You should review your Florida estate plan at least every three to five years, and immediately after any major life event such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a death in the family, or the purchase or sale of real estate. A “review” means re-reading your will, trust, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations with current eyes to confirm they still name the right people, still do what you intend, and still comply with Florida law. An estate plan is not a one-time document you sign and file away; it is a set of instructions that has to keep pace with your life.
I have sat across the table from too many South Florida families holding a will signed in another state in 1998, certain it was “all taken care of,” only to discover it disinherited a child, ignored a homestead, or named an executor who passed away a decade ago. The plan was fine the day it was signed. Life simply moved on without it. Below is how I think about when a Florida estate plan needs a fresh look, and why each trigger matters, with particular attention to the real estate and homestead issues that dominate planning down here.
Why estate plans go stale
An estate plan reflects three things on the day you sign it: your family, your assets, and the law. All three drift. Your family changes through births, deaths, marriages, and fallings-out. Your assets change as you buy a condo in Boca, refinance the house in Coral Gables, roll over a 401(k), or sell a business. And the law itself moves underneath you, both the federal tax rules and the Florida Statutes that govern wills, trusts, and homestead.
The danger is that none of this announces itself. A revocable trust does not send you an email when your named successor trustee moves to another state. A beneficiary designation on an old IRA does not update because you got divorced. The document keeps saying exactly what it said the day you signed it, even when that is no longer what you would want. Review is how you catch the drift before your family does.
Life events that should trigger an immediate review
Some changes are urgent enough that I tell clients not to wait for a calendar reminder. Pick up the phone the same month. The most common triggers:
- Marriage or remarriage. Florida gives a surviving spouse significant rights, including an elective share of roughly 30% of the elective estate under Florida Statutes Chapter 732, plus homestead protections. A new spouse who is not addressed in your plan can upend it entirely.
- Divorce. Florida law automatically voids gifts to a former spouse in your will and revokes their authority under most documents once the marriage is dissolved, but it does not fix everything, and beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts often slip through the cracks.
- Birth or adoption of a child or grandchild. New descendants raise guardianship, inheritance, and trust-timing questions. An omitted child can claim a share under Florida’s pretermitted-heir rules.
- Death of a spouse, beneficiary, executor, or trustee. If the person you named to receive property or run your estate is gone, the plan needs a new name in that slot.
- A serious diagnosis or decline in capacity. Powers of attorney and health-care directives have to be current and valid before a crisis, not during one.
- A significant change in wealth. A liquidity event, an inheritance, or a business sale can push you across planning thresholds you did not have to think about before.
Real estate and homestead: the Florida-specific triggers
This is where Florida planning truly diverges from everywhere else, and it is the heart of why local counsel matters. The Florida Constitution gives homestead property unique protection from creditors and imposes equally unique restrictions on how you can leave it. If you are survived by a spouse or minor child, you generally cannot freely devise your homestead the way you would any other asset. Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution controls, and Florida Statutes Section 732.401 governs how the homestead passes when those restrictions apply.
What does that mean in practice? A common scenario: a remarried homeowner leaves “the house to my children” in a will, assuming that settles it. If a surviving spouse is in the picture, the law may instead give that spouse a life estate (or, by election, a half-interest as tenant in common) with the children taking the remainder. The will’s plain words and the constitutional result point in different directions, and the Constitution wins. People are genuinely shocked by this, and it is entirely avoidable with planning done in advance.
Property events that should prompt a review
- Buying or selling a home or investment property. Title and how it is held (joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, a trust, an LLC) interacts directly with your plan.
- Establishing or losing Florida homestead status. Moving here from New York, New Jersey, or anywhere else, or moving your primary residence, changes which protections apply.
- Funding, or failing to fund, a revocable living trust with real estate. An unfunded trust is one of the most common and costly mistakes I see. A trust controls only what is actually titled into it.
- Considering an “enhanced life estate” or lady bird deed. Florida recognizes this tool, which lets you keep full control of your home during life while passing it outside probate at death, but it has to be drafted and recorded correctly.
- Owning property in more than one state. Out-of-state real estate can trigger ancillary probate, a second proceeding in another state, unless it is planned around.
For homeowners weighing how to keep a residence in the family while retaining lifetime control, it is worth understanding how retained life estates and home transfers are structured. Morgan Legal’s New York team has a useful overview of that explains the concept in plain terms; the same principles inform how we approach Florida homestead transfers, though the constitutional restrictions here add their own wrinkles.
Changes in the law that quietly reshape your plan
Even if nothing changes in your life, the legal landscape moves. A few areas to keep on your radar:
Federal estate and gift tax. The federal estate tax exemption is historically high but scheduled to change, and the threshold is adjusted over time. Most South Florida families fall comfortably under it, but those near the line, often because of appreciated real estate, should revisit their plan whenever Congress acts. Florida itself imposes no state estate tax or inheritance tax, which is one of the quiet advantages of planning here.
Florida statutory updates. Florida modernized its power-of-attorney law (Chapter 709) and adopted the Florida Trust Code (Chapter 736) and the Florida Probate Code (Chapters 731 through 735). A durable power of attorney signed under the old framework may not be honored the way a current one would be, because banks and title companies now expect specific statutory language and broad-versus-specific authority distinctions.
Digital assets and electronic wills. Florida now authorizes electronic wills under Section 732.522, and the rules around remote witnessing and notarization have evolved. If your documents predate these changes, it is worth confirming they still execute cleanly.
How often should you review if nothing dramatic happens?
Absent a triggering event, a good rhythm is a full review every three to five years and a light self-check every year. Use this short checklist for the annual self-check:
- Are the people named as executor (personal representative), trustee, and agents still alive, willing, and appropriate?
- Do your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities match your overall plan?
- Is every significant asset, especially real estate, titled the way your plan assumes?
- Have you moved, married, divorced, had children, or had a death in the family since you last looked?
- Is your homestead handled correctly given your current family situation?
If any answer gives you pause, that is your signal to schedule a sit-down with an attorney rather than guessing.
Specialized planning that often surfaces during a review
A review is also the moment many families discover they need tools they had never considered. For clients with a disabled loved one, or aging parents who may need long-term care, preserving eligibility for needs-based benefits while still providing support requires careful structuring. One example is a pooled income trust, which lets a person with disabilities or someone seeking Medicaid eligibility direct excess income into a managed trust rather than losing benefits. Morgan Legal’s explanation of the is a clear primer on how that mechanism works, and similar planning is available to Florida families coordinating Medicaid and special-needs goals.
Other items that commonly come up: updating an outdated will to reflect new children or a new marriage, adding a revocable trust to keep real estate out of Florida probate, and refreshing powers of attorney and health-care surrogate designations so they actually work when a bank or hospital asks for them.
What a review actually involves
A proper review is not just re-reading the will. A thorough estate planning attorney will pull your full document set, compare it against a current snapshot of your assets and family, check how each piece of real estate is titled, confirm beneficiary designations align with the plan, and flag anything that conflicts with current Florida law. The goal is to leave you with documents that would do exactly what you intend if they had to be used tomorrow, not a stack of paper that merely feels reassuring.
If it has been more than a few years, or if any of the triggers above describe your situation, it is worth having a Florida attorney look things over. You can learn more about our approach to , or reach out through our contact page to schedule a review. The cost of a checkup is small. The cost of a plan that quietly went stale falls entirely on the people you love.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I review my Florida estate plan?
Review your plan every three to five years at minimum, with a quick self-check each year. Review it immediately after any major life event such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a death in the family, a significant change in wealth, or buying or selling real estate.
Does buying a home in Florida require updating my estate plan?
Often, yes. How real estate is titled interacts directly with your plan, and Florida homestead property has unique constitutional protections and devise restrictions. Buying, selling, establishing homestead status, or funding a trust with property are all reasons to revisit your documents.
What happens to my Florida estate plan after a divorce?
Florida law automatically voids most gifts and appointments to a former spouse in your will once the marriage is dissolved, but it does not fix everything. Beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts frequently still name the ex-spouse, so a post-divorce review is essential.
Can I leave my Florida homestead to anyone I choose in my will?
Not always. Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and Section 732.401, if you are survived by a spouse or a minor child, the law restricts how your homestead can be devised. A surviving spouse may receive a life estate or elect a half-interest, regardless of what your will says.
Is there a Florida estate tax I need to plan around?
Florida imposes no state estate tax or inheritance tax. The federal estate tax may still apply to larger estates, and the exemption changes over time, so families near the threshold, often because of appreciated real estate, should review their plan whenever the federal rules change.
