Sawyer & Sawyer Professional Association

Most high net worth families assume that once a will is drafted, their estate is protected. It is not. A will does not avoid probate . It simply tells a probate court what to do with assets after death, and probate itself comes with real costs. For a family with $10 million or more in assets, administrative fees through probate can run into significant sums. A properly funded trust avoids this process. An unfunded one, even if it exists on paper, does not. What the New Federal Exemption Actually Changed The federal estate tax exemption now sits at $15 million per person, or $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. For most families, that number removes the tax question entirely. But estates above that threshold still face a 40% tax rate on the excess, payable within nine months of death. A single person with a $20 million estate, for example, would owe close to $2 million in estate tax.. Married couples must also actively preserve the deceased spouse’s exemption ...

A fifteen million dollar federal exemption sounds like permission to stop planning. Tom Moss, attorney at Sawyer and Sawyer, P.A., explains why that assumption costs wealthy families the most. This episode breaks down what actually changed under the new tax law, why a will never avoids probate , and what happens when an estate crosses that $15 million line at a 40% tax rate, a scenario more Central Florida families are facing as wealth from New York, California, and Illinois keeps moving south. Tom walks through the residency tests Florida actually enforces, the homestead protections families overestimate, and the funding formulas buried in decade-old trusts that can quietly redirect an entire estate. He also covers what a first meeting with his firm looks like and why family dynamics matter as much as the balance sheet. For any family sitting on real wealth, this conversation is the reality check worth hearing before something goes wrong, not after. In this episode, you will hear:...

Key Takeaways A dementia diagnosis does not automatically mean a parent has lost legal capacity — there may still be a window to get critical documents signed, but that window can close without warning. The two most dangerous mistakes families make right after a diagnosis are transferring assets impulsively to “hide” them and downloading generic legal documents from the internet that don’t meet Florida’s requirements. The durable power of attorney is the single most important document in any elder law or Medicaid crisis planning situation — without it, an attorney’s recommendations can be very limited.. Medicaid crisis planning is still possible even after a diagnosis — Florida offers meaningful options for both married couples and single individuals, but the right documents must be in place to implement them. Dementia patients are statistically the number one target for financial exploitation. Practical protective steps — online account monitoring, c...

A dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnosis brings a specific kind of fear into a family, fear about the parent’s health, and fear about decisions nobody has made yet. Attorney Cary Moss sees this fear walk through her office door every week. Her first job is rarely legal. It’s calming people down enough to start making decisions. The Diagnosis Alone Doesn’t Decide Legal Capacity A cognitive decline diagnosis by itself doesn’t prove someone can’t make decisions. Capacity exists on a spectrum, and someone in the early stages of dementia may still understand what a legal document does, who they’re naming, and what authority they’re handing over. Cary Moss meets with clients alone, without family in the room, specifically because someone else’s answers can mask what the client actually understands. If she’s uncertain, she’ll ask for a letter from the person’s doctor before moving forward. The diagnosis opens a conversation. ...

This episode covers what families should do in the first weeks after a parent is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, from legal capacity to guardianship costs. Cary Moss explains the difference between a dementia diagnosis and a legal loss of capacity, and outlines which documents, including the durable power of attorney, living will, and healthcare surrogate, need to be signed first. Cary Moss also details how guardianship works in Florida, including the timeline, court process, and typical costs, and explains why dementia patients are common targets for financial exploitation. She shares specific examples from her practice, including a client who lost $400,000 to a scam, and outlines Medicaid planning strategies that remain available even after a diagnosis. Listeners will come away with a clear understanding of which steps to take first. In this episode, you will hear: Why a dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnosis does not automatically mean a parent has lost legal capa...

Key Takeaways A direct inheritance of just $2,001 can immediately disqualify a person with disabilities from SSI and Medicaid — two programs that have a hard $2,000 asset cap. Generally, there are three types of special needs trusts — first-party, third-party, and pooled — and choosing the wrong one, or drafting it incorrectly, can invalidate the entire structure. A third-party supplemental needs trust is the most common and most flexible tool for parents doing proactive estate planning — it requires no Medicaid payback and allows remaining assets to pass to other family members. A supplemental needs trust is only one piece of the plan. A complete picture also includes a trustee, a beneficiary’s advocate, a trust protector, and a guardian advocate working together. Planning should start as early as possible — there is no age too young — and the plan should be reviewed every two to three years, or immediately after any major life change. The Fear Every Special Needs Parent ...