Frequently Asked Questions

You can learn more about Marissa S. Petillo, founder of Marissa Petillo Law, including her education, Florida Bar admission, professional memberships, and approach to estate planning, on the About page.

Our process is designed to give you time to understand your options, make informed decisions, and review your documents carefully before signing.

• Step 1: Peace of Mind Planning Session. You complete a secure online Family Profile before meeting with us over Zoom. During the session, we discuss your family, assets, goals, planning options, and applicable flat-fee investment.
• Step 2: Estate Plan Design Meeting. We work through the structure of your estate plan and determine which documents and planning provisions are appropriate for your circumstances.
• Step 3: Document Review & Revisions. Draft documents are provided for review, and we meet to walk through the provisions, answer questions, and make appropriate revisions.
• Step 4: Signing Ceremony. Your documents are executed using the legal formalities applicable to the documents being signed. Depending on the circumstances and requirements, signing may take place in person or by another permitted method.

The Peace of Mind Planning Session is an opportunity to speak directly with an attorney about your family, assets, concerns, and planning goals. We take the time to listen, explain relevant options, and answer your questions before you decide whether to move forward.

We also review our process, applicable flat-fee investment, and overall client experience so you can make an informed decision about your next step.

When you are ready to move forward, we provide an engagement agreement for electronic signature and an invoice through our secure payment provider. Once those items are completed, you can schedule your Estate Plan Design Meeting.

We generally begin with high-level information about your assets, how they are owned, your family circumstances, and your planning goals. Your Family Profile helps us understand the issues that matter most to your estate plan.

Depending on your circumstances, we may discuss:

• Real estate and how it is currently titled.
• Retirement accounts and life insurance.
• Business interests and other significant assets.
• Guardianship preferences for minor children.
• Who you would want to manage assets for your children.
• Who you would want to make financial or healthcare decisions if you become unable to do so.

Estate planning is the process of creating legal documents and making decisions about what should happen to your assets, family responsibilities, and financial and healthcare matters during your lifetime and after your death.

Without certain planning documents, Florida law provides default rules that may determine who inherits property or who may make certain decisions for you. Estate planning gives you an opportunity to make those choices intentionally rather than relying solely on those default rules.

Estate planning is tailored to each family's circumstances and the scope of planning needed. Marissa Petillo Law discusses applicable flat-fee pricing during the Peace of Mind Planning Session after understanding your goals and planning needs.

We use predictable flat-fee pricing for our estate planning services rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Not every estate planning document can be completed through electronic signature. Florida law establishes specific execution requirements for documents such as Wills, and other documents may have their own formalities.

For example, Florida law generally requires a Will to be signed by the testator in the presence of two attesting witnesses, with the witnesses signing in the presence of the testator and each other. The appropriate signing process depends on the documents being executed.

Many estate plans can move from the initial planning session to signing within several weeks, but the actual timeline depends on the complexity of your plan, your availability, document review, and any revisions that are needed.

Marissa Petillo Law works with individuals and families who value personalized legal guidance and are willing to participate in the planning process. Because the firm intentionally maintains a boutique practice, availability may be limited at times.

Online estate planning services may provide document forms or guided document preparation, but they generally do not provide the individualized legal advice of an attorney representing you.

An attorney can evaluate your circumstances, explain planning options, tailor documents to your goals, and help ensure applicable execution requirements are followed.

A Revocable Living Trust can provide a framework for managing trust-owned assets during your lifetime and directing their management and distribution after your death.

When assets are properly transferred to the trust and the trust is otherwise effective, those trust-owned assets generally do not require probate administration. A trust does not automatically eliminate every probate issue, and many estate plans also include a Will.

Probate is the court-supervised process used to administer certain assets and legal matters after someone dies.

Depending on how assets are owned or designated, some assets may pass outside probate through mechanisms such as a properly funded trust, joint ownership with survivorship rights, or a valid beneficiary designation. Probate procedures and costs vary depending on the circumstances of the estate.

For more information, visit our Florida Probate & Estate Administration page.

A Will can be an important foundation of an estate plan, particularly for naming a personal representative and nominating guardians for minor children.

However, a Will does not by itself avoid probate for assets that pass through the Will. Depending on your assets, family circumstances, and goals, a Revocable Living Trust and other planning documents may provide additional benefits.

Learn more on our Last Will & Testament page.

No. Estate planning can be valuable regardless of your net worth. A plan can address important issues such as who should inherit your property, who may manage financial matters if you become incapacitated, who should make healthcare decisions, and who you would want to care for minor children.

A Durable Power of Attorney allows you to designate an agent to act on your behalf regarding financial, property, business, or other matters within the authority granted by the document.

Under Florida law, a durable power of attorney is not terminated by the principal's later incapacity, subject to the terms of the document and applicable law.

Learn more about Florida Durable Powers of Attorney .

A Florida Healthcare Surrogate Designation allows you to name someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf when the surrogate's authority is in effect.

It works alongside other advance directives, including a Living Will, which addresses your wishes concerning life-prolonging procedures in circumstances covered by Florida law.

Learn more about Healthcare Surrogate Designations .

Yes. A brief introductory call may be available to answer basic questions and help determine whether a Peace of Mind Planning Session is appropriate. Detailed legal advice and a full discussion of your planning options take place during the formal planning session.

Estate planning documents should be reviewed when there are significant changes in your family, assets, wishes, or circumstances, and periodically as appropriate.

A Revocable Living Trust may generally be amended or revoked while the settlor has the required capacity and authority, subject to the terms of the trust and applicable law. Other documents may need to be amended, revoked, or re-executed depending on the circumstances.

Yes. Estate planning can be especially important for unmarried individuals because Florida's default inheritance and decision-making rules may not reflect the people you would choose.

A plan can address inheritance, financial authority, healthcare decisions, and other issues important to you.

Depending on your circumstances, a trust can provide for assets to be managed by a trustee rather than distributed outright to a child at a particular age.

The trust can establish appropriate standards and timing for distributions while also addressing the child's education, health, support, or other needs.

Florida law allows a trust to be created for the care of an animal. A properly drafted pet trust can provide for expenses such as food and veterinary care, identify a person responsible for the animal's care, and establish what happens to remaining trust property after the animal's death.

A pet cannot serve as a human beneficiary in the same way a person can. Florida law specifically provides a mechanism for creating a trust for the care of an animal.

A pet trust can hold and administer property for the animal's care and can identify what happens to remaining property after the animal's death.

A properly funded Revocable Living Trust can provide instructions for managing trust-owned assets during your lifetime and after your death.

When pet-care provisions are appropriately incorporated into the plan, a trustee may have authority to use trust assets for the animal's care according to the governing documents. The effectiveness of the arrangement depends on proper drafting, funding, and administration.

The appropriate amount depends on the animal's age, expected care needs, veterinary expenses, life expectancy, and the people responsible for providing care.

A properly drafted pet trust can also identify a remainder beneficiary to receive property that remains after the trust's purpose ends. Florida law provides that property in an animal trust is generally limited to the intended use, subject to the rules in Florida Statute § 736.0408 and the terms of the trust.