy over the next few years. While most of Friedman's comments were directed to the budget deficit, the impact on the markets and investments from the actions - or inactions - of Congress, and other macro economic issues, he also spoke briefly of what he termed an "exceptional" opportunity ... << MORE >>
Sometimes, Guardianship or Conservatorship Is The Only Way To Get The Keys From Parents
The successful result of taking the keys from both Mom and Dad in this case was accomplished thorugh the team work of the children and obtaining a conservatorship over both parents. In Florida, the appropriate action would be a guardianship - which is similar to or the same as a conservatorship in many other states.
... << MORE >>
New Survey Show 57% of All Adults Don't Have Wills or Trusts
Other interesting findings from the Rockey Lawyer survey include the following:
º More men than women (61% to 53% do not have a will or trust - despite often being the primary breadwinner in the household.
º More than 22% of people over 65 do not have a will, despite their advanced age.
º Thirty-two percent (32%) of those surveyed responded that they would rather give up sex for a month, or sit through a root canal, rather than create or update their will, or other estate planning documents.
º More Republicans have ... << MORE >>
Many Military Veterans Entitled to Pension Benefits, But Are Not Aware of the Existence of the Entitlement
As we celebrate Armed Forces Day today in Jacksonville, and as Memorial Day approaches, and we prepare to honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our country, we need also to honor those who served and are now elderly or disabled, and on a fixed income. Neither should we forget the surviving widows, widowers, and dependents of deceased veterans.
According to the VA Pension Program Final Report, from ORC MacroEconomic Systems, Inc., in 2010 there were more than 700,000 military veterans in the US who are entitled to various pensions and other benefits, who have no awareness of those entitlements, and therefore are not receiving what the U.S. Veterans Administration is prepared to pay them. Among the potential beneficiaries are surviving spouses of veterans, dependent children of deceased or disabled veterans, as well as the veterans themselves. While the Veterans Administration (“VA”) doesn't try to hide the existence of the benefits, the VA doesn’t sufficiently promote awareness of the benefits – ...
<< MORE >>Steps to Avoid Power of Attorney Abuse
An article in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, "Power Grab," reminds us that one of the most useful estate
planning tools is the durable power of attorney. However, without some guidance - and some controls - a
durable power of attorney can be abused and cause potentially devastating results. Fortunately, a durable power of attorney can be tailor-made to your specifications to help protect you from
such abuse.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal's article, a power of attorney is a legal document that is designed someone, typically elderly, to turn over control of the management of finances, or other
business matters, to family members or friends. Increasingly, we are seeing those friends and family members misuse and abuse those powers of attorney, causing the loss of assets and control, in
unanticipated ways.
The article also correctly identifies one of the most difficult impediments to ...
Excellent Information for Seniors - New Times, New Challenges
A recent book release is one that should be of interest to all seniors and their advisors. It discusses the challenges we face as we grow older. The authors employ an engaging and often humorous tone, in New Times, New Challenges. The book offers practical advice that is helpful to navigate these challenges.
Written by a law professor and an experienced elder law attorney, New Times, New Challenges is chock full of down-to-earth advice on everything from retirement planning to wills and estates to aging and disability issues. The authors cover all the bases and suggest solutions in a way that everyone can understand. While many books cover the same topics, this one stands out for its authors' entertaining and engaging writing style that uses famous quotes, excerpts from poems and books, and jokes to illustrate points.
Practical tips on issues such as how to stay healthy, where to live when you retire, and sex as you get older are interspersed with guidance on legal issues ...
<< MORE >>Personal Service Contracts Not Directly Impacted By New Medicaid Legislation
While there are many, quite significant, changes in the overall Medicaid programs offered by the State of Florida, and no doubt the impact of many of the changes will not be known for some time, one important technique for long term care planning was not directly impacted. The provisions in earlier drafts of the legislation that could have potentially severely restricted the use of personal care contracts were removed. Neither House bill 7107 nor 7109 contains any specific language regarding personal care contracts (or spousal refusal).
... << MORE >>
The Everchanging Tax Laws
As everyone is generally aware, Congress and state legislatures are in session and passing new laws. Unfortunately, many of them are laws
dealing with increasing taxes, directly or indirectly. In other words, the statutes governing taxes at the federal, state and local levels are always in flux.
Tax laws are also changing, practically every day, through court decisions, and actions taken by the IRS through its interpretations of the existing statutes.
Just as an example, on this past Friday, April 29, 2011, the IRS issued 49 private letter rulings. Private letter rulings (PLRs) are the IRS' response to formal requests for interpretations of
various sections of the Internal Revenue Code that involve some specific question a taxpayer may have with regard to the taxpayer's own factual circumstances. In theory, a PLR cannot be used as
support for any taxpayer other than the one who has submitted the request for the PLR, and only for the specific set of facts that are presented in the request for the PLR.
...
May 1 Deadline Approaches for Florida Business Owners
All legal entities organized under Florida law must file the Annual Report, and pay the annual fee, to remain an active legal entity. If the Annual Report and filing fee are not submitted on time, there is a meaningful penalty that must be paid with a late ... << MORE >>
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C. Randolph Coleman
C. Randolph Coleman, is a Florida attorney since 1978. His practice is limited to estate planning, tax and asset protection planning, small business planning, probate and trust administration. Mr. Coleman is a frequent author and speaker regarding estate planning and asset protection planning matters. He is a graduate of the University of Florida (BSBA ‘72, JD, with honors ‘78). Mr. Coleman and The Coleman Law Firm are listed in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers, which lists only those select lawyers who have earned the A-V® Rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have therefore been designated by their colleagues as pre-eminent in their field.
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