Florida Wills, Trusts and Probate Attorney James W. Martin Blog

So, the latest news on the Florida mortgage foreclosure debacle is property owners claiming they never got served with court process for the mortgage foreclosure on their Florida real estate. Can they undo the foreclosure? What if the lender says it tried to serve them but could not find them? Who’s right? It’s not a…

It’s very easy to form a Florida corporation these days. Perhaps too easy. All you have to do is go to www.sunbiz.org, fill in names and addresses, answer a few questions, and charge the filing fee to your credit card. Then whammo you’ve got a new Florida corporation. The problem is if that’s all you…

It’s true that probate in Florida is easier than in many states. We have a modern, stream-lined probate law that allows probate from start to finish in 4 months. Of course, this assumes you know what to do and there are no complications. The probate law in Florida is partly in the statutes (substantive) and…

Florida recognizes three types of joint property: tenancy in common, joint with full rights of survivorship, and tenancy by the entirety. Only the last two avoid probate. Here’s the background. When two people own property as tenants in common, each owns an undivided interest in the whole. If one dies, then probate is required to…

A contract is only as good as the ability of each party to perform it. So, it’s important to check out the other party before signing a contract. It’s easy to do in Florida. We have lots of free online databases. Here are a few: 1-Florida Division of Corporations: Here you can search for the…

In all the excitement of starting a new business, coming up with the name is probably the most fun, challenging and difficult items in your checklist. It gets even more exciting when you consider the legal aspects of naming a business. Business names often become trademarks because they identify the source or origin of goods…

When you buy or sell real estate in Florida, it’s important to think about the kind of deed that will transfer the real estate. There are many kinds of deeds in Florida. Here are a few of them: Statutory Warranty Deed. If you are the buyer, you generally want the seller to sign a statutory…

Times are tough for Florida homeowners. But renting out your home and living elsewhere might make it even tougher. This is because you might be abandoning your homestead protections when you do this. Florida law grants Florida homeowners several protections with regard to their homesteads. First is the homestead exemption on the annual real estate…

So, how do you take your name off the deed? How do you take anyone’s name off the deed? It depends on where the real estate is located. In Florida, and in most states, you cannot literally take a name off the deed. Here’s the reason. Many people think houses are like cars. Cars have…

When a client tells me “I signed a standard contract”, a red flag pops up in my brain telling me this is client code for “I didn’t read the contract before I signed it.” There are many reasons people don’t read contracts before signing them. Often it’s because someone told them it’s a standard contract…