Funeral Pre Planning is helpful - Scotty's wishes carried out - He is sent to his final frontier

While this story is unusual and entertaining the average individual will not want to be sent to the final frontier in space but it is important that they determine their preferences and make them known.

In Florida heirs can object to a cremation and need to agree on final arrangements if the proper forms and arrangements are not made in advance. Final arrangements should be done directly with a funeral home or other provider of such services in advance. Also to ensure a persons wishes are carried out and avoid disputes it should their wishes should be communicated to their family.

James Doohan to be sent to his final frontier
Thursday, July 21, 2005

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- He made his name in Hollywood beaming his colleagues back to the safety of the Enterprise on "Star Trek." Now, actor James Doohan's family is hoping to beam him up to the "final frontier" that Doohan's character "Scotty" loved so dearly.
The actor, who died Wednesday at age 85, had told relatives he wanted his ashes blasted into outer space, as was done for "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

Houston-based Space Services Inc., which specializes in space memorials, plans to send a few grams of Doohan's ashes aboard a rocket later this year. The remains, which will be sealed in an aluminum capsule, will eventually burn up when they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
It should be a fitting finale for an actor who, as the Starship Enterprise's frazzled chief engineer saved the Enterprise almost every week from blowing up, burning up or being overrun by renegade aliens when the warp drive, the phasers, the shields, the power cells or some other futuristic collection of doohickies failed.

As the man who commanded the Enterprise's particle beam transporter, Doohan's character also inspired the phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty." Capt. Kirk and other members of the Enterprise crew never really issued the order quite that way, however, until the fourth "Star Trek" film when Kirk said, "Scotty, beam me up."

"Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years," he said in an 1998 interview. "It's been said to me at 70 miles an hour across four lanes on the freeway. I hear it from just about everybody. It's been fun."

Married three times, Doohan was the father of nine children.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press

South Florida Suspended Animation Company

Article regarding the process, cost and prospects for suspended animation. This further shows the importance of having documents prepared in advance to show intent as well as the family to know and agree to the arrangements that are desired to ensure they are carried out.

Also of interest to baseball fans given it what was done to one of the great hitters of all time and last player to bat above .400 in a season.

The suspended animation company will now have an office in Palm Beach County Florida.

July 15, 2005 - AP
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - A “cryonics” company whose manager worked for the firm that froze the head of baseball legend Ted Williams plans to open a facility here.
Suspended Animation expects to open in August.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8585673/

Avoid Probate in Multiple States - Revocable Trusts Help

Multiple probates cause multiple problems for heirs and beneficiaries
When a person has real property in multiple states such as Florida, California, and New York it is important for them to avoid having their estate required to be probate in all the states they own real estate.

When a person dies the law of the state that they were domciled in controls all of their property except for real property located in another state. This property is subject to the laws of the state in which it is located.

Probate is typically a slow process with a lot of rules and procedures but to add an additional set of laws, another court and frequently additional groups of attorneys the time involved to settle the estate as well as the expense increases as a result.

For individuals who hire an estate attorney the situation can easily be solved and the requirement for the property to go to probate court can be avoided or at a minimum decreased to require merely the home state. If the property in the other state is held in trust such as a Florida resident owning a home in Beverly Hills California and a condo in Manhattan New York they can do a deed to put it in a revocable trust with themselves as the trustee to retain ownership. For probate purposes this removes the need for probate in those states and upon the death of the owner the property will pass to the successor trustee who will convey the real estate to the beneficiaries designated pursuant to the trust agreement.
Achieving this probate avoidance will generally save the client several times the cost of the trust and it will also speed up the disrtibution and pass more efficiently to the designated beneficiaries.

Consult a probate and trust attorney to discuss the specifics of your situation and learn more about avoiding the headache and expenses associated with multiple probate proceeding. There are additional ways to achieve this. Our law firm assists South Florida residents and their families with avoiding probate for clients who make arrangements in advance and for those who do not with ancillary probate when someone is a resident of another state leaving property in Florida and with Florida Probate which sometimes also includes probate in other jurisdictions.

Probate Florida Real Estate - Determine Value Prior to Sale

Beneficiaries and heirs should not abandon probate property without first determining what its fair market value is. The value of Florida real estate including vacant land has skyrocketed and an appraisal or market analysis may be needed to determine its true value.

Probate is needed to transfer good title for all land or real estate in the decedents sole name or held as tenants in common to pass the tenants in common interest. If more then 2 years have passed a summary probate can pass the title to the property to the heirs or beneficiaries. This allows the probate of the land or real property to pass through probate more quickly and with less cost involved.

By Mike Hoyemmoyem @ News-Press.Com Published by news-press.com 2005

Savvy buyers cash in big on cheap lots
Sellers naive to land value
Patricia Pavlus of Pittsburgh and Adel Assadd were happy last Sept. 15 to sell a vacant lot in Lehigh Acres for $800.But probably not as happy as the company that bought it, Olympic Land Title Corp. of Orlando. Olympic sold the lot for $36,900."They were basically going to pay us $800 in cash," said Assadd, who is Pavlus' husband. "They agreed to pay $800 plus do the probate."

When he was told Olympic sold the lot for $36,900 to a man who sold it for $45,000, Assadd didn't really know what to say."Good for them," he said.
Florida has a long history of questionable real-estate deals. But with property values skyrocketing in Southwest Florida as never before, quick-profit deals may be running more rampant than ever.Land records show the same red-hot real- estate market that has resulted in scores of fraudulent deeds being filed in Lee and Charlotte counties also has prompted untold numbers of calls and letters to absentee property owners across the country and around the world from buyers who may be hoping the owners don't know land values have shot up dramatically.

Polly Reynolds of Lebanon, Tenn., sold a lot in Lehigh Acres to Olympic last Oct. 14 for $2,600. Reynolds didn't sound upset when she was told the lot is probably worth 10 times that much.

Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson said it's too bad people have sold land in the county at prices below market value when a simple check of his official Web site will show most vacant lots in the county are worth far more than $800 or $1,000." It's unfortunate people are taken advantage of, those who are not in the know."

How is Probate impacted by Domicile? What is Domicile?

Domicile is where a person resides with a present intent to remain.
Someone who is merely going to law school or some other type of school or miltary service or a Florida Snowbird who is just coming to Florida for the winter but in each case the individual has the intent to return to their hometown have likely not changed their domicile.
When questions arise facts and circumstances of a given situation can be determined to decide where a person is domiciled. In order to obtain a homestead designation in Florida a person must be a Florida domicile. Some facts which can be looked at include what state their drivers license is from, where they are licensed to vote, where do they spend most of their time, if they own a home or homes where are they located, what location do they claim as their residence for the IRS or other tax forms, whether they had formally filed for domicile in a particular county and a number of other factors to consider.

For probate purposes this is important because it determines the state and county that the probate administration will occur in. If a decedent dies as a Florida domicile than all of their property which are in their sole name and which are not going to pass by contract or designated to transfer on death all their property other than real estate located in another state shall pass pursuant to Florida law with the circuit court of the county they were domiciled in having jurisdiction. If they are domiciled in another jurisdiction such as New York than New York law shall control all of their property except that Florida shall have jurisdiction and Florida law shall control regarding any real property which is owned in Florida. When a decedent has their domicile in another state but owns Florida real estate an ancillary probate administration would be needed to transfer the interest in the Florida real estate to those who were legally entitled to it.

Adoption - Intestate Share Impact in Florida

Yes, the person adopted has the same rights to receive property from their adoptive family as if they were a lineal descedant but in most situation they will no longer be entitled to receive property through intestate succession from their natural parents. Florida Statute 732.108 provides the adopted person is a lineal descendant of the adopting parent and is one of the natural kindred of all members of the adopting parents family and is not a lineal descendant of his or her natural parents nor is he or she one of the kindred of any member of the natural parents family or any prior adoptive parents family except adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and the natural parent or the natural parents family. (other exceptions exist see Florida Statute 732.108)

Florida Intestate Estate - Spouse's Share

If a decedent dies without a will Florida Probate Law provides for an intestate succession as follows:

If there is a spouse and no lineal descedants the spouse shall receive the entire estate.

If there are lineal descendants of the decedent the decedent all of who are lineal decedants of the surviving spouse than the spouse shall receive the first $60,000 of the estate and one half of the remainder of the fair market value as of the date of death.

If there are surving lineal descedants of decedant some of who are not also lineal descendants of the spouse the surviving spouse will receive one half of the estate.

Florida of Intestate Estate to Spouse is provided for in Florida Statute 732.102

Florida Intestate Estate - Other Heirs Share

In Florida intestate estates the share of heirs other than a spouse is everything if there was no spouse. If there were children and a spouse the children will receive one half of the estate if any of the children were not also the children of the surviving spouse. The children will receive one half of the intestate share after the first sixty thousand goes to the spouse if all the lineal descendants (children) are also the children of the surviving spouse. The share of a child passes per stirpes so if a child pre deceases leaving children of their own the grandchildren can get their parents share by representation.

If no lineal descedants of the decedent and no spouse then equally to decedent parents or all to the survivor.

If the decedent parents are also predeceased than to decedent's siblings and their descendants per stirpes if the siblings pre decease.

The Estate is divided one half each between the decedents paternal and maternal family as follows to Grampa and Grandma equally or their survivor.

If no grandparents than to uncles and aunts and their descedants per stripes if the uncles or aunts pre decease leaving lineal descendants.

If no family remains on one side than the full share passes in the above mentioned order to the side of the family who did survive.

If no family on either side than the whole estate goes to the family of the last deceased spouse of the decedent as if the deceased spouse had survived the decdent and died intestate.

What is Florida Probate?

WHAT IS FLORIDA PROBATE? Florida Probate is a court-supervised process for determining what are the decedent's assets, paying taxes, claims and expenses and distributing the assets to beneficiaries. The Florida Probate Code is found in Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes. If the decedent left a will it is known as a testate estate. Unless the testator was less than 18 years of age, lacked mental capacity to make the will at the time of execution, was unduly influenced regarding how they disposed of their property the will controls how the decedents property will be distributed subject to the legally enforceable debts, taxes, and expenses of the estate and the legal protections a surviving spouse has such as elective share, family allowance and homestead rights of a surviving spouse and children or a minor child.