FLORIDA ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE LAW BLOG

The Florida Estate Planning and Probate Law Blog is focused on recent federal and state case law and planning ideas.

Showing posts with label florida homestead residence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label florida homestead residence. Show all posts

FIDUCIARY ACCESS LAW IN FLORIDA

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in ,,,,,


On March 10, 2016, Governor Scott signed in law the “Fiduciary Access Law.”  Effective July 1, 2016, the law allows custodians to turn over "data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases" and other files. Under the law, Internet service providers and other custodians can grant access to fiduciaries who submit written requests with certified death certificates, letters of administration and other documents that show proof of power of attorney. They can request usernames, addresses and other unique subscriber information to identify accounts or ask for a court order to show the fiduciary requires disclosure to administer the estate.

The new law allows account holders to designate authorized users and specify what content they can access. It also permits custodians, like telecom companies that store files, to share that content with fiduciaries or guardians. Many internet companies already have these policies in place. 
Read More

ONLY ONE RESIDENCY TAX EXEMPTION AT A TIME: DON'T BE GREEDY

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in ,,,,,
FloridaHomestead law provides two major benefits: (i) creditor protection; and (ii) partial exemption from ad valorem tax. However, each of these benefits can be lost if you claim a residency based tax exemption in another state (you can’t be a resident of two states at the same time). The recent Fourth District Court of Appeals ruling in Venice L. Endsley, Appellant, v. Broward County, Finance and Administrative Services Department, Revenue Collections Division, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D14-3997. March 23, 2016, makes that fact abundantly clear.

In Endsley, a husband, with a residence in Indiana, and a wife, with a residence in Florida, simultaneously received residency based property tax exemptions. In August 2006, the Broward County Property Appraiser, in reliance on Article VII, Section 6(b) of the Florida Constitution ("[n]ot more than one exemption shall be allowed any individual or family unit or with respect to any residential unit") challenged the wife’s eligibility for the Florida Homestead exemption. The challenge dated back to 1996, the first year the couple had simultaneously claimed a residency based property tax exemption in Indiana and Florida, and removal of the Save our Homes protection. Both the trial court and 4th DCA found that the plain language of the Florida Constitution meant that only one homestead exemption was allowed, regardless of location.
Read More