Florida Elder Law & Estate Planning Blog


Making Annual Gifts Can Help Reduce Future Estate Tax Liability
August 23, 2023

The current Unified Estate Tax and Gift Tax Exemption allows you to pass $12.92 million, tax-free. This can include tax-free gifts you make during your lifetime, or bequests made after your death, or a combination of the two. A married…

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Whom Should You Name As Your Personal Representative?
August 18, 2023

Your Personal Representative is the person you select to administer your probate estate after you pass on. Often referred to as an “executor” in states other than Florida, a Personal Representative must be named in your Last Will & Testament….

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Pampered Felines Inherit Riches, Despite Estate Plan Glitches
August 15, 2023

Talk about fat cats! When Nancy Sauer died last year at age 84, her precious felines became instant millionaires. Widowed and having outlived her only child, the Tampa resident lavished love on her seven Persian cats: Leo, Midnight, Napoleon, Cleopatra,…

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Nursing Home Resident’s Well Spouse Entitled to Bigger MMMNA
August 9, 2023

Florida has made another change to its Medicaid rules for nursing home benefits. The rule change applies to married couples when one spouse is in a nursing home and receiving Medicaid benefits. The spouse who is not in a nursing…

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Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin’s Two Wills: Which One Deserves “Respect”?
July 16, 2023

“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin died in 2018 at age 76 . To the world, the “Respect” singer left a remarkable musical legacy. To her sons, she left a painful legal conflict that dragged on for nearly five years.  …

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Older Person With Purse
Florida Medicaid Increases Personal Needs Allowance For Nursing Home Residents
July 10, 2023

Florida has just announced an increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for individuals receiving Medicaid benefits for custodial nursing home care. The new figure is $160 per month, up from $130. The updated figure went into effect on July 1,…

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New Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi Gets FDA Approval
July 7, 2023

A good number of our clients and their loved ones are coping with Alzheimer’s Disease. Our job as elder law attorneys is to help them deal with the complex legal and financial challenges the diagnosis presents. While there is still…

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Estate Planning When Your Heir Has A Drug Addiction
July 5, 2023

If you have a child, grandchild or other loved one who is suffering from a substance abuse problem, your situation is far from rare. Over 20 million Americans are addicted to alcohol or illicit or prescription drugs. Many others have…

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How To Keep Medicaid Benefits Flowing to a Nursing Home Resident If The Well Spouse Dies First
June 27, 2023

It is a common assumption that an incapacitated person receiving long-term nursing care will pass away before his/her well spouse does. However, statistics show that is not necessarily the case, particularly when you consider that many “well” spouses are left…

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Karp Law Firm Lawyers
Joseph Karp, Jonathan Karp Named 2023 SuperLawyers by Thomson Reuters
June 26, 2023

We are delighted to announce that Attorney Joseph Karp has again been named a Florida SuperLawyer and Attorney Jonathan Karp has again been named a Florida SuperLawyer “Rising Star,” both in the field of elder law. Super Lawyers is part…

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