Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Probate and Holographic Wills
While most people visit an attorney to have a will drawn up, there are some who prefer to execute it themselves. This is referred to as a holographic will. Proponents think it allows a person to exercise more control over their bequests. Regardless, the truth is that many holographic wills are held to be… Read More »
Living Trusts and Florida Probate
In many states, the creation of a living trust is recommended by competent estate planning and probate attorneys so as to avoid the headache of a drawn-out probate court proceeding. However, what many do not realize is that there are some situations in which probate cannot be avoided. Understanding the finer mechanics of Florida… Read More »
Disputes That Do Not Require Arbitration
In Florida, the majority of condominium-related disputes are subject to non-binding arbitration. Arbitration is held out as the method for remedy in several state statutes, and the nature of the disputes to be arbitrated is clearly laid out. However, there are many varieties of dispute that one may have with one’s condominium association that… Read More »
Reasons To Sign A Prenuptial Agreement
Prenuptial agreements, or prenups, tend to be seen as an implicit failure on the part of one or both halves of a couple by many. They argue that a prenup is proof that the marriage is not being entered into in good faith, or that it presupposes the possibility of divorce. In reality, some… Read More »
Pensions As Property
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) was passed in 1982 to safeguard the interests of military spouses, both current and former, despite the name. It regulates many different issues having to do with marital property and jointly-owned assets, and grants some authority to state courts to rule on these matters. One might… Read More »
Digital Probate: Who Controls What You Leave Behind In The Cloud?
In today’s hyper-connected world, it is well worth considering that not all assets are tangible. We are used to disposing of property like homes and cars in our wills, but very often, digital assets are forgotten. There is actually very little legislation currently on the books dealing with digital assets – Florida does not… Read More »
Social Media & Condo Boards – Perks and Problems
When one is part of a condominium association or its board of directors, one must of course comply with all the rules of the organization. However, as technology has developed, new tools and questions appear when trying to maintain condo board meetings and records, with social media being perhaps the most commonly used new… Read More »
Arbitrating A Condo Dispute: The Process
In recent years in Florida, the trend in many areas of law, including condominium and homeowners’ association disputes, has been away from civil trials and toward arbitration, primarily of the non-binding variety. This can be a bit of a shock for those who are uninitiated in the nature of such disputes. It is helpful,… Read More »
What Prenuptial Agreements Cannot Cover
Prenuptial agreements, or prenups, can cover most of the issues that any couple will face if they decide to split up. However, there are some legal niceties that are not, by law, permitted to be handled in a prenuptial agreement. If you place certain provisions in an agreement, you run the risk of having… Read More »
Dividing Military Pensions: Equal vs. Equitable
When a couple decides to divorce, and one or both of them are servicemembers, their military pensions are considered marital assets. In states such as Florida that use a system of equitable distribution, marital assets are divided between the spouses, but contrary to popular belief, this is not always done strictly equally. Rather, judges… Read More »
