Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/estate-planning-issues-in-a-dissolution-of-marriage/
Timestamp: 2019-11-14 06:52:12
Document Index: 373567741

Matched Legal Cases: ['§709', '§709', '§709', '§709', '§709', '§744', '§744', '§765', '§765', '§765', '§765', '§65', '§765', '§732', '§732', '§732', '§732', '§732', '§732', '§733', '§732', '§732', '§655', '§732']

Estate Planning Issues in a Dissolution of Marriage – The Florida Bar
Vol. 86, No. 2 February 2012 Pg 26 S. Dresden Brunner Family Law
• Life Insurance Policy Death Proceeds and Individual Retirement Accounts or Other Qualified Plans — A more valuable asset for an individual, rather than a POD or TOD account, is usually a life insurance policy, individual retirement account (IRA), or deferred compensation plan. The proceeds of a life insurance policy and the benefits of an IRA or other qualified plan are generally paid according to the beneficiary designation provided by the owner to the insurance company or plan custodian. The beneficiary designation should be updated to reflect the client’s wishes upon the filing of a divorce. If the beneficiary designation is not changed to remove the former spouse, the property settlement agreement ( e.g., prenuptial or postnuptial agreement or marital separation agreement) should state with specificity the treatment of the beneficiary designation, the proceeds from the life insurance policy, and/or the benefits from the IRA or other qualified plan.
• Release of Nonstatutory Rights or Powers — To cover situations arising before the filing of the petition or during the dissolution proceeding, the client can revoke the nonstatutory rights or powers by simply updating the documents that grant the authority or right and removing the soon-to-be former spouse. Such matters include the durable power of attorney, successor trustee in trust, personal representative nomination under will, will or trust beneficiary, or a life insurance, annuity, or IRA beneficiary designation.30 To plan for incapacity during marriage ( e.g., if in an accident), the client can execute a healthcare surrogate and a preneed guardian declaration to declare who should be appointed guardian, if that became necessary.
• Waiver of Florida Statutory Spousal Rights — A full or partial waiver of many of the state statutory spousal rights arising upon the death of a spouse ( e.g., elective share, intestate share, pretermitted share, homestead, exempt property, family allowance) may be obtained before marriage ( e.g., prenuptial agreement) or after marriage ( e.g., postnuptial agreement). Such waiver is allowed in a complete property settlement entered into after, or in anticipation of, separation, dissolution of marriage, or divorce. Fair disclosure of each spouse’s estate is required if the waiver is executed after marriage, and the agreement must be executed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.31
1 Fla. Stat. §709.2105(2) (2011).
2 See Fla. Stat. §709.2102 (3) (2011).
3 Fla. Stat. §§709.2109(1)( b) and 709.2102(5) (2011) (defining incapacity as the inability to take those actions necessary to obtain, administer, and dispose of personal property, business property, benefits, and income).
4 Fla. Stat. §709.2109(2)(b) (2011).
5 Fla. Stat. §709.2109(1)( a) (2011).
6 Fla. Stat. §744.312(2) (2011).
7 Fla. Stat. §744.3045 (2011).
8 Fla. Stat. §765.204 (2011).
9 Fla. Stat. §765.202(6) (2011).
10 Fla. Stat. §765.304(1) (2011).
11 Fla. Stat. §765.104 (1)(3) (2011).
12 Fla. Stat. §65.104(2) (2011).
13 Fla. Stat. §765.401(1) (2011).
14 Fla. Stat. §732.804.
15 See Arthur v. Milstein, 949 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 2007) (holding that the decedent’s written wishes to be buried in the Bahamas next to her son override the desire of the surviving biological mother to make different burial arrangements).
16 But see Snow v. Mathews, 190 So. 2d 50 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1966), in which the marital settlement agreement was sufficient to terminate tenancy by the entireties ownership before death of husband during dissolution proceedings.
17 Fla. Stat. §732.2065 (2011). See also Florida Probate Rule 5.360(b) for the procedure to request an elective share.
18 Fla. Stat. §§732.507(2) and 736.1105 (2011).
19 Fla. Stat. §§732.4015 and 732.401 (2011).
20 Fla. Stat. §732.2035 (2011).
21 Fla. Stat. §732.102(2) (2011).
22 Fla. Stat. §733.301(b) (2011).
23 Fla. Stat. §732.402 (2011).
24 Fla. Stat. §732.403 (2011).
25 Jacobs v. Vaillancourt, 634 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 1994).
26 Fla. Stat. §§655.82, 655.825, and 711.51.
27 Crawford v. Barker, 36 Fla. L. Weekly S252, 12 (Fla. 2011), citing Luszcz v. Lavoie, 787 So. 2d 245 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 2001) (IRA); In Re Estate of Dellinger, 760 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 2000) (IRA); and Waller v. Pope, 715 So. 2d 958 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 1998) (employee pension plan and credit union account).
28 Crawford, 36 Fla. L. Weekly S252 at 20-21. Previously, the Florida Supreme Court noted in Cooper v. Muccitelli, 682 So. 2d 77 (Fla. 1996), that “a settlement agreement that specifically requires one of the parties to maintain a named individual as beneficiary will control the disposition of proceeds upon notice to the insurer.”
29 S mith, 919 So. 2d at 528.
30 See Kenton’s Estate v. Kenton, 423 So. 2d 531 (Fla. 5th D.C.A. 1982) (waiving of statutory spousal rights in a separation agreement in contemplation of a divorce was not a renunciation by wife of her nomination as personal representative under husband’s will).
31 Fla. Stat. §§732.702(1) and (2) (2011).
32 Price v. Price, 153 So. 904 (Fla. 1934).