Creating a comprehensive estate plan may very well be the most important undertaking of your lifetime. That plan, if well drafted, should protect and provide for you and your loved ones both now and in the future. The estate planning attorneys at Stivers Law are committed to helping our friends and neighbors in the Miami Beach, Florida area create an individualized estate plan that accomplishes all their estate planning goals. We know that choosing an attorney to help you with your estate planning needs is an important decision and would be honored to be selected to work with you on your plan.
The History of the Miami Beach
Located east of downtown Miami, Miami Beach can be found on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. Biscayne Bay, in turn, is what separates the beach from the mainland in the Miami area of southern Florida. Miami Beach covers about eight square miles of land, 2.5 square miles of which are comprised of the famous “South Beach” area. As of the 2020 Census, Miami Beach was home to 82,890 residents.
Henry and Charles Lum (father and son) were the original purchasers of land on Miami Beach back in 1870. The United States Life-Saving Service, through an executive order issued by President Ulysses S. Grant, built the Biscayne House of Refuge. The first structure to be built on Miami Beach, its purpose was to provide food, water, and a return to civilization for people who were shipwrecked.
The first attempt at farming on Miami Beach was a failed coconut farm, later replaced by a successful avocado farm. In the late 19th century, the arrival of the railroad to the City of Miami caused the port of Miami to grow along with the city surrounding the port. Developers quickly began to see the resort potential found on Miami Beach with the first hotel opening in 1915. That hotel – Brown’s Hotel — still stands today and can be found at 112 Ocean Drive. To successfully develop the 1600-acre sandbar covered in jungle growth, significant changes had to be made, including clearing, dredging, and filling. Next, Miami Beach needed to be connected to the mainland. To do that, a 2.5-mile-long wooden bridge (the longest wooden bridge at the time) was constructed. Wealthy developers soon moved into lavish mansions on the island and promoted Miami Beach as a summer playground and a winter retreat for the wealthy.
The Town of Miami Beach was chartered in 1915 and became a city in 1917. Not long thereafter, the wooden bridge was replaced with the Venetian Causeway, described as “a series of drawbridges.” As the wealthy began wintering on Miami Beach, several grand hotels were built to accommodate them, including, The Flamingo Hotel, The Fleetwood Hotel, The Floridian, The Nautilus, and the Roney Plaza Hotel. Until 1925, Miami Beach was a peninsula. That year, however, the Haulover Cut was opened, connecting the ocean to the bay, making Miami Beach an island.
Mount Sinai Medical Center was constructed in Miami Beach during World War II because Jewish doctors were not granted staff privileges at any area hospitals. The economic boom that occurred after World War II brought many immigrants to South Florida, dramatically increasing the population of Miami Beach. By the 1990s, South Beach had become known for its fashion, art, and nightlife.
Miami Beach Art Deco Historic District
Another well-known area along Miami Beach is the Miami Beach Art Deco Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Historic District is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the East, Lenox Court on the West, 6th Street on the South and Dade Boulevard along the Collins Canal to the North. Made up of hundreds of hotels and other structures constructed in the Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne, and Art Deco design between 1923 and 1943, the Art Deco District is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world.
Communities We Serve – Miami Beach
The estate planning attorneys at Stivers Law are proud to serve the estate planning needs of the Miami Beach, Florida community. Our goal is to create lifelong relationships with our clients who live and work in the Miami Beach community because estate planning, when done properly, is a lifelong process. As you move through the various stages of your life, and your estate becomes more complicated and complex, changes will need to be made to your estate plan to keep up. We hope to be there with you to ensure those changes are accounted for in your estate plan.
A successful estate plan requires a solid foundation; however, it also requires nurturing. Consequently, your estate plan is not something you create and forget about once it is in place. Instead, your estate plan is something that will need to be reviewed and updated throughout the course of your life as your estate and your family grow. Initially, your focus may be on nothing more than ensuring you do not leave behind an intestate estate should something happen to you. As such, a Last Will and Testament may be all you need in the beginning. Deciding to marry and/or become a parent, however, will change that as you now have a family to protect and provide for in your plan. At that point, you may decide to create a trust to protect your minor child’s inheritance, for example, as well as incorporate incapacity planning into your overall plan. As you move into middle age, you should begin merging your retirement plans with your estate plan to ensure that the two plans work in harmony with each other. Long before you reach retirement age, however, you should also consider adding Medicaid planning to your estate plan to ensure that you can afford the high cost of long-term care. Funeral planning along with advance directives should also be included in your overall estate plan if you want your wishes to be honored regarding end-of-life medical treatment.
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 Miami Beach, Florida estate planning lawyers at Stivers Law by calling (305) 456-3255 to schedule your appointment today.
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