Our Firm

John R. Wood: Mr. Wood started the firm in 1951 and practiced law in Sarasota for more than 50 years. Now retired, Mr. Wood graduated from Stetson University after service in World War II, and was inducted into the Stetson University Hall of Fame in 2006. Mr. Wood has previously served on the Board of the Florida Bar Governors, as the Attorney for the City of Sarasota and as a Sarasota County Judge.

Wayne F. Seitl: Mr. Seitl joined the firm in 1978 and holds a Juris Doctorate (J.D) Degree from University of Florida and a Masters of Law (LLM) from the University of Miami. Mr. Seitl is Board Certified in taxation and has held this certification since 1983. Mr. Seitl served as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of law, and has written tax treatises for the Bureau of National Affairs.

Jonathan T. Anderson: Mr. Anderson joined the firm in 1999 after graduating with a Juris Doctorate (J.D) degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. A Florida native, Mr. Anderson attended the University of Tampa, in Tampa, Florida, graduating with a degree in Philosophy and English. Mr. Anderson is a frequent lecturer on Estate Planning and Federal Estate Tax Planning topics and is married and has two children.

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Legal Services

Estate Planning

Estate planning is the process through which clients identify their objectives and concerns and then our attorneys create the proper documents in which those objectives and concerns are properly dealt. Proper Estate Planning can result in avoiding probate and attaining substantial estate, gift and generation skipping tax savings.

At Wood, Seitl and Anderson we focus on providing the following planning services:

1. Living Trusts, (sometimes called Revocable Trusts, or Inter-Vivos Trust)
2. Simple Wills, Complex Wills
3. Health Care Powers of Attorneys and Financial Powers of Attorney
4. Advance Estate Planning is making use of the federal and state gift, estate, and generation skipping tax exclusion to transfer assets which can include:
   1. Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT)
   2. Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT)
   3. Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRAT)
   4. Qualified Terminal Interest Trusts (QTIP)
   5. Charitable Remainder Uni-Trusts (CRUT)
   6. Charitable Annuity Trusts (CRAT)
   7. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILIT)
   8. Charitable Foundation Trusts

   

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Estate Administration and Trust Administration

Estate Administration and Trust Administration are also among the principal focuses of our practice at Wood, Seitl and Anderson. Estate and Trust Administration refers to advising as to the dispositive provisions of the Trust of a decedent, (in the case of a Trust), and the process of probating the estate of a decedent (in the case of a Will), which generally includes collecting, inventorying and appraising assets; paying and collecting debts; filing and paying estate taxes (through IRS form 706); and distributing the remaining assets to beneficiaries.

Probate

Probate is a court supervised process for identifying and gathering the decedent's assets, paying taxes, claims and expenses of administration, and distributing assets to beneficiaries as directed in a Will or in accordance with the law if no Will exists. There are two types of probate administration under Florida law: formal administration and summary administration.

Personal Representative and Trustee Duties

The Personal Representative (sometimes referred to as executor) and Trustee is the person named by the decedent in the Will to administer the estate and in the Trust to distribute the Trust assets. The Personal Representative/Trustee has many important functions to complete, including:

• Gathering and inventorying all assets of the estate
• Appraising the assets
• Collecting any payments or debts owed to the estate
• Paying any debts owed by the estate
• Filing and paying local, state and federal taxes
• Distributing assets to the beneficiaries as stipulated in the Will

 

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Preserving Estate Assets

An important but sometimes neglected responsibility in administering an estate is to look for opportunities to preserve assets for distribution. Reducing estate taxes is one way that an estate can retain more of its wealth for the decedent's heirs.

Probate and Non-Probate Assets

Probate assets are subject to court administration. Probate can be an expensive and long process and beneficiaries may have to wait any where from one to two years to receive the property left to them in the Will. Probate assets include assets owned only by the decedent that do not have a named beneficiary.

Non probate assets do not have to go through probate. These assets are typically distributed more quickly to the appropriate beneficiaries since a probate proceeding is not required. Non probate assets generally include:

• Property held in a Revocable Trust Agreement
• Property owned in joint tenancy or tenancy by entirety with rights of survivorship
• Payment on Death (POD) bank accounts
• Transfer on Death (TOD) securities
• Life insurance policies that designate a beneficiary other than the decedent's estate
• IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement plans that name a beneficiary other than the decedent's estate

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