What is Estate Planning?
It’s not death planning, it’s wealth protection
Estate planning begins when you’re alive and well; from the moment you begin accumulating wealth, whatever that means to you. It’s more than just paperwork—it’s about ensuring your family’s financial security, protecting your wishes, and avoiding unnecessary legal hurdles. At Horacio Sosa, P.A., we help you create a plan that gives you peace of mind while safeguarding what matters most.
Learn more about our Wealth Protection services.
A solid estate plan helps:
Protect your wealth while you’re alive and well from threats like income and business taxes, lawsuits, etc.
Minimize estate taxes and unnecessary expenses.
Protect your loved ones from legal complications.
Plan for long-term healthcare and financial decisions.
Ensure your assets go to the right people without court delays.
Planning Across Every Life Stage
True estate planning begins the moment you begin building wealth, not at the end of life. This multi-generational strategy evolves through four specific phases to structure your financial foundation:
Working & Accumulation
Planning starts at the "point of first wealth" to avoid financial leakage and reduce tax exposure,. During these years, risk management and asset structuring safeguard growing wealth from liability and creditors. Strategies focus on tax-smart planning to keep more of what you earn and organizing investments for long-term growth.
Retirement & Preservation
As income sources shift, the focus turns to tax-efficient strategies designed to organize income and property for long-term protection,. This stage solidifies a multi-generational wealth strategy, ensuring assets remain protected while maintaining the lifestyle you worked to create.
Incapacity & Care
Planning for incapacity ensures decision-making power stays in trusted hands through Powers of Attorney and Living Wills,. Legal solutions, including Guardianship and Long-Term Care Planning, provide security for nursing home or in-home care,. These measures protect elders from financial abuse and ensure healthcare preferences are honored.
Death & Legacy
Upon death, personalized solutions like Wills and Trusts ensure assets go to the right people. The focus shifts to guiding families through Estate Administration, managing Probate, and distributing trust assets to secure your legacy and protect loved ones.
We Are Estate Planning Attorneys
Wealth Protection: More Than Legacy Planning
While traditional estate planning focuses on the distribution of assets after death, wealth protection focuses on preserving and legally structuring your assets during your lifetime, while you’re alive and well. At Horacio Sosa, P.A., we help individuals and families proactively safeguard growing assets against avoidable threats such as income and business taxes, litigation risks, and inefficient ownership.
Through targeted legal structures, we help you protect your wealth from common pitfalls — before critical life events occur. Explore our full Wealth Protection strategies here.
Tax-Smart Asset Protection & Medicaid Eligibility
Effective estate planning and wealth protection requires integrating tax strategy, asset protection, and elder law rather than treating them as separate silos.
The Dual Role of Asset Protection
Asset protection is not just about shielding wealth from creditors; it is a tool for healthcare eligibility. Strategic asset protection safeguards wealth and minimizes estate taxes while simultaneously ensuring you remain eligible for long-term care benefits.
Medicaid & Tax Efficiency
Medicaid Planning protects assets while securing benefits, but it must be balanced against tax implications. Tax-smart planning reduces exposure and prevents the loss of wealth during the transition to long-term care.
Unified Expertise
Navigating this intersection requires specialized training. The firm combines advanced degrees in Tax & Estate Planning with Board Certification in Elder Law. This dual expertise ensures that the strategies used to protect assets for Medicaid purposes do not conflict with tax efficiency or estate preservation.
Schedule a consult to learn more
Our Estate Planning Services
Asset Protection & Income Tax Planning
Using legal vehicles to protect assets: such as homestead, retirement and life insurance accounts.
Ensure that you take advantage of income tax benefits available, such as deductions and credits.
Using irrevocable trusts such as SLATs, to protect assets against lawsuits.
Business structuring such as LLC or C and S Corps and partnerships to shield from tax and litigation liability.
Wills, Trusts & Inheritance Planning
Ensure your assets go to the right people without state interference.
Prevent family disputes by clearly outlining your wishes.
Avoid probate delays and expenses through trusts.
Protect minor children by naming a legal guardian.
Minimize estate taxes and protect family wealth.
Mental Incapacity Planning
Ensures your finances, property, and medical care are managed responsibly
Prevents legal battles and court-appointed guardianships.
Gives control to someone you trust rather than leaving decisions to the courts.
Ensuring you have effective, durable powers of attorney and advanced directives.
Estate Tax & Gift Tax
Reduce estate taxes using trusts, gifting, and other legal tools.
Protect family wealth and ensure assets go to loved ones—not the IRS.
Avoid unnecessary penalties by staying compliant with changing tax laws.
Leverage tax exemptions to keep more of your money in your family.
Advanced Wealth Protection & Strategic Planning
For High-Net-Worth Families, Business Owners, and International Investors
Strategic Income Tax Planning Leveraging advanced degrees in tax law to move beyond filing returns. We focus on entity structuring (LLCs, FLPs), capital gains strategies, and loophole management to minimize liability and prevent financial leakage before it happens,.
Complex Asset Ownership Addressing what is often missing in standard planning: the coordination of "non-probate" assets. We align Titling, Beneficiary Designations, and Joint Ownership to ensure they do not override your Will or trigger unnecessary taxes,.
Business Succession & Commercial Wealth Treating business interests as high-value assets that require continuity planning. We draft Buy-Sell Agreements and manage family vs. non-family transitions to ensure your business survives your retirement,.
International Estate Planning Serving South Florida’s global families with bilingual, culturally aware counsel. We navigate the intersection of U.S. and foreign laws, specifically addressing tax rules for non-citizen spouses and foreign assets.
Income & Business Tax Planning
Many families unknowingly pay more taxes than required. We review your tax returns, identify missed opportunities, and help you use the tax code to your advantage — consistently saving money you can enjoy with your family.
Asset Protection Against Lawsuits
Lawsuit protection must be done proactively, not after a claim arises. We use:
Proper entity structures such as LLCs and Limited Partnerships
Irrevocable trusts including SLATs (Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts)
Strategic placement of assets into legally protected vehicles such as homestead, life insurance, annuities, and retirement accounts
Understanding How You Own Your Assets
How your assets are titled affects:
Protection during life
Taxes
Family dynamics
Distribution at death
Relying on simple “Transfer on Death” or “Payable on Death” designations can create unintended consequences, especially with:
Children with special needs
Children facing addiction or instability
Blended families or untrustworthy in-laws
We review your assets, family situation, tax exposure, and goals, then recommend the correct structure to protect your wealth by drafting important documents such as:
Business & Investment Entity Structuring
Revocable Trusts
Durable Power of Attorney
Health Care Directives
Wealth Transfer & Legacy Planning
Real Estate Asset Protection
Creditor Protection Strategies
Retirement Account Optimization
Tax-sensitive estates
Long-Term Care & Liability Planning
Why Families Trust Horacio Sosa, P.A.
20+ Years of Experience – Helping families plan, protect assets, and navigate legal challenges.
Advanced Degrees in Tax & Estate Planning – Specialized training to handle even the most complex legal matters.
Board-Certified Elder Law Attorney – Certified expertise in elder law.
Bilingual & Culturally Aware – Serving English- and Spanish-speaking families in South Florida.
Local, Personalized Service – Unlike large firms, we offer a hands-on, personal approach to every case.
A Law Firm with a Heart – We take the time to listen, understand, and provide solutions tailored to your needs.
Kind words from our previous clients
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We had the pleasure of working with this firm on my mother-in-law’s estate. Horacio and Alexandria were our primary contacts, and they handled everything efficiently, answering all of our questions with clarity and professionalism. As the lead attorney, Alexandria was compassionate, kind, and always willing to help. The entire team made the process smooth, and I would highly recommend this firm without hesitation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Joslyn Varona
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"...we couldn't be more satisfied with the service received. -- What impressed us the most was their commitment to their motto: "We Feel, We Love, We Care." These are not just words to them; they truly put them into practice in every interaction. -- I highly recommend the services of Horacio Sosa to anyone in need of advice and management. With them, you can be sure that you are in good hands, with professionals who truly feel, love, and care about you and your situation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Margie Nino
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![Profile picture of a woman with brown hair and a red lipstick. There is an orange "Local Guide" badge icon next to her image.]()
My name is Gloria Jensen I want to thank Mr Sosa for his great job , very trustable , his advices were excelente I always recommend him to my friends , I will always come to him if I need any job done
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gloria Jensen
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"The office motto is “CARE”. They exceeded our expectations in providing legal services with care to our family. Atty. Sosa, Alexandra, and Gloria handled my father’s legal matters promptly, explained the process in great detail, and answered all our questions. We highly recommend this legal team."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lisa Bates
Common Estate Planning Questions
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Without a will, the state determines who inherits your assets, which may not align with your wishes.
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Wills dictate asset distribution but go through probate. Trusts avoid probate and offer more control over assets.
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Major life events—marriage, divorce, having children, or acquiring assets—are signs to update your plan.
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Estate planning traditionally focuses on the distribution of assets at death; wealth protection includes legal strategies during life to protect assets from lawsuits, tax leakage, and inefficient ownership. Link to Wealth Protection page.
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Early legal structuring of assets can reduce exposure to risks and enhance your ability to preserve what you build over time. Link to Wealth Protection page.
