Posted in Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Transferring the title of a decedent’s vehicle is relatively easy in Florida, courtesy of Florida Statute 319.28.  The initial step in transferring a vehicle title is assessing the ownership.  If the vehicle is owned jointly, then it automatically passes to the co-owner by operation of law at death.

For example, a vehicle titled John Smith and Mary Smith automatically passes to Mary Smith upon John Smith’s passing and vice versa.  Contact the DMV to update the title along with a death certificate.  Form 82152 can be used by surviving spouses.  The DMV’s website is here:  FL DMV

Posted in Business & Corporate Law,Real Estate Law

Good news for Commercial Landlords, the reduction on state level sales taxes continues to decline. Florida is reducing the state-level sales tax rate on commercial leases for occupancy periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020 down to 5.5%.  

However, counties are still imposing the local option surtax so be careful to check your county’s guidelines. The local option surtax varies between 0.5% to 1% for those counties that impose it.  Currently, for 2019 St. Johns County has an additional 0.5% surtax.

Posted in Business & Corporate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

The St. Johns County and surrounding areas have seen a recent boom in the housing market and work by building contractors.  The complexity of the sales and use tax rules has led to erroneous and misapplication of the taxes, making this area ripe for Tax Audit with the Florida Department of Revenue (“DOR”). 

Posted in Asset Protection,Probate & Trust Administration,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Baby Boomers who have worked hard to manage their finances have children who are of the age to either carry on their financial success and hard work or lose it all. The best gift a parent can give to themselves and their child is to help their children organize and manage their affairs.

Posted in Asset Protection,Probate & Trust Administration,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Let’s start off with what happens if you do not have a Will. If you die without a will (this is called dying “intestate”), your property will be distributed to your heirs according to a formula fixed by law.

Posted in Asset Protection,Probate & Trust Administration,Tax Law & IRS Defense,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

It is recommended to periodically review your estate plan to determine if there are new planning opportunities of which you can take advantage.  Below are three tips as you move through 2019:

Posted in Business & Corporate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

Calendaring important IRS and tax authority deadlines can save you a lot of headaches at tax time.  To avoid paying penalties and other tax consequences, keep a calendar and plan for tax deadlines with your accountant, attorney, and other members of your professional team.  The below items are a few examples of important tax deadlines:

Posted in Business & Corporate Law,Real Estate Law

Florida imposes sales tax on rental payments for the lease of commercial real estate. The 6% state-level tax was reduced to 5.8% for 2018. The Florida legislature passed another law to further reduce the state-level rate to 5.7% for occupancy periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019.
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