March 31, 2023: Tallahassee, Get Your Will in one day!

Wills can be necessary, but are rarely enough--particularly if you value privacy and want to avoid probate. When deciding upon which trusts to use, we can guide you through important issues, such as minimizing tax liability, protecting wealth from your future heirs' creditors, and safeguarding family with special needs. Beyond developmental issues, special needs may include physical or mental health challenges, including addiction. Trusts are also great tools for blended families where each parent wants to preserve separate assets for the enjoyment of children from outside their current marriages.  

Control your healthcare decisions, or someone else will. Junnier Law & Research customizes  "living wills," and coordinates them with healthcare surrogate designations, Florida durable powers of attorney, anatomical donations, HIPPA Releases, and the credentialing documents authorities will need for each.

Living Wills should not be simple documents, but instead should proactively discuss the numerous medical circumstances you may face, so your loved ones, surrogates, and healthcare team may be guided in their decisions, confident that they are carrying our your wishes.  

As horrible as it can be to contemplate, in the event of your incapacitation, someone still has to pay your bills and manage your financial affairs. This may include fiduciary responsibilities related to property or business interests you may own, your investments, or even where you live. But with careful planning, we can help make it more likely  that you can stay in your home.  You can also choose to have a power of attorney who can act on your behalf while you are competent, but understand these arrangements may abruptly end should you become mentally incapacitated.  We are also available to help guide POAs with their duties.   

Don't assume that your wills, trusts, or marital contracts will be enforceable in each country where your assets are located. Germany doesn't recognize trusts, for example, which can be a problem if your wife's family business is located in Berlin, and suspectable to Germany's required marital share death benefit, despite the spouses' wishes. Many of these issues require far more than carefully crafted Choice of Forum and Choice of Law clauses. It requires an intense foundational understanding of both comparative and international law. Junnier Law & Research has that understanding and can work with lawyers from around the world to effectuate your testamentary goals whenever possible. 

Florida probate administration can have its challenges, but it can take special knowledge and experience to help Florida residents inherit property from other countries, each of which have their own clashing laws and unique probate processes. Working with lawyers from other jurisdictions, we can help bequest Florida assets to loved ones abroad, or to help foreigners inherit property in Florida. Different countries have different property and business alienation rules, and we can also guide you through the process of Inheriting foreign business interests or leaving your Florida business interests to someone overseas. We may also be able to help in less formal foreign procedures often found in the developing world.

You may want to give the profits of your prosperous small business to  your loved ones, without the related  burdens or responsibility of running the business. We can also offer other business succession services, such as buy-sell agreements, employee purchase arrangements, and tax advice.

While Florida business regulation is comparatively straightforward, the process of leaving or receiving business interests, including  management rights, in other countries, even with good legal and practical guidance, can become nightmares. Many countries also have special rules on property ownership--such as requiring majority or sole control by that country's citizens.