Reserve Your Seat
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Time: Doors open at 1:00pm, seminar begins at 1:30 PM. Coffee and pastries will be served.
Duration: About an hour, questions included
Format: Live and in person. This isn't a webinar and it won't be recorded.
Location: Indian River State College, Pruitt Campus, 500 NW California Blvd, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
Cost: Free to attend. The room holds a limited number of people and every seat costs us something, so please register only if you plan to be there.
Bring your spouse or partner. We'd rather you hear this together, and there's no extra charge. Just add their name when you register so we can seat you side by side.
What to expect
John teaches from the front of the room and takes questions as they come. No slides full of legal citations, no handout you'll never read again. He explains how Florida law actually treats your home, your accounts, and your family, and then he answers whatever the room throws at him.
Nothing gets sold from the podium. Nobody calls you afterward asking for a decision. You'll get an hour of straight answers, and what you do with it is up to you.
What we cover
Florida law doesn't work the way most people assume, and it definitely doesn't work the way it did in the state you came from. Here's what John walks through:
Wills and trusts, and which one your situation actually calls for. Not the textbook definition. The practical difference in what your family goes through, what it costs, and how long it takes.
Florida homestead, which surprises almost everyone. Your home is protected in ways other states don't match, and it's also restricted in ways that quietly override what your will says. Plans drafted up north almost never account for this.
How probate really works here, and how to stay out of it. What gets frozen, how long it takes in St. Lucie and Martin counties, what it costs, and which assets skip the process entirely.
The documents that matter while you're still alive. Powers of attorney, health care surrogate designations, living wills, and HIPAA authorizations. Families need these first, and they're the ones most often missing or badly out of date.
Out-of-state documents and Florida residency. If you moved here or you split the year, your will may be technically valid and still cause real problems. The person you named to settle your estate may not even be allowed to serve in Florida.
Protecting what you leave to your children. How inheritances get lost to divorce, creditors, and lawsuits, and the structures that prevent it.
The mistakes we clean up most often. Beneficiary designations that contradict the trust. Trusts that were signed but never funded. Plans nobody has looked at in a decade. Each one is fixable, and each one gets expensive when nobody catches it.
You'll leave knowing what your situation requires and what questions to ask before you hire anyone.
Who should come
This session is built for you if any of these are true:
- You moved to Florida and your documents were signed in another state
- You split the year between Florida and somewhere else
- You have no plan at all, or a will you signed years ago and haven't looked at since
- You have a trust and you're not certain it was ever funded correctly
- You own a home, a business, or property in more than one state
Who this isn't for
This isn't a plan review. If you signed documents with another Florida firm in the last couple of years, an hour here probably won't tell you much you don't already know, and we can't evaluate an existing plan at the event. We do offer paid plan reviews as a separate engagement, and we're glad to walk you through how that works. Call the office at 772-266-5192.
About John J. Mangan, Jr., JD, MBA
John is the founding attorney at Beacon Legacy Law™ and has been helping Florida families protect their legacies since 2010. He's Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts and Estates, a credential held by a very small fraction of Florida attorneys.
He holds a law degree and an MBA from Emory University, and he came into estate planning from a financial services background, which is why he talks about your plan in the context of your whole financial picture instead of treating it as a stack of paperwork. The firm has earned more than 300 five star reviews and has been named one of the fastest growing law firms in the country for six years running.
John's view is that documents are the byproduct of a good relationship between an attorney and a client, not the point of it. You'll hear that in how he teaches.
What happens after you register
- You fill out the form. Name, email, phone, and whether you're bringing a guest. About a minute.
- You will hear from a member of our team to confirm your details, and we will send an additional reminder two days before.
- You show up at 1:00, grab something to eat, and find a seat.
If your plans change, reply to the confirmation email and let us know. The room is small and somebody else will take the seat.
Your information stays with us
We use your contact details to confirm your seat and send you the venue details. We don't sell, rent, or share your information with anyone. Read our privacy policy if you want the specifics.
Register now
The room fills, and once it's full we close registration. If you've been meaning to get this handled, an hour on a Thursday afternoon is a reasonable place to start.
Questions before you register? Call us at 772-266-5192 or contact us online.
Proudly serving families throughout Florida including Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Jupiter, Jupiter Island, Tequesta, Hobe Sound, and Port St. Lucie.