Author Archives: Jay Butchko
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 »
How To Run A Condo Association Meeting in Florida
If you own a condominium, you may wind up serving on the board of your condo association. It is via the condo association that most of the business of your living space will be conducted, and as such, it is important to understand how meetings should be conducted. If protocol is not observed, you… Read More »
Jurisdiction in Condominium Disputes
Due to land being at a premium, among other factors, a significant majority of Floridians reside in either condominiums or in communities with a homeowners’ association (HOA). However, not all of them read the agreements they are signing. Rather than tacitly permitting lawsuits over every real and perceived slight, Florida enacted a law requiring… Read More »
Property in Probate & Intestacy
When you lose a loved one, your life immediately changes. You suddenly have a thousand things to do, chief among them disposing of property and ensuring that all their bequests are honored. Submitting their estate to probate is one of the things that needs doing fastest, and yet can take the most time. Most… Read More »
How To Make A Prenuptial Agreement “Bulletproof”
In some relationships, it is not enough to have a prenuptial agreement. Very often, these are attacked during breakups and divorces, to the point where some or all of the agreement may be ruled unenforceable. There are ways to ensure that your prenuptial agreement is as strong as it can be, however, which will… Read More »
An Overview of Military Pensions & Divorce
Military service is arguably the most difficult job on the planet. It is entirely understandable for service members to be well rewarded after their service, receiving pensions based at anywhere from 40% to 100% of your base pay depending on your length of service and other factors. However, when divorce happens, that pension is… Read More »
