You should update your estate plan after any divorce, marriage, or move to a new state, because each of these events can quietly rewrite who inherits your wealth, who controls your affairs, and how much tax your heirs pay. In Florida, some of these changes happen automatically by statute, others do not, and the gap between the two is where families lose money and control. The safest approach is a full review with a Florida estate planning attorney within months of the life change, not years.
I have sat across the table from too many surviving spouses, adult children, and ex-spouses who learned the hard way that an outdated estate plan does exactly what it says, not what the person wanted. The document is faithful to the day it was signed. Life, unfortunately, keeps moving. For high-net-worth individuals in Fort Lauderdale, where homestead protection, beneficiary designations, and asset-protection structures all interact, the stakes of a stale plan are not small.
Why Three Life Events Should Trigger an Estate Plan Review
Divorce, marriage, and relocation each touch the three pillars of any plan: who gets your assets, who acts for you if you cannot act for yourself, and how your estate is taxed and protected. A change to your marital status changes your legal heirs and the people who can claim against your estate. A move to a new state changes which laws govern your will, your trust, your powers of attorney, and your real property.
Florida is not a forgiving jurisdiction for assumptions. We have strong homestead protections, a robust elective share for surviving spouses, and statutes that automatically alter documents at divorce. Those features are powerful when your plan is built for them and dangerous when it is not.
Updating Your Estate Plan After Divorce
Divorce is the event people most often assume “takes care of itself.” It partly does, and the parts it does not handle are the ones that hurt.
What Florida Law Changes Automatically
Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), any provision in your will that affects your former spouse becomes void when your marriage is dissolved. The will is read as if your ex-spouse died at the moment the divorce became final. Florida Statutes § 736.1105 applies the same rule to revocable trusts. So your ex generally will not inherit under your will or living trust, and will not serve as your trustee or personal representative, simply by operation of law.
Florida goes further than many states. Under Florida Statutes § 732.703, divorce also voids your former spouse’s interest in many beneficiary-designation assets, such as life insurance, annuities, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts, as if the ex-spouse predeceased you.
What Florida Law Does Not Fix For You
Here is the trap. Section 732.703 contains real exceptions. It does not override federal law, so retirement plans governed by ERISA, such as most 401(k)s and pensions, still pay the named beneficiary, even if that is your former spouse. The statute also does not apply if your divorce decree or a valid agreement requires you to keep the ex as beneficiary, or if you re-designate them after the divorce.
After a divorce, you should personally update:
- Retirement account beneficiaries (401(k), 403(b), IRA) directly with each plan administrator, because the automatic-revocation rules may not reach them.
- Health care surrogate and durable power of attorney, especially if your spouse was your agent. You almost certainly do not want an ex-spouse making medical or financial decisions for you.
- Guardianship designations for minor children, which often need rethinking after a separation.
- Trusts and asset-protection entities where the former spouse is a trustee, co-trustee, or holds a power of appointment.
- Successor fiduciaries, since voiding the ex may leave a gap with no named backup.
One more caution for blended and high-net-worth families: voiding your ex-spouse’s role can accidentally promote the next person in line, who may be a young adult child or a former in-law you never intended to put in charge of a multimillion-dollar estate. Automatic revocation removes the wrong person; it does not name the right one. That part is on you.
Updating Your Estate Plan After Marriage or Remarriage
Marriage creates a new legal heir with rights you cannot fully disinherit. In Florida, a surviving spouse is entitled to an elective share equal to 30% of the elective estate under Florida Statutes § 732.2065, and the elective estate is broad. It reaches well beyond the probate estate to include certain trusts, joint accounts, and other transfers. A plan written before the marriage that leaves everything to your children can be partially overridden by a spouse who elects against it.
Florida also protects a spouse who was married to you after your will was signed. Under the pretermitted-spouse statute, Florida Statutes § 732.301, a spouse not provided for in a pre-marriage will may take an intestate share unless the will was made in contemplation of the marriage, the will expressly states otherwise, or a valid marital agreement waives the right.
Homestead Devise Restrictions That Surprise New Spouses
This is the issue I see catch sophisticated clients most often. Florida’s homestead protections, rooted in Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and refined by Florida Statutes § 732.4015, restrict how you can leave your primary residence when you are survived by a spouse or a minor child. If you try to devise homestead in a way the constitution does not permit, the gift can fail, and the property passes by a statutory default that you never chose. A new marriage can transform a clean estate plan into a homestead problem overnight.
If you are marrying or remarrying with significant assets, your update list should include:
- A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to define rights and, where appropriate, waive the elective share and homestead rights.
- Revised wills and trusts that intentionally provide for the new spouse and protect children from a prior relationship, often through a marital or QTIP-style trust.
- Updated beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts.
- A deliberate homestead strategy consistent with section 732.4015.
- New powers of attorney and health care directives naming your spouse, if that is your wish.
For families weighing how to balance a new spouse against children, planning tools like a retained life estate or staged home transfer can give one person the right to live in a residence while preserving the underlying asset for the next generation. The mechanics differ by state, but the goal of separating use from ownership travels well.
Updating Your Estate Plan After Moving to Florida
Relocating to Florida is one of the best financial decisions many of my clients make, and one of the most common reasons their existing estate plan needs surgery. Your out-of-state will is generally still valid here if it was properly executed where you lived, but “valid” and “optimized for Florida” are two different things.
What Actually Changes When You Become a Floridian
- No state estate or inheritance tax. Florida imposes neither, which is a major draw for high-net-worth movers. The federal estate tax still applies, so the federal exemption and portability planning in your documents matters more than ever.
- Equitable distribution, not community property. Florida is not a community property state. If you moved from California, Texas, or another community property state, the character of your assets and your spouse’s rights can shift, and prior planning built on community property assumptions may need rework.
- Homestead protection. Florida’s homestead offers strong creditor protection for your primary residence, but it carries the devise restrictions discussed above. Establishing Florida homestead is also tied to your residency and the choices you make on your deed.
- Florida-specific documents. Florida has its own statutory requirements for the durable power of attorney, the designation of health care surrogate, and the living will. Out-of-state powers of attorney are sometimes honored, but banks and hospitals frequently balk at unfamiliar forms. New Florida-compliant documents prevent a fight at the worst possible moment.
- Will execution and self-proving formalities. Re-executing your will under Florida formalities, including a self-proving affidavit, smooths the eventual probate.
The Domicile Question for High-Net-Worth Movers
If you split time between Florida and a high-tax state, establishing Florida domicile is a deliberate process, not a vibe. File a Declaration of Domicile, update your driver’s license and voter registration, redirect important mail, and make Florida the center of your financial life. Sloppy domicile is an invitation for your former state’s tax authority to argue you never really left, which can pull your estate back into its tax net.
For clients who keep property or income sources in New York, coordinating across both states matters. Our Florida team works alongside Morgan Legal’s New York wills and trusts attorneys, including for specialized vehicles like a pooled income trust, so a Florida move does not leave loose ends in another jurisdiction. You can also learn more about our Florida-focused estate planning services.
A Practical Checklist for Any of the Three Events
Whether you divorced, married, or moved, the review is similar. Pull every document and ask one question of each: does this still name the right person and accomplish the right result under current law?
- Will and any codicils
- Revocable living trust and any irrevocable or asset-protection trusts
- Durable power of attorney
- Designation of health care surrogate and living will
- Beneficiary designations on life insurance, annuities, IRAs, and employer plans
- Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death account titling
- Deeds and homestead status on real property
- Business succession and buy-sell agreements
- Guardianship nominations for minor children
Do not rely on memory or on what you assume the law does automatically. The automatic rules in sections 732.507, 732.703, and 736.1105 are helpful, but they are blunt instruments with real exceptions, and they never name your replacement choices for you.
When to Call a Fort Lauderdale Estate Planning Attorney
If a divorce decree has been entered, a marriage license signed, or a moving truck has crossed into Florida, the clock is already running. A focused review usually takes far less time than people expect and prevents the kind of dispute that consumes estates and relationships for years. Our Fort Lauderdale attorneys can audit your existing plan, identify where Florida law helps you and where it quietly works against you, and rebuild the documents around your actual goals.
Start with our overview of Florida wills and trusts, review what to expect from Florida probate, and then contact our office to schedule a confidential review of your plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my will in Florida?
Largely, yes. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), provisions in your will affecting a former spouse become void at divorce, and § 736.1105 does the same for revocable trusts. Section 732.703 also voids many beneficiary designations like life insurance and POD accounts. But ERISA retirement plans, designations required by your divorce decree, and any re-designation after divorce are exceptions, so you still need to update those directly.
Can I leave my new spouse out of my Florida estate plan?
Not entirely. A surviving spouse can claim an elective share of 30% of the elective estate under Florida Statutes § 732.2065, and a spouse married after your will was signed may take a pretermitted-spouse share under § 732.301. Florida also restricts how you can devise homestead when survived by a spouse. The reliable way to limit a spouse’s rights is a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
Is my out-of-state will still valid after I move to Florida?
Usually yes, if it was validly executed where you signed it. However, it may not be optimized for Florida’s homestead rules, elective share, and equitable distribution, and your out-of-state power of attorney and health care directive may be questioned by Florida banks and hospitals. Most clients re-execute Florida-compliant documents, including a self-proving will, after relocating.
Does Florida have a state estate or inheritance tax?
No. Florida imposes neither a state estate tax nor an inheritance tax, which is a major reason high-net-worth individuals relocate here. The federal estate tax still applies, so your documents should still address the federal exemption, portability between spouses, and lifetime gifting strategies.
How soon after a life change should I update my estate plan?
As soon as practical, ideally within a few months. Divorce, marriage, and a move to Florida each change who inherits, who acts for you, and how your estate is taxed and protected. Waiting risks an outdated document that is faithfully wrong, and in Florida the automatic statutory rules do not name your replacement choices for you.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of Florida estate planning. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles New York probate and estate administration.