Should an out of state will be reviewed

An out of state will should be reviewed by a Florida attorney as will as have a discussion about avoiding probate.

Georgia: I have a question. My mom moved here from New Jersey two years ago to Melbourne and she has everything in line with an attorney up in New Jersey, her will and her power of attorney and the executor of her will and such. We just want to make sure that that would hold in Florida now that she's a resident here.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Georgia, the answer is probably yes, but I would bet that if I looked at your documents, there's one thing I'd ask her to redo and that would be her financial power of attorney. Financial powers of attorney are very, very important documents. There are specific laws about financial powers of attorney that are often different and more complex than what was done in another state. I'd want her to make sure that she's got a great financial power of attorney.

The other thing Georgia is that just having a will has nothing to do with avoiding probate. She may have all those documents and think, "I'm set to go. When I die everything automatically goes to my kids." No. Things do not automatically go to the kids. It will require probate process. I'd like to talk to her about steps to avoid probate, Georgia. All in all you're asking me, "Is everything okay," I'm telling you, "I don't think so." I think she should come meet with me or meet with a lawyer in Melbourne and talk about getting a new financial power of attorney and steps to avoid probate.