Elder law is a broad category encompassing many practice areas including probate, guardianship, trust administration, trust estates, elder abuse and more. This may surprise you, but elder law isn’t just for the elderly. 

Probate is a public legal process for transfer assets of a deceased person. Probate can be avoided by estate planning. 68% of Americans die without a will. More likely than not, your assets will need to be probated. The probate process can be expensive so it should be avoided if possible. 

There are between 30,000 and 40,000 open guardianships in Florida at any given time. Guardianship is a legal process that involves a court appointing a person to legally advocate on behalf of another. This may become necessary due to aging, mental disease or disability. 

Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the management and disposal of that person’s estate during the person’s life, in the event the person becomes incapacitated and after death.

A will is a legal document that states how the distribution of assets should be executed after you die. If you die without a will, your assets will be transferred according to the laws of the state you live in. The laws of the state may not be how you wish your assets to be distributed.  

There are many types of trusts, depending on your objectives. However, a revocable trust avoids probate by transferring assets during your lifetime to the trustee to manage your trust. Upon death, the trustee has immediate authority to mange the trust asset. Court involvement is not necessary. It is a fast, efficient and private way to transfer assets after death.