Posted in Estate & Personal Planning,General Practice,Real Estate Law

As the saying goes, “anyone who believes in free will has never heard of probate.”  Attorneys are frequently contacted by clients who need help navigating estates after the loss of a family member or friend.  Probate is often inevitable if there is property to be divided.
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Posted in Condominium & Homeowner Association Law

Encouraging residents in condominium and homeowners’ associations to safely drive their vehicles while in the community can be difficult for many associations.  If the streets within the community are public streets, or streets owned by a county or municipality, the association can contact law enforcement and request an increase in patrolling.  However, if the streets are private, or owned by the association or other non-governmental entity, law enforcement may not have the authority to regulate traffic within the community absent an agreement with the association. 
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Posted in Estate & Personal Planning

What is the difference between a revocable trust and a will?  Should I create a revocable trust? These are among the most frequently asked estate planning questions at our office. Here are some advantages of a revocable trust: 
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Posted in Condominium & Homeowner Association Law

Is your condominium or homeowners association properly prepared for a natural disaster event such as a hurricane?  The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1^st of this year and will continue until November 30^th. While September is usually the most active month for tropical activity, last year’s Hurricane Matthew demonstrates that communities should be prepared well before a hurricane hits to mitigate confusion in the aftermath.
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Posted in Business Law,Real Estate Law

For some St. Augustine homeowners, vacation rentals are a steady source of income, but others argue that this revenue isn’t worth the cost to the community and describe these transient rentals as a “nuisance.”  Transient rentals are units or homes that are rented more than three times in a calendar year for a period of less than 30 days.  A search in the St. Augustine area for Airbnb or VRBO reveals that the industry is alive and well.   
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Posted in Condominium & Homeowner Association Law

Community associations experienced a record number of delinquencies during the economic recession that began in 2007-2008.  As a result, associations were forced to dedicate most of their resources to the collection of delinquent assessments.  Community associations were also severally impacted by the mortgage foreclosure crisis.  The increased amount of cases created a traffic jam for courts resulting in prolonged foreclosures, which decreased the associations’ chances of recovering all the past due amounts.      
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Posted in IRS & Tax Information

Taxpayers should know that the IRS cannot typically levy your assets without first giving you notice.  There are a few exceptions to this general rule, however.  For instance, the IRS may levy without prior notice if it feels collection of the tax is in jeopardy or when the IRS levies a state tax refund.  Absent an exception, the IRS will typically provide a formal Notice of Intent to Levy prior to levying any of a taxpayer’s assets.
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Posted in Condominium & Homeowner Association Law

If you are a condominium or homeowners’ association board member or community association manager, this scenario probably sounds too familiar:  The association’s board of directors has identified a provision in the governing documents which would benefit the association to amend.  Perhaps amending the provision could have a direct, positive financial effect (for example, removing that unfortunate provision excusing past-due assessment liability of third-party purchasers after mortgage foreclosure).  Unfortunately, however, the governing document provision requires 75% approval of the entire membership to amend and the association cannot even attain a quorum at its membership meetings.  Accordingly, the board and manager question whether they should even attempt to propose an amendment to the governing documents and incur the associated expenses.  Should they just give up?

If the scenario above sounds familiar, there may be some strategies available to generate the support necessary to adopt the amendment, some of which are as follows:
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