Estate planning for Aventura families, business owners and high-net-worth households

Estate planning for Aventura families: what Trust Counsel handles

Trust Counsel, PL is an estate planning attorney Aventura clients can reach through its only office, in Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County. We serve clients in Aventura from that office.

Leslie V. Marenco is the responsible lawyer for this page. The firm’s lawyers also include Tanya Vega. The firm focuses on trusts and estates. Its work covers wills, revocable trusts, incapacity documents, estate tax planning, business succession, asset protection and guardianship planning. It also represents beneficiaries, heirs and fiduciaries in probate and trust disputes.

This page is for readers who have a plan to put in place, a document to review, or a decision to make now. A good plan starts with what you own, where it sits, and who depends on you. Each situation depends on the facts.

Wills, revocable trusts, and incapacity documents under Florida law

A Florida will must be in writing, signed at the end, and witnessed by at least two attesting witnesses. The witnesses must sign in your presence and in each other’s presence. No special wording is required, but every formal step must be followed.

A revocable trust is a trust you can change during your life. This rule does not apply to a trust created under an instrument signed before the Florida Trust Code took effect. This rule does not apply to a trust created under an instrument signed before the Florida Trust Code took effect.

Many families pair a trust with a pour-over will. That will sends assets not already titled in the trust into the trust at death. Florida also allows a will to leave property to a trust, even if the trust can be changed, when the trust is in writing and the will identifies it.

A durable power of attorney names someone to handle your affairs if you cannot. It stays in effect after incapacity when it contains the words the statute gives, or similar words. A health care surrogate designation names who makes medical decisions for you if you cannot.

A common mistake is skipping one formal step. A will with a missing signature or witness does not meet the statute, however clear your wishes are.

Planning for Aventura households with property or family in more than one place

Families with property, accounts or heirs in more than one place need a plan that works in each place. Trust Counsel plans for domestic and foreign families. That includes real estate or accounts outside Florida, heirs living abroad, and family members who are not U.S. citizens.

Gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen follow their own rule. Under the IRS revenue procedure, the annual gift exclusion for gifts to a spouse who is not a citizen of the United States is $194,000 for calendar year 2026.

Planning that moves Florida real estate can carry documentary stamp tax. According to the Florida Department of Revenue, that tax may add to the cost of transactions that transfer Florida real property.

Some parts of a plan may need a lawyer licensed in another state or country. When that happens, the firm may refer that part of the matter to another lawyer or firm.

Start by listing where each asset is located and where each intended beneficiary lives. Those two facts shape most multi-place planning questions.

Estate tax planning and business succession for Aventura business owners

Business owners need a plan for federal estate tax and a plan for who runs the company next. Those two plans should be built together.

Every estate is allowed a credit against the federal estate tax, under IRC § 2010. As the IRS revenue procedure explains, the change amends § 2010(c)(3) by increasing the basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026.

Moving assets into a revocable trust does not, by itself, take them out of the taxable estate. Under IRC § 2038, property the owner could still revoke or change at death is counted in the gross estate.

Federal law permits deferral of estate tax on a closely held business interest only when that interest exceeds the statutory share of the adjusted gross estate; where it qualifies, the personal representative may choose a first installment date up to five years after the tax due date. Later installments follow one year apart, under IRC § 6166.

Succession planning covers transferring ownership interests, naming successors and keeping operations running after an owner dies or becomes incapacitated. Each part should match the owner’s assets and goals.

Asset protection and guardianship planning

Asset protection planning is about how property is held and titled, within what the law allows. Holding assets in a company does not protect owners in every case. Florida courts pierce a corporate veil only on a showing of improper conduct, such as using the company to mislead creditors or defraud them. See this Florida Fourth District opinion.

A court appoints a guardian under Florida’s guardianship law in chapter 744 of the Florida Statutes. In each guardianship, the court must determine whether the person already signed a valid advance directive for health care, under Fla. Stat. § 744.3115.

Planning documents and court involvement each have trade-offs. Documents work only if they were signed correctly and stay current. A guardianship puts the person’s affairs under court supervision.

How probate and trust administration work in Miami-Dade County

Property titled in a funded trust is handled under the trust’s terms instead.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.607, a personal representative has a right to take possession or control of the decedent’s property, except the protected homestead and a surviving spouse’s one-half share of property under the community property rules. The will can provide otherwise. The personal representative must also take all reasonable steps to manage, protect and preserve the estate until distribution.

Trust Counsel represents beneficiaries, heirs and fiduciaries in probate and trust disputes. The firm also advises on trust administration.

Disputes often turn on what the documents actually say. Reading the will, the trust and the beneficiary designations early can clarify your options before a dispute grows.

Trustees, personal representatives, and the role of Trust Counsel’s attorneys

A personal representative (often called an executor) manages a probate estate. A trustee manages assets held in a trust. Florida’s definitions statute uses the term personal representative for that role.

Trust Counsel’s attorneys can serve individually as trustee or personal representative. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries. The firm itself does not serve as a fiduciary.

A trustee must follow the trust’s terms. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0602, a trustee who does not know a trust was revoked or amended is not liable for distributions made and other actions taken on the assumption it was not changed.

Compensation is generally governed by Fla. Stat. § 733.617, but a will may specify compensation, and the statute allows renunciation, court adjustment, and extra compensation for extraordinary services. A personal representative is entitled to a commission from estate assets, without court order, for ordinary services. The commission is based on the estate’s compensable value, under Fla. Stat. § 733.617. If two personal representatives serve and that value is $100,000 or more, each is entitled to the full commission allowed to a sole personal representative.

Preparing for your free first consultation

Start with two lists: what you own, and who you want to name. Bring your asset list, existing wills, trusts, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations.

Vehicles can be part of a trust plan too.

Write down the people you are considering as personal representatives, trustees, guardians or beneficiaries. Note the decisions you face now.

The free first consultation is confidential, with no obligation to continue.

Common questions