Author Archives: Mark Manceri
Powers of Attorney – Conflicts of Interest
A Power of Attorney (POA) authorizes another person, called an agent or attorney-in-fact to manage your assets, finances, or other affairs. A POA, when used properly, can save your family extremely valuable time and money. However, designating the wrong or an untrustworthy POA can be detrimental to your estate, as POAs can abuse their… Read More »
Breach of Fiduciary Duty Under Florida Probate Law
Setting up a Florida Trust during your lifetime could be beneficial. The creators of a Living Trust include their assets in a Living Trust and continue to use them until their death at which point the assets are distributed to beneficiaries. When everything goes according to plan, a Trust can be a great wealth… Read More »
Professional Appointed Guardians in Florida May Need Better Oversight
What is a Court Appointed Guardian? Courts appoint Guardians to children or incapacitated adults, called Wards. These Guardians make decisions on behalf of the Ward. Depending on the situation, the Guardian may have exclusive or partial control over the person’s financial and personal affairs. Who is Incapacitated? A person is incapacitated when a Court… Read More »
How to Properly Revoke Your Will in Florida
It is not uncommon for a person to wittingly or unwittingly have multiple Wills when they die. Perhaps they created a Will and then circumstances changed. They may have had a falling out in their family or perhaps one of the beneficiaries in the Will has since become independently wealthy. Life’s changes may prompt… Read More »
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Fiduciary relationships go beyond attorneys, personal representatives and trustees. The Florida Supreme Court ruled they don’t necessarily need to be legal relationships in order to have a fiduciary duty. They may also be relationships that are moral, social, domestic, or of a personal nature. When one party fails to uphold that confidential or fiduciary… Read More »
Guardianship Litigation – Appointment Of Guardian
While it may be an unthinkable circumstance, you should always have a plan in place in the event you or your spouse becomes incapacitated. That is why it is best to plan for the appointment of a guardian now, so in the event of an untimely death or incapacitation, you will have a trusted… Read More »
How Far Must the Personal Representative of an Estate Go to Find the Deceased Person’s Creditors?
Even though movies often cut straight from scenes of lawyers reading a will to scenes of the deceased person’s descendants reveling in their new-found fortune, the process is not quite so quick. Before the beneficiaries of the will can receive the assets that their deceased relative has bequeathed to them, the will must go… Read More »
Should You Name a Relative as Personal Representative of Your Estate?
It is comforting to think about the money that you have worked hard to earn becoming a source of stability for your children and grandchildren, but it is not always easy to have frank conversations with your family about what will happen when you pass away. It is important, though, to start the discussions… Read More »
How to Bequeath Money to a Non-Relative in Florida
If you are looking for a book to read on the beach this holiday season, one could do worse than For Bread Alone, Mohamed Choukri’s memoir of his early life, before he learned to write and before he made the acquaintance of the literary-minded expatriates of Tangier, such as Tennessee Williams. Choukri ran away… Read More »
Common Problems and Solutions for Talking to Your Family About Your Estate Plan
Issues related to inheritance can be a major source of family stress, and in the worst instances, can even lead to siblings becoming estranged for life. All those hurt feelings left over from childhood that fester throughout life, the ones about which sibling gets saddled with the most unwanted responsibilities and which one Mom… Read More »
Mark R. Manceri, P.A. is a boutique law firm that specializes in Estate, Trust and Guardianship litigation. These matters include Will and Trust contests involving lack of capacity, undue influence, forgery, improper execution and tortious interference...