Family and Estate Law Attorney Serving South Florida
Life’s biggest transitions rarely stay inside one legal category. A divorce affects your estate plan, a remarriage raises questions about what your children from a first marriage will actually inherit, and a prenuptial agreement you signed years ago may say less about your estate rights than you think. Most people do not realize how much these two areas of law overlap until a specific problem forces the issue.
Barash-Schatten Law Firm, P.A. is one of the few South Florida firms where a single attorney handles both family law and estate and trust matters, and attorney Pamela Schatten draws on both when a client’s situation touches on more than one area at once.
Why the Right Attorney Makes the Difference
An ex-spouse can remain the named beneficiary on a life insurance policy or retirement account for years after a divorce simply because no one thought to change it, and that designation usually controls no matter what a will says. Florida also gives a surviving spouse the right to claim thirty percent of certain estate assets regardless of what a will provides, a right that can only be waived through a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, which means an estate plan and a marital agreement need to be drafted with each other in mind.
Blended families face their own version of this problem when a plan written to protect a new spouse ends up leaving very little for children from an earlier marriage.
How We Help With Family and Estate Overlap
We draft prenuptial and postnuptial agreements that account for what each spouse actually wants to happen to their estate, not just how property would divide in a divorce, and we help clients update beneficiary designations, wills, and trusts after a divorce or remarriage so an old plan does not undo a new one. For blended families, we build plans that provide for a current spouse while still protecting what you want your children to receive.
We also step in when a family dispute and an estate or guardianship matter arise together, such as siblings disagreeing over a parent’s care at the same time questions come up about that parent’s estate plan.
Why Clients Choose Pamela Schatten
Ms. Schatten’s practice spans family law, estate planning, estate administration, and guardianship, and clients dealing with a situation that touches more than one of those areas do not have to explain their story to a second attorney or coordinate between two different firms. She is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a distinction based on peer review of both legal ability and ethical standards, and clients consistently describe her as thorough, conscientious, and easy to reach.
What Working With Our Firm Looks Like
We look at your full situation rather than treating a divorce, a prenuptial agreement, and an estate plan as three separate projects, and we tell you plainly where those pieces do not currently line up. Our office typically responds to calls and emails within a couple of hours, and you work directly with Ms. Schatten regardless of which side of your situation you are calling about.
That single point of contact matters most when a family situation is already stressful enough without also having to repeat the same background story to a second lawyer down the hall.
If your family situation touches on both family law and estate matters, call Barash-Schatten Law Firm, P.A. at (954) 698-4644 to schedule a consultation at our Hollywood office. You can also reach us through the contact form on our website, and we will help you sort out where to start.
Contact the Firm
Start the conversation.
Tell us briefly what you need and how to reach you. Messages go directly to Pamela Schatten, and you will hear back within a couple of hours at most during the business day.
Office
Barash-Schatten Law
800 E Cypress Creek Rd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
Telephone
Toll free
Areas served
Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Lauderdale by the Sea, Hollywood Beach and Pompano Beach, plus the rest of Broward and Miami-Dade County
Office location, Fort Lauderdale
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