A Special Message for Unusual Circumstances
Dear Clients and Friends,
We all are experiencing the impact of COVID-19. From grocery shopping at stores with empty shelves, a devastating stock market, business closings, all forms of entertainment shutting down, and lots of concerns about how many are infected, and how many have died. At my mother-in-law’s independent living facility, there are four residents diagnosed with Covid-19, as of this morning. So Coronavirus is real and impacting all of us dramatically, with some more severe than others.
In response, we have provisioned our office space with appropriate sanitizing and maintain a supply of hand sanitizers for those who come to the office. Notwithstanding these on-premises precautions, we already have experienced several clients who need legal assistance but are unable for health protection reasons to visit our office. So far, we have been able to keep open our main office in Jacksonville. This morning we received notice that our Palm Coast office will be closed until April 4, 2020, at the earliest.
In response, we are now providing consultations by telephone and videoconferencing, at least for the indefinite future. If you need information about your advance directives (powers of attorney, health care advance directives, HIPAA releases, etc.), we can expedite providing information or additional or new documents for you. One thing for consideration by those of you with minor children or grandchildren is obtaining a Designation of Health Care Surrogate for a Minor Child. That document allows a parent of a minor child to designate someone who will have the legal authority to make health care decisions for your child; in the event, the parent is not able to make such decisions. Often, grandparents assume they have the legal authority to make medical decisions for their grandchildren. Grandparents do not have that legal authority without a designation of health care surrogate for a minor child in place before making the decision. A HIPAA Release and Authorization is another valuable document for when you want family members to have access to otherwise protected information from your health care providers.
If you would like to schedule a telephone call or video-conference to discuss any of these matters, or others, please give us a call. We’ll make every effort to respond as quickly as reasonably possible.
Our best wishes to all of you to stay well until the Coronavirus has run its course.
Estate Planning Lawyers, Probate Lawyers, Elder Law Attorneys, Guardianship, and Asset Protection Planning Law Firm in Jacksonville, Palm Coast, and Northeast Florida
The estate planning lawyers, Florida probate lawyers and elder law attorneys at The Coleman Law Firm, PLLC, are located in Jacksonville, Florida, with satellite offices in Palm Coast, Florida and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The Coleman Law Firm limits its law practice areas to estate planning, wills and trusts, asset protection, charitable planning, elder law, including Medicaid planning, special needs trusts, and qualified income trusts, and associated disciplines of probate and trust administration, probate and trust litigation, and the financial exploitation of the elderly. As an integral part of its estate and asset protection planning, the firm helps our clients determine the most appropriate business entity selection selections to accomplish asset protection and both income taxation and estate tax planning. Our estate planning lawyers also assist our clients with structuring their business succession planning for small businesses, both for wealth preservation and asset protection planning. Many of our estate planning clients need or want charitable planning. Our probate lawyers also provide our clients with experienced counsel for Florida probate and estate administration, and trust administration. When necessary our elder law attorneys help our clients obtain a guardianship over the person or the property of incapacitated adult, or can establish a guardianship for the property of minor children.
At the Forefront of Legal Issues that Affect You
Financial exploitation of the elderly may be the “crime” of the 21st century. Florida has enacted very strong statutory protections for the elderly, including the ability to obtain an injunction prohibiting those who seek to exploit the elderly from engaging in conduct detrimental to the elderly person(s) involved. We have been at the forefront of seeking the protection of those who may be victims of financial exploitation, seeking financial recovery for those harmed by financial exploitation, and defending those falsely accused of financial exploitation. Whether providing written educational materials and participation in panel discussions at the PIABA (Public Investor Arbitrator Bar Association) Annual Meeting in 2016 regarding the Florida civil and criminal statutes about financial exploitation of the elderly, to conducting educational programs involving the changes to the statute, we ensure that we are up-to-date on legal issues affecting elderly Florida residents.
Experienced, Compassionate Lawyers for Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts, Probate and Elder Law Attorneys
Our 30+ years of experience as estate planning lawyers, probate lawyers, and elder law attorneys can help you achieve peace of mind that your estate planning is comprehensive, that it meets your goals and objectives, deals with your concerns, and will provide protection for you during your lifetime, and protection of your assets when transferred to your loved ones. We include in our planning those considerations that involve your and your family members potential incapacity, whether temporary or permanent. Our objective is to help you protect your assets for your own benefit, for the benefit of your loved ones, while minimizing the costs associated with the transfer of wealth from you to your beneficiaries, whoever they might be. We hope you will allow our estate planning lawyers, probate lawyers and elder law attorneys help you and your loved ones preserve and protect your assets and provide for the effective and efficient transfer of those assets as you direct.
Highly Rated Peer Review Ratings and Client Reviews
For each of the last thirty consecutive years (1989 through 2019), The Coleman Law Firm has earned the coveted AV Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell. “Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ recognize lawyers for their strong legal ability and high ethical standards. “Individuals seeking legal counsel, as well as attorneys looking to refer a colleague, use these ratings to identify, evaluate and select the most appropriate lawyer. An elite group of approximately 10 percent of all attorneys holds an AV Preeminent Rating, a designation trusted worldwide by buyers and referrers of legal services.
If you want a qualified experienced AV-Rated law firm as your estate planning lawyers, the assistance of probate attorneys for a probate estate anywhere in Florida, or an elder law attorneys to help you protect your assets and qualify for Medicaid benefits to help cover the cost of long term care in a skilled nursing home, or you need wills, trusts, or a guardianship of an elderly person or a minor child’s property, or asset protection planning, any place in Florida, we can help you. Just call us at (904) 448-1969, in Jacksonville, or 386-585-7004 in Palm Coast, or toll free at 866-510-9099. You can also email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
Our 30+ years of experience in these areas of Florida law can help you and your family achieve peace of mind.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” -- Aristotle
What is estate planning?
As Jacksonville estate planning lawyers and probate attorneys throughout the State of Florida, we believe the proper definition of estate planning is to maintain control of your assets while you are alive, protect your assets for the benefit of your family and loved ones, provide for the management of your assets and your own personal care in the event of an incapacity, and provide that upon your death, your assets pass to the people you want to receive them, in the manner and at the time you want, with the least possible cost for Federal estate taxes, professional fees for probate attorneys and lawyers, with the best asset protection available for your beneficiaries.
Our mission as Jacksonville estate planning lawyers, and probate lawyers, throughout Florida is to provide you with an estate plan that meets your own objectives, deals with your individual needs, effectively eliminate or otherwise deal with your concerns, and allow you to have peace of mind that your affairs will be fulfilled in the manner that you desire. If we can assist you in the achievement of your goals as Jacksonville estate planning lawyers and Florida probate attorneys, please call us at (904) 448-1969, or toll free at (866) 510-9099, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
Read More About Estate Planning
The mission of the Jacksonville estate planning lawyers, Florida probate attorneys, and our elder law firm, when planning an estate for our clients, is to strive to achieve the client’s estate planning goals and objectives consistent with your needs and desires.
As Jacksonville estate planning lawyers and Florida Probate attorneys, we implement this mission when planning an estate by engaging you, our client, in comprehensive estate planning where our first objective is to gain a full understanding of your needs, desires, goals, and objectives, as well as your fears and concerns, as they relate to your family and your estate plan – whether you need a simple will or a complex trust, or if you need to plan around Federal estate tax laws, we can assist you in determining what legal documents will be necessary to achieve your estate planning objective, whether that will include a last will and testament, a revocable living trust, a durable power of attorney, a health care surrogate, and any other estate planning document needed to achieve your estate planning objectives.
Our focus is not exclusively on the passage of wealth at death as provided by Florida law. When planning an estate, we include consideration of lifetime gifting (and the Federal gift tax annual exclusion), planning for incapacity, elder law concerns for long term care and Medicaid planning, special needs planning, and protection of your assets during your lifetime, and planning for end of life decisions involving living wills and other advance directives, so the value of your assets and the wealth you have accumulated in your estate will be available for your benefit and for the benefit of your family and other loved ones.
As experienced Jacksonville estate planning lawyers Florida probate attorneys, we initiate our professional attorney-client relationship with you by seeking to understand your individual circumstances, your family members and relationships, and your estate planning goals and objectives. We also take into consideration your fears and concerns about wills, trusts and probate, the laws of probate, incapacity, Florida guardianship law, long term care planning, Medicaid planning, VA pension benefits, estate taxes, and other related matters. We want to know and understand your individual family members, their strengths, their weaknesses, their talents, their needs and their desires. Only by truly understanding the dynamics of your family can we then identify and help you understand the various options under the applicable estate planning laws that are appropriate and available to you to deal with the specific estate planning circumstances that are unique to you and your family members.
After we have gained an understanding of your needs and desires, and after you have learned about the advantages and disadvantages of the various estate planning tools and techniques that are available under Florida estate planning law for you to achieve your estate planning goals and objectives, and after we address your fears and concerns, we will then, together with you, design an estate plan that is specifically tailored to help you accomplish the purposes for which you initiated the estate planning process.
If you need Jacksonville estate planning lawyers Florida probate attorneys or an elder law firm, please call us (904) 448-1969, toll free at 866-510-9099, or email us Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com. We’ll put our 30+ years experience to work for you to help you and your family achieve peace of mind.
What are advance directives?
Our estate planning lawyers process for estate planning begins with an examination of your needs for advance directives that are appropriate for your circumstances. Advance directives include at a minimum a Florida durable power of attorney, a designation of health care surrogate (Florida health care power of attorney), a declaration of preneed guardian, and a Florida living will. We will explain the difference between a living will and a living trust and the differences between a basic will, a complex will with testamentary trusts, and a living trust, as the basis for planning your estate. As your estate planning lawyers, probate lawyers and elder law attorneys, we want to ensure that you have the proper advance directives to provide for any unexpected incapacity.
The topics surrounding living wills and the scope of end of life decisions is one that is becoming of increasing prevalence and importance as the baby boomers move into the ranks of the elderly. Proper consideration of the options and choices that you have as an individual is critical to accomplishing your own objectives in this very emotional circumstance. You can begin your research into your options by reviewing the information that can be found at Honoring Choices.
The principal purpose for advance directives is to provide for the management of your assets and your personal care in the manner that you desire, and by the people that you want, should you become incapacitated mentally or physically. These documents are the most important with regard to you and your needs during your lifetime. If you want Jacksonville estate planning lawyers, Florida probate lawyers, or elder law attorneys to assist you with putting appropriate advance directives in place to ensure the proper care for you and your assets should you become incapacitated, we can help you, just call us at (904) 448-1969, or toll free to (866) 510-9099, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com to schedule your personal consultation to see how we can help you.
Read More About Advance Directives
From there we proceed to evaluate your potential need for planning for incapacity and long term care planning, issues dealing with elder law, and whether your objectives can best be met with an irrevocable trust, a revocable living trust, a life estate deed, an enhanced life estate deed (lady bird deed), or other appropriate planning techniques that work for you within the estate planning laws in Florida.
Our estate planning lawyers and elder law attorneys examine federal estate tax issues, as well as income tax planning issues. We then develop a blueprint for the wills and trusts, and other appropriate ancillary estate planning documents, such as a durable power of attorney, that will be needed to accomplish the protection of your assets during your lifetime, and the care and the management of your assets in the event of your disability or incapacity, and the efficient transfer of wealth at your death through avoiding probate.
If you have a family member or loved one who has special needs as a result of mental, emotional or physical disabilities, our estate planning lawyers and elder law attorneys will help you understand the benefits, and requirements, of special needs trusts so that you can help provide meaningful support for that family member without risking the loss of any of the public benefits to which that family member is or may become entitled. We can prepare a special needs trust document that will effectively provide the support you want for your loved one, without causing a loss of eligibility for public benefits, including Medicaid. Our trust lawyers can also provide guidance and instruction on the proper administration of a special needs trust, and help you find an appropriate institutional trustee for the special needs trust.
At each stage of the estate planning process we take into consideration avoiding estate taxes as well as the income tax implications, of every will and trust. We consider, every aspect of your estate plan, including asset protection and wealth preservation. There is little benefit to having a great estate plan, if all of your assets can be lost to creditors because the assets were not properly titled or structured to legally protect them against creditor claims. We help you evaluate the opportunities for long term asset protection planning for the next generation, and successive generations to minimize taxes throughout the successive generations. We also help you identify strategies for life insurance and more complex estate planning when that is appropriate.
Our estate planning lawyers help our clients evaluate options for charitable planning from the perspective of income tax savings, as well as major philanthropy through private foundations, charitable trusts, donor advised funds, or supporting organizations.
The estate planning documents, the last will and testament and the living trust, that our estate planning lawyers will prepare for you are designed to achieve all of the estate planning, asset protection, special needs, or other objectives you want incorporated into your estate plan. Each legal document, whether basic will, complex will, revocable or irrevocable trust, is tailored to meet the specific requirements of your unique circumstances. The Florida wills and trusts documents that we prepare for you are so unique and specific to you and your estate planning goals and objectives, that we copyright each one of them.
If you need legal advice from estate planning lawyers, probate lawyers, or elder law attorneys to plan for your potential incapacity, long term care, asset protection, income and estate tax savings, wills and irrevocable or revocable trusts, or for someone in your family who has special needs issues, we can help you achieve these goals. You can contact the Jacksonville estate planning, probate, elder law, guardianship and asset protection lawyers and attorneys at The Coleman Law Firm so that we can put our 30+ years of experience to work for you. We will help you design and implement a plan that meets your unique needs and helps you avoid probate and avoid estate taxes (avoiding the death tax). You can contact us toll free at 866-510-9099, or by email at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
In the following paragraphs, we will discuss briefly several of the major topics providing legal information about Florida law included in this website. There is a more detailed discussion of each topic on the pages that follow.
Thank you for visiting with us and if you have any questions or if we can provide you additional information, please be sure to let us know.
The most common of these documents is the durable power of attorney. The durable power of attorney allows you to designate the person or persons you want to handle your business and financial affairs in the event of your absence or incapacity. You should expect your durable power of attorney to be drafted to deal with your specific circumstances. It is not a one size fits all, cookie-cutter document. The Florida Power of Attorney statute that became effective October 1, 2011 dictates that several options should be explained to you so that you understand what rights you can delegate and concerns you should consider with the delegation of these rights. If both you and your spouse are in your first marriage, the marriage is of long term duration, and you have one set of common children, your durable power of attorney most likely should be different from the power of attorney for someone who is in a second or third marriage, and there are children from a previous marriage. Perhaps you and your spouse have children together, and you want your assets to be available for your spouse’s support and comfort after your death, but you want your assets to go to your children after your spouse’s death. A Florida specific durable power of attorney can include provisions to allow your attorney-in-fact to change your last will and testament or your revocable living trust, as well as beneficiary designations for life insurance policies or retirement plans; or your Florida specific durable power of attorney can exclude these provisions, and include others. You do need the assistance of an experienced estate planning attorneys to assist you with determining which “special powers” you want for your power of attorney. Contact us to schedule your consultation to design your power of attorney. In Jacksonville call 904-448-1969, or throughout Florida, you can call us toll free at 866-510-9099, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com. Your durable power of attorney can be drafted to include provisions for the care of pets, for the operation of a business or farm, or for any other specific circumstance you want covered. The more complete and specific a durable power of attorney is drafted, the more likely it is that the durable power of attorney will serve the purpose you intended. As you review the related section of this website dealing with Power of Attorney law, keep in mind that you have the right to a power of attorney that is designed to be as comprehensive or as limited as you want it to be. That is a responsibility your estate planning lawyer should provide. Other advance directives include the Designation of Health Care Surrogate, the Declaration of Pre-Need Guardian, and the Living Will. Again, though there are statutory forms for each of these documents, your advance directives should be designed to accomplish your specific desires and deal with your unique concerns. Even the living will, made famous by the Terry Schiavo case, can be annotated to provide coverage of things that may be more important to you than to other people. In many, perhaps most cases, the Florida statutory forms are satisfactory and legally sufficient. [For a free Florida Living Will legal form download, or a free Florida Designation of Health Care Surrogate legal form, please go to our page for Free Legal Forms.] You have the right to insist that your estate planning documents are tailored to your needs. For more information about advance directives, including how to create a living will, health care powers of attorney or durable powers of attorney, give us a call and schedule your consultation to see how The Coleman Law Firm can help you. Call us at (904) 448-1969 or, toll free at 866-510-9099 or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.comFLORIDA ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
What should I consider in developing a long term care plan in Florida?
Medicare does not pay for nursing home care beyond a certain specified limit, usually about 100 days. As elder law attorneys, we assist many clients with the process of planning, applying for, and qualifying for Florida Medicaid benefits and Veteran’s benefits to help pay for nursing home costs for loved ones who find skilled nursing home care a necessity. We are experienced elder law attorneys and thoroughly familiar with the Florida Medicaid and Veteran’s eligibility requirements.
Read More Long Term Care Planning for Medicaid Benefits
We also prepare and file the Florida Medicaid application, and the Veteran’s benefits application for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. In many cases, the assistance of a qualified Medicaid planning attorney or VA benefits and elder law attorney in Jacksonville, can help preserve substantial financial assets of the nursing home resident, and the spouse, including the Florida homestead, through effective long term care planning. Residents of Florida should not sell or transfer their Florida homestead because of nursing home care without first consulting with an experienced elder law and Medicaid planning attorney.
If you need a Medicaid planning or elder law attorney in Jacksonville, Florida, please call us toll free at 866-510-9099, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
How can I avoid being impoverished by the high cost of nursing home care?
The rules of Medicaid planning in Jacksonville, and throughout Florida, may require the use of a qualified income trust, sometimes called a Miller trust or a QIT. Only Florida lawyers can legally draft a trust document in Florida. A Medicaid qualified income trust is a trust that is used to shield income above the level allowed by Florida Medicaid rules for eligibility for Medicaid benefits, so that the skilled nursing home resident is eligible to receive Medicaid benefits despite having an income level that exceeds the allowable income limit. If you have a family member or loved one who may need long term care in a skilled nursing home, please contact your Jacksonville estate planning lawyers Florida probate attorneys and elder law firm to learn how you can preserve your assets and ensure quality care for them.
Read More About Medicaid Planning for Long Term Care Costs
Additionally, there is a Medicaid asset limit that must be met to comply with the Florida Medicaid eligibility requirements. The Medicaid eligibility requirements and the rules for eligibility for VA benefits are different. For a veteran seeking assisted living benefits or VA benefits for a nursing home in Florida, it is critical that the planning for the two benefits programs be coordinated so that actions taken with respect to qualifying for VA benefit eligibility will not make the veteran ineligible for Medicaid benefits for nursing homes in Florida. A Florida elder law attorney is critical in the planning process to avoid disqualification for one type of benefits in the process of qualifying for the other type of benefits.
Often the first meaningful issue that an incapacitated elder person who has met the medical qualifications for Medicaid nursing home benefits will have to face is finding a nursing home in the Northeast Florida area with space for a resident who intends to use Medicaid as the method of payment for the nursing home care. If you would like to receive our free Northeast Florida Nursing Home Guide, containing information about every nursing home in the Jacksonville and Northeast Florida area, please complete the request form found at this website.
For more information or legal advice from an elder law attorney about Medicaid planning, Medicaid eligibility requirements, VA benefits, or applying for veterans benefits, filing an application for Medicaid in Florida, please contact your Jacksonville elder law attorney at the Coleman Law Firm at (904) 448-1969 [toll free at 866-510-9099] or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
What are some typical estate planning documents?
We will discuss with you why you need a will or why you need a trust. We will help you understand how a will works, how a trust works, and what happens in the event of your disability and at your death. As discussed above with reference to advance directives, and even more so with Florida wills and trusts, you have the right to have your estate planning legal documents reflect your estate planning objectives that are unique to your needs and that deal with the estate planning issues involved in your specifically designed estate plan.
Read More About Estate Planning Documents
There are two major distinctions between an estate plan based on a last will and testament, and an estate plan based on a revocable living trust. If properly funded (meaning the transfer or re-titling of assets), the revocable trust (1) allows for more effective planning for the management of your estate in the event of your incapacity, and (2) may allow one to avoid probate. You must probate wills and wills must be written in accordance with the Florida probate code. A more detailed explanation of Florida Wills and wills in general can be found in the section of this website entitled “Do You Have A Will?”
A discussion of the Revocable Living Trusts in Florida, and how to avoid probate in Florida is in the section bearing that same title. Both Florida probate administration and Florida trust administration are discussed more completely in separate sections of this website entitled Probate in Florida , and Trust Administration. There also is a more detailed discussion of Probate Litigation in Florida and Trust Litigation in Florida to further develop the comparison of using a Florida will based plan or a living trust based plan, especially where you own multiple parcels of real estate in multiple states.
Basic estate planning is focused on the use of a last will and testament or revocable living trust as the foundation for planning your estate. If you have accumulated a larger estate that may be subject to Federal or Florida estates taxes, it is necessary to consider more sophisticated estate planning tools, both because of the potential impact of Federal estate taxes, the desire to avoid the death tax, Florida estate taxes, and the need to provide additional structure or control over the distribution of your estate assets.
If you need Jacksonville estate planning lawyers Florida probate attorneys or an elder law firm, please call us toll free at 866-510-9099, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.net.
When more sophisticated estate tax planning is appropriate or desirable, there are a number of different trusts and other tax planning techniques that may be appropriate for your Florida estate planning so that you can avoid probate and avoid the estate tax. You will find it beneficial to obtain legal advice from your Jacksonville estate planning attorney and asset protection lawyer at The Coleman Law Firm, to assist you in determining which of the many techniques are most appropriate for you, your family, and your circumstances.
Various types of irrevocable trusts, or non revocable trusts, are available for consideration. These include, the Florida irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), the private annuity trust, the qualified personal residence trust (QPRT), a Retirement Plan trust, Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT), Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT), a Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT), charitable remainder trust (CRT), charitable lead trust (CLT), and other types of Florida trusts that are used for specific purposes.
For instance, if a spouse is not a U.S. citizen, it is important to consider the use of a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) to avoid unnecessary Federal estate taxation or Florida estate taxation immediately upon the death of the U.S. citizen spouse. Estate planning needs, estate tax and income tax issues, and asset protection needs should always be considered by your Jacksonville estate planning lawyer or estates attorney when doing such planning.
Who needs to engage in asset protection planning?
Other estate planning techniques are used when there is a need unrelated to Federal estate taxes, such as wealth preservation and asset protection planning. Our estate planning lawyers can explain to you how these wealth preservation and asset protection techniques include creation of family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, self-cancelling installment notes, beneficiary controlled trusts, domestic asset protection trusts, premarital agreements, post-marital agreements, shareholder’s buy-sell agreements, long term care contracts, personal care contracts, and many others legal documents that are designed to protect your assets, and minimize your income and other tax burdens.
How is an estate probated or administered?
As experienced Florida probate lawyers and attorneys, we know how important it is for the probate estate administration process to be completed as required by the Florida law of probate, and as soon as reasonably possible, and as efficiently as possible. Whether you are already in the probate process ,or you need to probate a will for the transfer of title of Florida real estate, or you need to know how to probate a deed for Florida real estate, or you have an estate that is subject to the estate tax, our Jacksonville probate lawyers and attorneys provide our clients with complete and timely information regarding the status and activities of each probate case. When you have a probate in Florida, our Jacksonville estate planning lawyers Florida probate attorneys and elder law firm can assist you. Please call us at 866-510-9099, (904) 448-1969, or email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
Read More About Probating an Estate in Florida
We are experienced with the Florida probate code, Florida estates and trusts law, guardianship law, Florida rules of probate procedure, Florida probate courts throughout the State, and with the probate court forms necessary for compliance with Florida probate law. Our probate lawyers and estate and trust attorneys counsel our clients throughout the State of Florida, regarding each phase of the probate estate administration process and provide probate information and direction for each step that must be taken in the probate process.
If you need a Florida probate lawyer, we can help you complete your probate timely and efficiently. Just call us toll free at 866-510-9099 and we will immediately begin working with you to bring your probate administration to a conclusion.
We have over 30 years of experience working in the probate courts of Florida. Our probate lawyers, estate lawyers, and trust attorneys promptly respond to all questions asked. We can help you understand the probate process, how the probate code is implemented, and provide our clients with a thorough explanation of the probate process. We will guide you to follow probate law and the Florida probate code.
The fees we charge for representing you in the administration of a Florida probate estate will depend upon the facts and circumstances of your particular case. Often our probate lawyers and estate attorneys will work on a flat fee or fixed fee basis. Other times, a probate lawyer’s hourly rates are appropriate based on the time and complexity of your case. If your probate is for the sole purpose of transferring Florida real estate, our lawyers usually will work with you on a fixed fee basis. You will know from the beginning exactly what the total cost will be for your probate in Florida.
We can provide you with legal representation in Florida probate courts for a will that must be probated, whether it is a probate with a will, a probate with no will, or if it is a probate merely to transfer title to real property in Florida. We can help. Call us for your Florida probate or trust administration needs toll free (866) 510-9099 or you can email us at Info@TheColemanLawFirm.com.
What traits are important in finding an estate planning attorney?
The Florida law firm’s founder, C. Randolph Coleman, has been a Florida estate planning attorney, wills and trusts, and probate lawyer for over 30 years, with his primary office in Jacksonville, Florida since 1985. Mr. Coleman is a frequent lecturer and nationally recognized speaker in the areas of estate planning, financial planning, Florida probate, and asset protection.
Co-authored Works
Read More About Our Florida Estate Planning Attorneys
Mr. Coleman was the Florida Director of Asset Protection Planning for the Florida Physicians Association from 1997 to 2006, and is a member of WealthCounsel, LLC, a national association of estate planning and wealth preservation attorneys and lawyers, and ElderCounsel, LLC, a national association of elder law attorneys.
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.
Mr. Coleman is a member of The Florida Bar, The American Bar Association, the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, and the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys . Mr. Coleman is a graduate of the University of Florida (BSBA ‘72) and the University of Florida Levin College of Law (JD, with honors ‘78), and has served on the Executive Committee of the UF College of Law Alumni Council. He was a practicing Florida certified public accountant for six years prior to entering private law practice in 1978.
Mr. Coleman is joined by Florida attorney Lisa B. Rudolph. Ms. Rudolph is a graduate of Nova University Shepherd Broad College Law and the University of Florida (Very High Honors). She is licensed to practice law in Florida and Georgia. Her primary focus is estate planning, wills and trusts, probate and trust litigation matters. She also represents our clients regarding financial exploitation of the elderly.
When you need an estate planning, wills & trusts, probate lawyer, or elder law attorney in Jacksonville, Palm Coast, or Northeast Florida, call us toll free at 866-510-9099. We can help.