Practice area
Family Trusts
Trusts that pass property to the people you name, on the terms you set, without a Florida probate court deciding the pace.
What a family trust settles.
A will tells a court what you wanted. A trust moves property without one. For most South Florida families the difference is months of delay, a public file, and fees measured against the estate. We build the trust, fund it with the house, the accounts and the business interests, and keep the record current so it works the day it is needed.
We also handle the other side of the same work: administering a trust after a death, and taking families through probate when no plan was in place.
Services
Where families come to us.
01
Revocable living trusts
You keep full control during your lifetime and can change the terms at any point. On death, the trustee distributes what you own without opening a probate estate. Paired with a pour-over will, durable power of attorney, health care surrogate and living will.
02
Special needs trusts
An inheritance paid directly to a person receiving Medicaid or SSI can end those benefits. A properly drafted special needs trust holds the money for their care — therapies, equipment, travel, housing support — without counting as their asset.
03
Children's and minors' trusts
You decide when and how children receive what you leave them: staged ages, education and health distributions, or a trustee with discretion. This is also where we address a child's future divorce, and how to keep an inheritance from becoming marital property.
04
Probate and trust administration
When someone has died, we take the executor or trustee through the Florida process: opening the estate, notice to creditors, inventory, accountings and distribution. Families can come to us mid-process, as often needed or at the start.
The process
Four meetings, start to signed.
STEP 01
Consultation
We map the family, the assets and the outcomes you want, and tell you what the plan should include.
STEP 02
Plan design
You receive a written structure with trustees, beneficiaries and distribution terms, and we revise it until it reads the way you intend.
STEP 03
Signing
Documents are executed with witnesses at one of our offices, professional visiting notary or virtual notary, and you leave with the full set.
STEP 04
Funding and review
Deeds, accounts and beneficiary designations are retitled into the trust, then reviewed as your circumstances change.
Common questions
Questions families ask before they set up a trust.
Q
What is the biggest drafting mistake in a trust?
Using generic or ambiguous language without tailoring it to the client's circumstances. Phrases like "my house" or "pay the mortgage" can create disputes unless the asset, scope, and intent are clearly defined.
Q
Why should estate-planning documents be reviewed regularly?
Life changes—divorce, remarriage, new children, deaths, moves, or changed assets—can make beneficiary designations and trust provisions ineffective or produce unintended results. A review every few years is recommended.
Q
Who should serve as trustee?
Choose someone with time, sound judgment, and the ability to handle difficult beneficiary conversations. A family member may create conflict; an attorney or corporate trustee can be preferable where neutrality or specialized administration is needed.
Q
What is a trustee's most important ongoing duty?
Communicate clearly and consistently with beneficiaries. Trustees should provide updates, explain discretionary distribution decisions, maintain records, and respond promptly to requests.
Q
What are the top asset-collection risks after a trust is created?
Assets may never be retitled into the trust, accounts may be missed, funds may be commingled, or real estate may lack insurance and maintenance. Trustees should inventory, secure, retitle, reconcile, and document every asset and decision.