Free Consultation: (866) 894-4945Tap to Call This Lawyer
Phillip William Gunthert
Badges
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&AResponsive Law
Practice Areas
- Estate Planning
- Probate
- Business Law
- Real Estate Law
- Elder Law
- Consumer Law
Additional Practice Area
- General Practice
Fees
- Free Consultation
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
Hourly and Flat-fee $0-$250 hour
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- Florida
Languages
- English: Spoken, Written
- German: Spoken, Written
Professional Associations
- The Florida Bar # 0087575
- Member
- Current
Legal Answers
83 Questions Answered
- Q. I am being sued by a credit card company. Is there an attorney that can help me settle before the case goes to court?
- A: Yes, you can get an attorney to negotiate on your behalf based upon what you can realistically afford. An agreement would be reached and signed and you would need to keep up with those agreed upon terms and payments, time is of the essence. Keep in mind you will be stuck paying your attorney hourly fees while this is addressed and settled.
- Q. My realtor is saying I must pay a full month's rent given the tenant has renewed for another year. Is this legal in FLA?
- A: Ask to review the property management agreement or any other agreement that you signed and may exist, if it is not in the agreement. I think not. It is often the case that property management and similar agreements have these clauses in them if you do not carefully review them with the help of an attorney if you are not familiar with what you should be on the lookout for throughout.
- Q. my dad left property to me and my sons to share i paid the mortgage off and i pay all taxes. they have not paid anything
- A: The property would need to go through probate, anything you paid related to the property would be credited to your share, you would be entitled to your share plus all you paid into the property, so if you have records and receipts of all that you paid then your share would be increased by that sum when the property is sold or if and when you buy out the other parties, since you are all equal owners otherwise, anyone living in the property should also be paying Fair market value rent, if you cannot come to agreement, then a forced partition of the property would be required after probate (generally not advised as you would save a lot of money just reaching some agreement on your own), if the parties cannot agree, then a forced partition of the property (forced sale) may well be the only option. SO, to answer your question, you should get credit for both the mortgage and taxes you have paid as well as any upkeep and repairs.
- Q. If I open a bank account in distance(online) then (whenever) do I have to go to the bank myself one time so I can use it
- A: No there is not, many banks are online only or allow you to bank from a distance, a couple that come to mind right off the to top of my head are BBVA and Capital One, I am sure there are an abundance of others, the only reason anyone would request an in-person visit would be if some specific document/s need to be signed in person (adding someone to an account or similar need) or if some sort of fraud is potentially suspected, otherwise there are numerous banks that would allow you to open an account without a personal appearance at the bank.
- Q. My Grandmother passed away, I was her Durable POA. Now that she is passed I’m aware that the POA is no longer valid.
- A: Very sorry for your loss and the passing of your grandmother, please accept my condolences. You will likely need to work with a Florida Probate Attorney, most probates require one. Based on the type of assets and their value will determine the type of probate that will be required. You will need to assess the value of her estate in order to determine whether a probate is needed with a Florida Probate Attorney, any assets in your grandmothers name alone without a transfer on death or pay on death designation or does not pass based on the way the property/deed is titled will need to go through probate. If you need to access accounts and things of that sort, it is likely that a Formal Probate may be necessary, again, to be determined based on your conversation with legal counsel and additional informaiton and details you can provide regarding her assets and estate. With you as the only remaining family whatsoever (if you are sure), this should not be a problem.
- Q. 16 siblings was life part of my Father’s estate, we are in a deadlock on how to distribute property. We have to pay taxe
- A: You file a probate related to the properties and estate and or you file for partition, possibly having an attorney explain that a forced partition will be great but just at great additional time and expense which will impact what everyone receives in the end may help wise people up to the smart, timely and right thing to do, if not, a forced partition will ultimately remedy this mess with everyone ultimately getting substantially less. As far as costs and taxes and expenses, anyone paying these should keep records and reimbursed as part of the probate and or partition of the property. You need to decide if a probate is needed first and then followed by a partition, short of a court getting involved, it is not likely you will ever get 16 siblings on the same page otherwise.
- Q. My mother passed we have a copy of her will( orig missing). only asset is a condo $53000 do we have to file probate
- A: You will want to review the deed and see how it is held, if it cannot be transferred based on how the deed is held, then you will need to pursue a probate, a Florida Probate Attorney will be required in order to accomplish this in Florida. Since the assets are under $75,000 in value, it is likely that a Summary Administration will be applicable, you will want to make sure that there are no other assets that will need to go through probate. If this was a homestead, it will have additional protections in the State of Florida from any potential probate creditor claims.
- Q. Can a Florida Will and Self Authenticating Document need to be notarized in NJ and by a New Jersey notary.
- A: While your Will would be valid under the "Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution), as long as it is validly drafted in accordance with New Jersey Law, if you live in Florida and Florida is your state of residence then it would be recommended and wise to have your Will and other estate planning documents drafted in Florida by a Florida Estate Planning Attorney. It would not be wise to have your Will drafted in another state as a Florida resident, each state has varying requirements for a Will, Power of Attorney, Florida Healthcare Surrogate and so forth and it would not be helpful to discover that your estate planning documents drafted in New Jersey would not be applicable as a result of specific Florida Laws (Homestead, Spousal Rights, specific requirments for Power of Attorney documents and so forth). So, to answer your question, while you can have a Will drafted in another state, why would you per the above and it would generally not be recommended.
- Q. Can Collection lawyers proceed with debt collection if they did not prove a debt never responded to verification letter?
- A: Yes they do it all the time, whether it is legal or not doesn't matter as they get a default judgment and the judges just blindly sign whatever the collector puts in front of them, it is like a conveyor belt of submitted garbage and trash from these collections companies that turn into cash. They break the rules all the time and the judges just sign the documents unless you are there represented and respond and push back. These collections are just increasing by the day as it is big money for these debt buyers, hardly anyone defends themselves (like you not showing up and likely giving them an easy default judgment that quickly turns into a garnishment). You have to be on top of things and responsive and timely and demand within the timeframes, otherwise you get exactly what you get here and like I said, not a judge would think twice about signing these defaults, no matter how faulty service of process was or document are inadequate if you are not there to fight. If you qualify you can claim exempt as head of household if you make less than $750 per week, otherwise you need to get a lawyer and see if you can reopen things or request a rehearing and so forth. The collections machine from third parties is just speeding up weekly and this is just the way it is nowadays if you do not fight them every inch of the way.
Contact & Map
