Florida Prepaid College Funds

Recent changes to Florida Prepaid College Plan rules may now make them harder to cancel and thus more likely to be there when a child actually needs it. Florida Bar, Family Law Section supporter, Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, sought the rule change after the matter was brought to his attention by one of his constituents whose ex-husband cashed out their son's plan over her protests because it was only in his name. Now, prepaid plans bought after Feb. 1 will require both the purchaser and any listed survivor to agree before a plan can be cashed out if done so before the child goes to college.For those who bought a prepaid plan before Feb. 1, a survivor can be added and request made to give that person a right of refusal for any plan cancellations or changes. But, anyone who wants sole control of the plan can still choose not to list a survivor.

For details see Fla Admin Rule for Prepaid Plans 19B-5.004.

Interesting Quote

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell

Foreclosure Mediation

A group of private lawyers and legal service organizations has petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to require mediation in all new and pending foreclosure cases. This relates to residential, occupied, real estate. The pre-judgment requirement has the potential to save 130,000 Florida homes and help 360,000 Floridians. The Florida Bar News has published a very informative article about this push in their March newspaper. When they say that often the homeowner can't speak to the lender until the first court hearing, I know it's true. It is very frustrating for people working hard to come up with viable solutions but unable to speak to the real decision-maker until it's too late or close to that. Both the lender and borrower have huge potential benefits by making a new deal work and so I hope this Petition gets propelled through the Court quickly.