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outahere
01-28-2015, 01:35 PM
Has anyone used Susan Sullivan recently to draw up wills and/or any other estate documents?

We need to have new wills drawn up and are looking for a good, reasonable attorney who can accomplish what we need fairly quickly.

Thanks.

saratogaman
01-28-2015, 01:41 PM
Yes...used her for such documents and very pleased with her skills and manner.

villager
01-28-2015, 01:49 PM
Highly recommend Susan! She is great, reasonable priced and very knowledgeable.

Uptown Girl
01-28-2015, 02:12 PM
You will be in good hands.

lovsthosebigdogs
01-28-2015, 02:25 PM
We used her for wills and her office staff is very nice and she did a great job on the wills but didn't get back to us on another matter. Of course, we kept forgetting and only contacted the office once afterwards to inquire about that other matter. I kept forgetting about it so maybe they did also. I thought they would have a better memory than I do, lol. We will use her again on that matter if we/they remember to set it up.

Vladimir
01-28-2015, 02:47 PM
Used her to update and verify that our wills which were drawn up in another state were valid in FL. She did a great job and she has positive reviews in another TOTV tread.

skip0358
01-28-2015, 02:48 PM
Used her very pleased, didn't force us into anything we didn't need.

salpal
01-29-2015, 08:01 AM
She's great. Have recommended her to many folks.

outahere
01-29-2015, 11:56 AM
Thanks everyone. I called and set up an appointment with Susan.

kissmelatr
03-02-2015, 11:13 AM
Where is she located. I found her in Oxford is this correct?

jblum315
03-02-2015, 11:20 AM
I had Susan Sullivan draw up my will and revocable trust 2 years ago. I liked her very much. Capable and reasonable.

gomsiepop
03-02-2015, 11:45 AM
Yes, she's located right next to Bargains and Treasures.

sukismom
03-02-2015, 01:33 PM
We used Susan for our wills and were pleased however, just now I needed her to attend to a change on that will prior to my mother going into assisted living and she has no time to meet quickly. She is a month out on appointments. Just a case of getting too busy to attend to existing clients which is a great concern for me. I will be changing attorneys.

Bizdoc
03-02-2015, 05:10 PM
We used Susan for our wills and were pleased however, just now I needed her to attend to a change on that will prior to my mother going into assisted living and she has no time to meet quickly. She is a month out on appointments. Just a case of getting too busy to attend to existing clients which is a great concern for me. I will be changing attorneys.

Sit down with a list of your mother's bank accounts, investments, and insurance policies. Contact each and every one and verify beneficiaries and joint owners - we found out the hard way that AIG had lost my dad's original life insurance application and thus had no record of beneficiaries! (Fortunately, he was an accountant and had kept a copy all of these years!)

If your mother is up to it, take her around to her banks, etc and have her tell a *bank officer* that you are her power of attorney (hand the bank officer a copy of that POA) and (if true) beneficiary and suggest that they put a note in her account file stating that. It will save a lot of footwork later if there are questions. Make sure that you have access to any and all safe deposit boxes. Don't store important legal documents in her assisted living apartment if you can help it. Ideally, every bank account should have a joint owner and or Payable on Death person so that it doesn't have to go thru probate.

Have her call Social Security, health insurance companies and the life and medical insurance companies and have her tell them that they can discuss your account with them. Ask the nice SocSecurity person to make a note in her online file. Make sure that you have a medical POA and a HIPPA release.

Consider having your mother set up a revocable trust with you as the successor trustee. You can fund it by setting up a bank account and putting a small amount in. It will save lots of problems later on as the trust survives beyond her life and or competency. Also note that you can put everything in the trust if it become necessary to qualify your mother for Medicaid or other programs. Much easier to do while she can actually execute the trust.

We used Amy Reed Pitman and thought that she was great. However, you may have problems getting in fast. If so, try Samantha Rauba in Ocala - she's handled several thing for my (demented) mother and she understands that some things are urgent.

Oh yes. I'm not an attorney and can't hand out legal advice. I can only tell you about my experiences with my parents and the lessons learned.

dbussone
03-02-2015, 05:28 PM
We, along with a number of our friends have used Attorney Kathryn Linn. Her address is:
561 Fieldcrest Drive
The Villages‎ FL‎ 32162
United States

Phone: (352) 633-1263

We are very pleased with her work in assisting us with trusts, powers of attorney, etc. etc.

outahere
03-02-2015, 05:30 PM
Sit down with a list of your mother's bank accounts, investments, and insurance policies. Contact each and every one and verify beneficiaries and joint owners - we found out the hard way that AIG had lost my dad's original life insurance application and thus had no record of beneficiaries! (Fortunately, he was an accountant and had kept a copy all of these years!)

If your mother is up to it, take her around to her banks, etc and have her tell a *bank officer* that you are her power of attorney (hand the bank officer a copy of that POA) and (if true) beneficiary and suggest that they put a note in her account file stating that. It will save a lot of footwork later if there are questions. Make sure that you have access to any and all safe deposit boxes. Don't store important legal documents in her assisted living apartment if you can help it. Ideally, every bank account should have a joint owner and or Payable on Death person so that it doesn't have to go thru probate.

Have her call Social Security, health insurance companies and the life and medical insurance companies and have her tell them that they can discuss your account with them. Ask the nice SocSecurity person to make a note in her online file. Make sure that you have a medical POA and a HIPPA release.

Consider having your mother set up a revocable trust with you as the successor trustee. You can fund it by setting up a bank account and putting a small amount in. It will save lots of problems later on as the trust survives beyond her life and or competency. Also note that you can put everything in the trust if it become necessary to qualify your mother for Medicaid or other programs. Much easier to do while she can actually execute the trust.

We used Amy Reed Pitman and thought that she was great. However, you may have problems getting in fast. If so, try Samantha Rauba in Ocala - she's handled several thing for my (demented) mother and she understands that some things are urgent.

Oh yes. I'm not an attorney and can't hand out legal advice. I can only tell you about my experiences with my parents and the lessons learned.

I agree with everything you posted, however we were advised (by our long-time family attorney in Mass.) that to get assets out of our control for Medicaid purposes, the assets would have to be put in an irrevocable trust for 5 years before they would no longer be counted as our assets for Medicaid.

dbussone
03-02-2015, 05:31 PM
I agree with everything you posted, however we were advised (by our long-time family attorney in Mass.) that to get assets out of our control for Medicaid purposes, the assets would have to be put in an irrevocable trust for 5 years before they would no longer be counted as our assets for Medicaid.

Our FL attorney essentially told us the same timeline here.

Bizdoc
03-03-2015, 07:21 AM
I agree with everything you posted, however we were advised (by our long-time family attorney in Mass.) that to get assets out of our control for Medicaid purposes, the assets would have to be put in an irrevocable trust for 5 years before they would no longer be counted as our assets for Medicaid.

Sorry - states vary.

dbussone
03-03-2015, 03:57 PM
I agree with everything you posted, however we were advised (by our long-time family attorney in Mass.) that to get assets out of our control for Medicaid purposes, the assets would have to be put in an irrevocable trust for 5 years before they would no longer be counted as our assets for Medicaid.

Outahere - are you sure the trust has to be irrevocable? I think in FL it can be revocable. Any FL attorneys out there who can answer this?

Codysmom
03-04-2015, 08:23 AM
We used Michael Millhorn and highly recommend his services. Fast and inexpensive.

outahere
03-04-2015, 09:33 AM
Outahere - are you sure the trust has to be irrevocable? I think in FL it can be revocable. Any FL attorneys out there who can answer this?

Even though our attorney's primary offices are in MA and CA, he is also a member of the FL Bar, so I have to guess he was correct. If we don't get an answer to this, I'll try to remember to ask Susan when we meet with her in a couple weeks.

dbussone
03-04-2015, 10:31 AM
Even though our attorney's primary offices are in MA and CA, he is also a member of the FL Bar, so I have to guess he was correct. If we don't get an answer to this, I'll try to remember to ask Susan when we meet with her in a couple weeks.


Thanks so much.

outahere
04-28-2015, 02:50 PM
Took me a while, but........

According to what I've learned from Susan, the trust must be irrevocable and any assets transferred into the trust must be there five years before they are exempt from any Medicaid determination.