Your estate plan offers you a unique opportunity to protect and provide for your loved ones, manage and protect your material wealth, and ensure that your own wishes are honored as you age. At Stivers Law, we understand that the attorney you select to assist you with that plan is one of the keys to the ultimate success of the plan. If you are a Coral Gables, Florida resident, we would appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss how we can help you create your successful estate plan.
History of Coral Gables, Florida
The City of Coral Gables, Florida can be found in Miami-Dade County about seven miles southwest of downtown Miami. Covering just over 37 square miles, Coral Gables had a population of 49,248 as of the 2020 Census; however, Coral Gables is also part of the Miami Metropolitan Area with a population of over six million residents.
Formally incorporated in 1925, Coral Gables was a planned community that was strongly influenced by the early 20th century “City Beautiful Movement.” The City Beautiful Movement is known for strict zoning regulations and the use of wide tree-lined avenues, monumental buildings, and green space as well as winding roadways, fountains, and ornate plazas. Mediterranean Revival style architecture was also required in the city’s original plan. Within the first year after incorporation, Coral Gables was already a thriving, growing community.
The original design of Coral Gables divided the city into distinct zones, including the downtown commercial district which includes what is now known as the “Miracle Mile.” Themed “villages” were also part of the original plan, expanding the city’s Spanish-style architecture to include “villages” with other architectural styles, including Italian and French.
The same year that Coral Gables was incorporated, the University of Miami was constructed just two miles south of the city center. Both the city and the University grew and flourished throughout the remainder of the 20th century.
Coral Gables Today
Historic preservation has always been important to the City of Coral Gables as illustrated by the passage of the first preservation ordinance in 1973, the establishment of the Historic Preservation Board in the 1980s, and the Historical Resources & Cultural Arts Department at the end of the 20th century. Today, numerous properties and landmarks are listed in the Coral Gables Registry of Historic Places and on national historic registers.
Known as “The City Beautiful,” Coral Gables was intended to be a “gateway to Latin America” and is currently home to more than 20 consulates and foreign government offices and more than 140 multinational corporations. Residents and visitors alike can enjoy the international flavor of the city during Carnival on the Mile held each year in February or March.
To maximize the Florida sunshine, the city offers 22 parks that include seven active playgrounds and 33 public tennis courts, two public and two private golf courses, hiking and bike paths, and the Venetian Pool, named by Travel & Leisure magazine as one of the “World’s Coolest Pools.” Coral Gables is also known for being home to the University of Miami, which has grown to become one of the nation’s top private research universities.
Stivers Law in the Coral Gables Community
Estate planning involves much more than just deciding what will happen to your assets when you are gone. A well-thought-out estate plan should also protect those assets and help them grow while you are alive as well as ensure that they continue to provide for your loved ones when you are gone. At Stivers Law, we are dedicated to creating lifelong relationships with our Coral Gables, Florida clients so that we can help you create a plan that accomplishes all your goals.
Creating an initial estate plan when you are young is important; however, the ultimate success of that plan often depends on reviewing and revising that plan in the years to come. That is one of the many reasons why we place such an emphasis on creating lifelong relationships with our clients. Initially, your estate plan may rely entirely on a Last Will and Testament to distribute your estate assets because your primary goal is to avoid leaving behind an intestate estate. As you build up your assets, and add to your family, that initial estate plan will also need to be updated to account for your expanding goals and needs. If you marry, you may need to change both beneficiary and fiduciary designations within your plan. Becoming a parent may prompt you to create a trust to protect the inheritance you plan to leave behind for your minor child. Incapacity planning and probate avoidance may also become important secondary goals within your estate plan. As you contemplate your retirement years, the need to incorporate Medicaid planning into your comprehensive estate plan will likely become clear to offset the high cost of long-term care without putting your assets at risk. Finally, if you hold strong beliefs about end-of-life medical care you may wish to execute an advance directive to ensure that those beliefs will be considered, and your wishes honored when the time comes.
Our hope at Stivers Law is that we can be there with you as you pass through the various phases of your life to help ensure that your estate plan protects you, your assets, and your loved ones.
Contact Us
If you have additional questions about estate planning, contact the experienced Coral Gables, Florida estate planning lawyer at Stivers Law by calling (305) 456-3255 to schedule your appointment today.
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