By Anthony A. Velardi, Esq.
Estate Planning, Elder Law & Real Estate Attorney
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new author of the legal column in Paradise News. I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, and my family and I are happy to call Treasure Island home. When I’m not busy working, I enjoy spending time with my family and enjoying all of the wonderful outdoor activities our community provides such as swimming, biking, running, golfing, stand-up paddle boarding, and boating.
I am a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent attorney licensed in Florida and Tennessee handling Estate Planning, Probate, Wills & Trusts, Guardianships, Trust Administrations, Asset Protection, Business Transactions, and Real Estate. I am also licensed as a Real Estate Broker in Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama, and I teach courses to Realtors on a variety of topics. I have worked on real estate transactions ranging from small vacant land deals to multi-billion-dollar portfolio transactions.
I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., with a Bachelor of Arts in 2006 and Stetson University College of Law right here in Gulfport, with a Juris Doctor in 2009. After practicing law for several years, I decided to go back to school part-time like Rodney Dangerfield, and I am presently enrolled in the Elder Law Masters Program at Stetson and will graduate with my Masters in Elder Law in Spring 2025.
I am a sole practitioner and pride myself on being the direct point of contact for my clients, so you don’t get lost in the bureaucratic shuffle or cut-off when your call is being transferred because I am the one who answers your call every time.
Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I American fighter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient, once said, “If you make a commitment to get something done, you need to follow through on that commitment. I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through – then follow through. Do what you say you’re going to do. Follow through means never having to say you’re sorry.”
Thinking things through and then following through has never rung truer than when it comes to estate planning and preparing for your future. According to a recent survey, more than half of adults (55%) ages 26 to 41 say they spend more time planning for vacations than their retirement, and today it is also more common for someone to work well past the normal retirement age of 65 into their 70s and even 80s.
Whether you are in your 20s or 30s and starting a family or retiring from a 40+ year career and an empty-nester, having an estate plan and overall life plan is critical to the well-being and stability of you and your family.
Regardless of circumstances, a person should have a Last Will and Testament, Durable Power of Attorney, Living Will, Designation of Healthcare Surrogate, and Declaration Naming Preneed Guardian to document your wishes both while you’re living and after you pass away. Furthermore, a Trust may be wise for a variety of reasons such as avoiding probate, holding funds for young beneficiaries, or protecting assets from a beneficiary’s creditors.
If you have a business, you may want to consider setting up an LLC, and if you are fortunate enough to have multiple streams of revenue, you may want to consider multiple LLCs to protect each separate stream of revenue. All of this and more goes into an estate plan and preparingfor the future. While life is complicated, estate planning and planning for the future doesn’t have to be. Estate planning can be daunting, but I do my best to make the process seamless and effortless. As Eddie Rickenbacker so poignantly stated, it just takes the commitment to think things through and then follow through. If you take the time to set up a well-thought-out and considerate estate plan and life plan, your family will thank you, and you will sleep soundly at night.
Over the next few months, I plan to write informative legal articles on a variety of topics about estate planning, elder law, and real estate, and I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you out in the community.
Anthony A. Velardi, Esq.
AV Law PLLC
Treasure Island, FL 33706
(727) 641-4110
anthony@avlawpllc.com