Seeking an attorney to tell me if I need... an attourney
 

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.

As a retired attorney who was licensed in NY and NM I believe it would be wise to see a Florida estate planning attorney to review your testamentary/trust documents. Several past threads on TOTV contain local attorney recommendations. The only exception might be if your Mass attorney was also licensed in Florida and proficient in Florida estate practice.

In my experience at law school in the late 1960s and up until 1972 when preparing for the bar exam in NM the law in Mass was unique and at times contrary to that of most if not all other states. In 1972 the new dean of the UNM law school who had moved from Boston was putting together a course for bar exam preparation in NM, a community property state, and was using notes from a Mass bar prep course. We had a lot of laughs over the differences.

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.

We used Pittman Law for this, also there was an ad in todays (Sunday) daily sun for a seminar on just this subject, not sure which lawyer was advertising.

Go to the free seminar. I have no idea how a licensed lawyer gives you a response of Should. I would have little confidence in the existing documents.

Let Pittman prepare Florida documents and get peace of mind

We were also told to check in FL and found things did need to change from IL. We also used Pittman Law Office and were extremely happy with them!

Amy Pittman Law Offices. Excellent.

Pittman Law …. and YES you need a Florida attorney ( property and permanent address is in Florida ?)

Yet another vote for Pittman Law.

absolutely you need to revise your will here in Florida and you need an attorney to do it. Do not use an internet piece of paper. Also, you need a trust here as probate will take a long time and cost lots of money. I used Patrick Smith in Fruitland Park for a trust....cost $695. The attorneys in the villages charge thousands for the exact same thing. Be wise.

A quick google of "is my will or trust good in Florida?" reveals that generally they are good across state lines. The difference you need to pay attention to is if your state has different laws than Florida when it comes to community property vrs common property. You don't need spend money on an attorney to discover this. As long as the state you're coming from has the same property law as Florida you're good.

Pittman Law is our local attorney. Very thorough and informative. On 466 and 301 in Oxford

Yes You need a Florida Lawyer
 

I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV.
Florida has very specific laws and you will need a Florida lawyer to deal with the court.
Decide if you want to save a few dollars or have effective protection.
I used Patrick Smith of Fruitland Park.

I’m no lawyer, but it just takes common sense to know that you should check with a Florida attorney if you’re going to live in Florida. The law is a bit different here than other states.

I used Trotter and Soulsby. They’re one of the only Board Certified attorneys for elder law.
They offered two free seminars on this subject earlier this year and may be doing it again soon since the response was so good.

PLUS Florida law does change from time to time. We had a recent will from our former state, then went to a seminar here. We discovered we'd need a Florida will as things here "are" different. We used Milhorn on 301