If You Haven’t Been Regularly Reviewing Your Estate Plan, Start When You Hit 60

By Susan P. Bakalar, Esq. and Raymond A. Piccin, Esq. It is a very good idea to create advance directives in order to plan for the possibility that you may one day be unable to make your own medical decisions. …

Drafting a Power of Attorney that Lessens the Chances of Abuse

By Susan P. Bakalar, Esq. and Raymond A. Piccin, Esq. A power of attorney is one of the most important estate planning documents you can create, but it is also one that can be misused.  While it isn’t possible to …

Discovery of Aretha Franklin’s Handwritten Wills Throws Her Estate Into Turmoil

By Susan P. Bakalar, Esq. and Raymond A. Piccin, Esq. Legendary singer Aretha Franklin was thought to have died without a will, but the recent discovery of handwritten documents in her home are calling that into question. A representative of …

Florida drags feet for decades on fire safety for condos

Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel By Steve Bousquet Published May 21, 2019 Man discovered fire hundreds of thousands of years ago. And for almost that long, or so it seems, politicians and taxpayers in Florida have been arguing about …

After six years of stalemate, property insurance reform heads to Governor

Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel By Ron Hurtibise Published April 28, 2019 A bill aimed at stemming costly lawsuits between repair contractors and property insurers has finally passed both the Florida House and Senate after six years of stalemate and …

Lawsuits by condo associations against neighboring developers, builders are new norm

Article Courtesy of  The Miami Herald By Lindsey Thurswell Lehr and Susan C. Odess Published April 16, 2019   Every South Florida construction boom brings with it a rise in defect claims by condominium associations against their buildings’ developers, builders …

Proposal to eliminate condo arbitration program moving through Legislature

Article Courtesy of The Tallahassee Democrat By Jeffrey Schweers Published April 11, 2019 A proposal (SB 1362) moving through the Legislature would eliminate an inexpensive statewide condo mediation program in favor of dramatically more costly private mediation and court jurisdiction …

She used a fake name to bilk $50,000 from condo association, cops say. Then she vanished.

Article Courtesy of  The Miami Herald By Carli Teproff Published April 9, 2019   She said her name was Tracy Pierson and she lived in apartment 11A. Pierson became the treasurer of Crystal Court Manor’s Home Owners Association in February …