The definition of an effective Estate Plan is “Giving what you have, to whom you want, the way you want, when you want, and minimizing attorney’s fees, court costs, government interference, and taxes.”

Throughout Florida, Mr. Giovinco has assisted clients with their estate planning needs and goals.  While working closely with clients, Mr. Giovinco is able to come up with the best strategy to ensure that your family, finances, properties, investments, and businesses can be protected from probate.  While estate planning covers the drafting of wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, Mr. Giovinco works with clients to outline and secure your life or end-of-life preferences by drafting items such as living wills and healthcare authorizations.  Contact Ian Giovinco to begin compiling your complete estate plan and ensure that you, and your loved ones, are protected.

An Estate Plan is not effective if your assets are not protected while you are alive.  Part of the estate planning process may include a review of current assets.  Many assets are protected by the Florida Constitution and Statutes, and we review these assets to educate our clients as to which assets are protected for Florida residents.  The way assets are owned by spouses or family members could protect or expose your assets.  People often expose their assets to lawsuits or creditors in an attempt to avoid probate by adding others names to assets.  All assets should be reviewed for their exposure to lawsuits and creditors.

Some assets need to be protected through the use of Business Entities such as Limited Liability Companies, Family Limited Partnerships, “Nevada Trusts”, or other entities.  The determination of the type of entity depends on the asset and level of protection required.

Many people have heard of probate, the process of “proving” a will and distributing items or handling financial matters through a court.  However, what most people do not know, is that probate can take at least one year of your time and cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Currently, the Florida Bar allows for the cost of probate to equal 3% of the estate which includes only attorney’s fees and does not include administrative fees, court costs, or personal representative fees.  If you are at the point where probate is necessary, you are likely also in the middle of one of the most traumatic experiences of your life by coping with the death of a parent, spouse, or other family member.

Mr. Giovinco specializes in probate avoidance, by working closely with clients to create trusts in which their assets, businesses, or otherwise, are included.  Assets held in trust are not forced into the year-long complex court proceeding known as probate.  By setting up a trust, you can save your family or beneficiaries their time and money, and allow them to complete the estate administration out of court and as you wanted it.  Contact Ian Giovinco to discuss how you can create a trust and avoid the probate process.

A domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) is an irrevocable trust, meaning that it cannot be changed once it is in place, which is established to allow the owner of the trust to also be a beneficiary of the trust, yet still be permitted to protect the trust’s assets from creditors.  In effect, it is a trust that has several asset-protection qualities.  These trusts have become more prevalent in recent years and are popular due to their effect in protecting assets from the claims of an owner’s future creditors.  Contact Ian Giovinco to learn more about these effective asset protection tools.