An asset passing outside probate does not guarantee that no legal issue will arise. Florida law may still present questions involving homestead, surviving-spouse rights, creditor claims, trust administration, ownership disputes, or the validity of a beneficiary designation. A nonprobate arrangement also may produce a result very different from the client’s will. One child, for example, may receive a valuable account Read More
Florida’s New Website Wiretapping Lawsuits: What Every Business Owner Needs to Know
If you have heard that businesses are being sued over the tracking technology running on their websites, you are not imagining it. A wave of litigation is sweeping across Florida under a law that, on its face, has little to do with website cookies: the state’s decades-old wiretapping statute. The lawsuits are catching many ordinary businesses off guard. If your website uses Google Analytics, a Meta advertising pixel, Read More
Florida HOA Insurance Claims After Property Damage: Who Decides, Who Pays, and What Boards Should Document
A major property-loss event can force a Florida HOA board to make consequential decisions within hours—or even minutes. A storm damages a common-area roof. A water line fails. A drainage problem affects multiple parcels. A fire, vehicle impact, plumbing leak, or fallen tree creates immediate pressure to repair the damage, communicate with residents, and spend association funds. The urgency may be real. But so is the Read More
Florida Homestead and Estate Planning: Why Your Will or Trust May Not Control the Family Home
For many Florida families, the home is the most valuable asset in the estate—and the one most likely to cause confusion after a death. A homeowner may assume that a will, trust, or deed settles the question of who receives the property. In Florida, that assumption can create serious problems. Florida homestead law can affect both creditor protection and the ability to transfer a primary residence at death. The Read More
Florida’s New No-Solicitation Law: What Door-to-Door Businesses, Homeowners, and HOAs Need to Know
Florida’s new statewide commercial-solicitation law gives homeowners a clear statutory way to prohibit commercial door knockers. It also creates an important compliance issue for businesses that rely on neighborhood canvassing. Roofing companies, pest-control providers, pressure-washing companies, solar vendors, landscapers, security-system companies, and other consumer-facing businesses often use door-to-door Read More
Florida HOA Assessment Collections: What a Board Must Do Before Recording a Claim of Lien
Unpaid assessments create an immediate practical problem for a homeowners’ association. They can impair the association’s ability to maintain common areas, pay insurance, fund reserves, and meet its obligations to vendors. But moving too quickly to collect can create problems of its own. Collection action can expose an association to unnecessary legal risk when a board acts on an inaccurate ledger, skips a Read More
Florida Estate Planning Checklist: The Documents and Asset Reviews Most Families Need
Most people do not put off estate planning because they do not care about their families. They put it off because the process can feel overwhelming. There are wills, trusts, deeds, beneficiary forms, powers of attorney, health-care documents, business records, and family conversations that are all too easy to postpone until “later.” The problem is that life rarely waits for the perfect time. A sudden illness, Read More
The Business Records Mistake That Can Cost a Florida Company Its Insurance Claim, Lawsuit, or Sale
A business does not usually lose leverage because it has no case. More often, the problem is that it cannot quickly prove what happened, what the parties agreed to, what was paid, who had authority to act, or how much money was actually lost. For many Florida businesses, poor recordkeeping remains an invisible problem until a hurricane claim, unpaid invoice, employee dispute, partner conflict, tax issue, audit, Read More
You’ve Just Been Served With a Lawsuit in Florida: What To Do in the First Few Days
Getting served with a lawsuit is jarring, whether you are a small business owner, officer of an LLC, or an individual who has never set foot in a courthouse. The paperwork can be confusing, the deadlines are short, and missteps in the first few days after you are served can have long‑term consequences for your case. At Southern Atlantic Law Group, we routinely help Florida businesses and individuals respond Read More
Florida Contractor Deposits: How to Stay Compliant With Section 489.126 – And What Homeowners Can Do When Things Go Wrong
When a Florida homeowner hires a contractor and pays a substantial deposit, everyone expects permits to be pulled and work to begin promptly. But when weeks turn into months with no permit and no work, that deposit can become the focal point of a serious legal dispute. Florida Statute 489.126 is the Legislature’s answer to this problem, and it creates real risk for contractors while giving homeowners a structured way Read More
