Samah Abukhodeir: The Hidden Legal Traps in Divorce and Estate Planning Most People Miss

Samah (“Sam”) T. Abukhodeir was born and raised in Lake Wales, Florida. Following high school, Ms. Abukhodeir moved to Tallahassee, Florida, to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a Minor in Arabic and Child Development at Florida State University. Ms. Abukhodeir obtained her Juris Doctor from Florida International University College of Law, where she was on the Dean’s List and earned two CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Islamic/Sharia Law and Judicial Externship.While in law school, Ms. Abukhodeir worked as a Graduate Assistant to Law Professor Cyra Choudhury and was a judicial intern for the Honorable Marisa Tinkler Mendez, Circuit Court Judge in the Criminal Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade, Florida, and the Honorable Maria M. Korvick, Circuit Court Judge in the Probate Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade, Florida.In this episode…Most people walk into a divorce or estate planning situation thinking they already know how it works — but what if the assumptions they're holding on to are the very things putting their family at risk? Family law and probate attorney Samah Abukhodeir pulls back the curtain on the legal traps that catch even well-prepared families off guard. From the myth that a cheating spouse changes everything in court, to the belief that a will alone keeps your family out of probate, the truth is far more complicated than most people expect.Samah breaks down Florida's landmark 50/50 timesharing law and what parents actually need to prove to deviate from it. She also explains why turning to ChatGPT, LegalZoom, or Rocket Lawyer to draft your own legal documents almost always creates bigger problems down the road — and ends up costing families more money, not less. With over half of Americans having no estate plan at all, the stakes of getting this wrong have never been higher.In this episode of Verdict Signal, host Daniel Gouw interviews Samah Abukhodeir, founder and managing partner of The Florida Probate & Family Law Firm, headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, with nine offices across the state. Samah earned her Juris Doctor from Florida International University College of Law and built her firm from the ground up into one of the fastest growing private law firms in America, recognized on the Inc. 5000 list for three consecutive years. The conversation covers divorce, timesharing, prenups, postnups, trusts, probate, guardianship, and why finding the right attorney is about far more than years of experience. Tune in to learn how to make informed choices that protect what you build.Want to be featured in the Verdict Signal Podcast?Register here: https://ednadm.com/verdict-signal-application