Martin Law Firm, PL
We Have Proudly Helped Thousands of People With Their Legal Needs.
Martin Law Firm, PL
Experienced Attorneys in Southwest Florida
Martin Law Firm, P.L. is a consumer law firm in Southwest Florida. Over the past decade we have helped thousands of individuals in the community with their legal needs.
Managed by the husband and wife team of Steven and Eviana Martin, the Martin Law Firm is a service oriented law firm that is proud of serving the community where we have nurtured strong roots.
We are committed to assisting ordinary people who find themselves in need of legal representation at critical times in their lives. We roll up our sleeves to assert the rights of individuals and families with the dedication that they deserve.
People throughout the Fort Myers region can consult our Cape Coral personal injury lawyers for guidance in any type of accident claim, and our firm is also available to assist you in bankruptcy, family law, estate planning, probate administration, personal injury, or wrongful death matters. We also maintain offices in Fort Myers, Naples and Tampa, from which we serve thousands of people across Southwest Florida.
Executive Team
Eviana J. Martin, and her husband, Steven E. Martin, co-founded the Martin Law Firm, P.L. Together, with the help of their team of dedicated attorneys and staff, they have represented thousands of individuals in their legal matters.
Eviana’s practice focuses on Bankruptcy (consumer protection and restructuring of debt), Personal Injury, and Probate matters. She has successfully obtained bankruptcy discharges for thousands of individuals.
Steven E. Martin and his wife, Eviana J. Martin, co-founded the Martin Law Firm. Together, with the help of their team of dedicated attorneys and staff, they have represented thousands of individuals in their legal matters. Steven’s practice focuses on personal injury, family law and estate planning. Steven is admitted to practice in the state of Florida, and in the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida.
A dynamic business entrepreneur himself, Steven has extensive experience with both start-up companies and well-established firms in the technology and entertainment industries. While in college, Steven worked for Sony Music Entertainment as a local marketing representative. Also, while in college, Steven founded MegaDVD.com, an online DVD retailer in the very early days of e-commerce in the mid 1990s. Having built this successful enterprise, he sold MegaDVD to the eUniverse Network, also known as Intermix Media, the company that created the popular internet website MySpace. As Director of Business Development for eUniverse, Steven helped pioneer many other successful direct marketing techniques for the company generating millions of dollars in revenues and thousands of satisfied customers. Prior to attending law school, Steven worked as a Manager Trainee at Artists Management Group, a talent management firm founded by renowned Hollywood talent agent and former president of the Walt Disney Company, Michael S. Ovitz, in Beverly Hills, California.
Practice Areas
Bankruptcy
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Family Law
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Estate Planning
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Personal Injury
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The bankruptcy system was designed to provide debtors with the possibility of a fresh start, free from their debts. Most individuals file under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Chapter 7 may be appropriate for people who can meet what is called “the means test.” In this type of bankruptcy, you can keep some necessities, but other property may be sold to pay back your creditors to the extent possible. The process takes several months, and you will receive a discharge at the end of the process. A few types of debts, such as alimony and student loans, are generally not dischargeable.
Estate planning offers a broad range of methods to ensure that your wishes will be followed if you become incapacitated or pass away. In many cases, these documents may allow you to spare your family the expense and time associated with the probate process. Common instruments used in estate planning include wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and designations of health care surrogates.
Wills provide for the distribution of a decedent’s assets and name an executor. Without a will, any property not transferred by another means, such as a living trust, passes to the decedent’s heirs under Florida’s intestacy laws. A testator finalizing a will must sign the will in front of two witnesses, and the witnesses will also need to sign the will.
Meanwhile, living trusts are generally used to avoid probate and reduce taxes. The trust instrument specifies who inherits property in the trust and names a trustee. It should be signed in front of two witnesses and a notary public. Property placed in a trust will need to be transferred into the name of the trustee of the trust.
It is unfortunately true that many marriages do not last as long as a couple initially expects. If you choose to pursue a divorce, you will need to show that either you or your spouse has lived in Florida for six months before filing for divorce and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. There are two types of divorce in this state: simplified dissolution of marriage and regular dissolution of marriage. Simplified divorce is only permitted if there are no minor children from the marriage and the wife is not pregnant. The spouses will need to sign a financial affidavit and a property settlement agreement.
By contrast, a regular dissolution of marriage can be either contested or uncontested. In some cases, couples are able to agree on certain matters but cannot agree on other issues, such as child custody. When this happens, a court may need to resolve those matters. The key standard for determining child custody arrangements is the best interests of the child, which includes many factors. Generally, courts will grant joint custody of a child, which means that each parent will continue to spend a substantial amount of time with the child and have an impact on key decisions related to the child’s upbringing.
Personal injury lawsuits may arise out of many different types of accidents, including motor vehicle collisions, slip and falls, and construction mishaps. They are usually based on a theory of negligence. If you are seeking to establish negligence as an accident victim in the Cape Coral area, our personal injury lawyers would need to show four elements: the defendant’s duty of care, a breach of duty, causation, and damages. Each of these elements needs to be proved only by the preponderance of the evidence. This is a relatively mild standard that means that the victim’s version of events is more likely than not to be true.
Damages that may be available for injured individuals often include medical bills, the costs of future treatment, lost income and earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering. Even if a victim contributed to causing an accident, he or she still may be able to recover some damages with the assistance of a Cape Coral personal injury lawyer from any defendant that was also partly responsible, based on Florida’s generous pure comparative fault rule.
Exchanges
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1031 provides savvy investors a means for deferring capital gains tax when selling investment properties.
Tax deferred exchanges have been a part of the tax code since 1921 and are one of the last significant tax advantages remaining for real estate investors. Exchanges empower investors to sell business or investment property without incurring a capital gains tax liability, thereby allowing the earning power of the deferred taxes to work for the benefit of the investor instead of the government. In essence, it can be considered an interest-free loan from the IRS.
The IRS allows up to 180 days between the sale of the relinquished property and the purchase of the replacement property. Within the 180 day “exchange period,” the investor must also properly identify suitable replacement properties no more than 45 days after closing on the sale of the relinquished property.
There are a number of requirements which must be met to qualify for tax deferral under the tax code. It is essential that the transactions be handled by knowledgeable professionals and that all of the “front end” sales proceeds are held in escrow by a “qualified intermediary” pending identification and purchase of replacement property.
The Law Firm of Walt Fair, PLLC and its affiliate, Central Escrow Services, in its role as Qualified Intermediary, provides the experience, expertise, and security that are important in exchange transactions.
Philosophy
We build strong relationships and exceed expectations.
At the confluence of real estate, law, and finance, our first responsibility is to our customers. As an independently owned end operated company, we distinguish ourselves by offering boutique closing and escrow services and delivering unparalleled service to our customer. This personalized approach recognizes that every customer has his or her own business style and that a direct, hands-on approach with every guaranty file allows us to better learn, anticipate, and fulfill their needs. Through dedication to task and delivery, we’ve built our reputation on providing title and escrow services to customers who demand excellence, delivered by a staff of committed title professionals.
In other words, it’s a relationship business…and we give our associates more incentives and better tools to make it happen.
Our employees are our strongest asset and our greatest strength. The tenure of our staff attests to our commitment to building and maintaining relationships. In a job market where longevity is the exception, we’ve created an exceptional work environment. By promoting talent and recognizing aptitude, we’ve built a team of expert and professional individuals who have a passion for service and a commitment to success. Furthermore, the continuity provided by a loyal and dedicated staff provides our customers with a consistent level of service that they can depend upon, closing after closing.
A continued commitment to building relationships and exceeding expectations allows us to offer escrow services that are unmatched in the industry. By demanding excellence from within, we can deliver excellence to our customers and our community.
