[Lea N]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

We had our will and other end-of-life documents prepared in Mass. a year ago. Our lawyer told us these "should be good" in Florida. Since we moved to TV many people (non-attorneys) have told us, "No- you need Florida documents". So, as an attorney please tell me if I should see an attorney. Thanks!

p.s. Yes, I could just go see a lawyer- but this is a question/answer forum and if a lawyer answers my question I'll be ahead.

You've already received excellent advice, and I saw one from an attorney (didn't read all of the responses.)

To be safe it would probably be good to set it up here. After setting up your will take it upon yourself to make sure that your will is taken to the city yourself. I'm not sure of the term to use, but the city gets a copy of the will on record. I know several people who paid an attorney in the state of Florida to set up a will and this was never done. When heirs find out they have to go ahead and do this anyway.

[Eg_cruz]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

We had our will and other end-of-life documents prepared in Mass. a year ago. Our lawyer told us these "should be good" in Florida. Since we moved to TV many people (non-attorneys) have told us, "No- you need Florida documents". So, as an attorney please tell me if I should see an attorney. Thanks!

p.s. Yes, I could just go see a lawyer- but this is a question/answer forum and if a lawyer answers my question I'll be ahead.

Go to the seminar held at the Pinellas Library. Jennifer Henson with Millhorn Elder Law and Planning Group she covers every question you can think of for estate planning. You can call her office 352-330-3369 for dates and times, there are two a month.

[mermaids]

Same here. We had purs redone as FL residents. We used Trotter & Solsby in The Villages. I may have misspelled their names, but they usually have an ad in The Villages newspaper. Knowledgeable & I didn't think overpriced.

[mermaids]

Originally Posted by oldtimes

Our attorney up north told us to be sure to check with an attorney in Florida when we moved. We did and found that the laws here are indeed different and our documents needed to be redone.

Same here. We had purs redone as FL residents. We used Trotter & Solsby in The Villages. I may have misspelled their names, but they usually have an ad in The Villages newspaper. Knowledgeable & I didn't think overpriced.

[Kvanpera]

I had a Will in Alabama, saw lawyer in FL, said it was better to have a Trust in FL due to Probate and State taking a share

[PurePeach]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

We had our will and other end-of-life documents prepared in Mass. a year ago. Our lawyer told us these "should be good" in Florida. Since we moved to TV many people (non-attorneys) have told us, "No- you need Florida documents". So, as an attorney please tell me if I should see an attorney. Thanks!

p.s. Yes, I could just go see a lawyer- but this is a question/answer forum and if a lawyer answers my question I'll be ahead.

Call Trotter & Soulsby. You can get a free consultation from Mary Trotter. She and her partner are the only lawyers in this area who have an advanced certification in elder law. They also conduct free lectures on FL law and are having one this week — tomorrow, I think. Give them a call.

[ndf888]

Originally Posted by NoMo50

You will want a Florida attorney, but the fees they charge for this routine service can vary widely. We went with Sham Shanawany of the Millhorn & Shanawany Law firm. His fees were over $1400.00 less than the Pittman Firm, for the exact same service/documents. Glad we checked around.

Another vote for Sham Shanawany of the Millhorn & Shanawany Law firm. Did a great job for us.

[dougjb]

If you have to ask...you need to go to an attorney and invest a couple of hundred.

The alternative? Don't go and if you made a mistake in not going...your heirs will curse you out for the rest of their lives about how stupid you were.

Just go. Treat a visit to an attorney as you would an annual visit to your doctor. An attorney can help you keep your affairs in order and might make suggestions on how you can protect your assets. Indeed, most lawyers are nice people. You might grow to like your lawyer!