Updating Your Estate Plan After Divorce, Marriage, or a Move to Florida

Updating your estate plan after divorce, marriage, or a move to Florida means reviewing and revising your will, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and beneficiary designations so they reflect your current family, your current wishes, and Florida law. A life change does not automatically rewrite these documents for you, and the gaps it leaves behind can hand your assets to the wrong person or force your family through avoidable probate litigation. The safest rule of thumb: when your relationships or your residence change, your estate plan should change with them.

I have practiced estate planning and probate in Miami long enough to see the same painful pattern repeat. Someone gets divorced, remarries, or moves to Florida from New York, New Jersey, or Illinois, and assumes the old paperwork still works. Years later, a probate court reads that old paperwork literally. By then it is too late to ask what they really wanted.

Why Life Events Break an Otherwise Good Estate Plan

An estate plan is a snapshot of one moment: who you trusted, who depended on you, what you owned, and which state’s law governed it all. Divorce, marriage, and relocation each move that snapshot out of focus in a different way.

• Divorce removes a spouse from your life but not always from your documents. Florida law revokes certain provisions in favor of an ex-spouse, but it does not catch everything.
• Marriage creates a new spouse with powerful statutory rights — including the elective share and homestead protections — that your existing plan may completely ignore.
• Moving to Florida changes the governing law. A will valid in your old state is usually still valid here, but its mechanics, your fiduciary choices, and your tax picture may no longer fit.

The thread connecting all three is the same: documents drafted for an old reality, applied to a new one.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Divorce in Florida

Divorce is the change most people assume takes care of itself. It partly does, and that partial protection is exactly what makes it dangerous.

What Florida law revokes automatically

Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), any provision of your will that affects your spouse is treated as void as if the former spouse had died at the time of the divorce. A parallel rule, Florida Statutes § 732.703, voids the designation of a former spouse as beneficiary on certain assets — including some life insurance, annuities, and payable-on-death accounts — after the marriage ends. So if your old will leaves everything to a spouse you have since divorced, the gift to that ex-spouse generally fails by operation of law.

What does not get fixed for you

The automatic revocation statutes are narrower than people expect, and they leave real exposure:

• Federal assets often override state law. Employer 401(k) plans and pensions governed by ERISA follow the named beneficiary on file. Federal preemption can keep your ex-spouse as the recipient regardless of what Florida says. You must change the designation with the plan administrator yourself.
• Revocable trusts and ancillary documents are not always swept up cleanly. If your ex-spouse is still named as a successor trustee, your agent under a power of attorney, or your health care surrogate, those roles can survive unless you revoke them.
• Naming a replacement is on you. The statute removes the ex-spouse but does not appoint anyone in their place. If you named no contingent beneficiary, executor, or trustee, the court fills the vacancy under default rules — which may not be your choice at all.

After a divorce, the cleanest path is a full refresh: a new will, a restated or new revocable trust, fresh powers of attorney and health care directives, and a line-by-line audit of every beneficiary designation. Do not rely on the statute to be your estate planner.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Marriage or Remarriage

Marriage is the opposite problem. Instead of an outdated person lingering in your documents, you now have a new person with rights your documents may never mention — and Florida gives spouses some of the strongest protections in the country.

The elective share: a spouse you cannot fully disinherit

Florida’s elective share, governed by Florida Statutes §§ 732.201–732.2155, entitles a surviving spouse to 30% of the elective estate. The elective estate is intentionally broad. It reaches well beyond the probate estate to include assets people assume are “off the table” — revocable trust property, certain jointly held accounts, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death assets, and other nonprobate transfers.

This matters enormously for blended families. Suppose you remarry and intend to leave your estate to your children from a prior marriage, funneling everything through a revocable trust to skip the will entirely. Many people believe that quietly defeats a new spouse’s claim. It does not. The elective share is calculated against the elective estate, and your surviving spouse can elect against it. If you want to direct assets to your children while honoring — or deliberately structuring around — your spouse’s rights, that takes a real plan, not silence.

Homestead: the most over-promised property in Florida

Florida’s homestead protection under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes § 732.401 restricts how you can devise your primary residence if you are survived by a spouse or minor child. A common surprise: you generally cannot leave your homestead outright to your children if you have a surviving spouse. Where the constitutional restrictions apply, an improper devise can fail, and the property passes by default — typically a life estate to the spouse with a remainder to the descendants, or, by statute, an undivided one-half tenancy-in-common interest if the spouse so elects. A married couple’s homestead plan should be drafted by someone who knows these rules cold, because a single misstep rewrites who lives in the house.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Spouses can waive the elective share and certain homestead and family-allowance rights through a valid marital agreement under Florida Statutes § 732.702. If a prenup or postnup is part of your marriage, your estate plan and that agreement must be read together — and consistently. A will that contradicts a marital agreement is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

After marriage, update your will and trust to name your spouse where you intend, add or update beneficiary designations and your health care surrogate, and decide deliberately how your plan interacts with the elective share and homestead — rather than discovering those rights in a courtroom after you are gone.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Moving to Florida

New residents are some of my most common — and most relieved — clients. The relief comes when they learn their old will is probably still valid here. The work comes from everything around it.

Your old will is valid, but the machinery may not fit

Under Florida Statutes § 732.502(2), a will that was validly executed under the laws of the state where it was signed is generally recognized as valid in Florida. One major exception: a holographic will (handwritten and unwitnessed) or a nuncupative (oral) will is not valid here even if your prior state honored it. Beyond raw validity, several practical issues surface:

• Out-of-state personal representatives. Florida restricts who can serve as personal representative (executor). A nonresident generally must be a close relative — a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or certain other family — to qualify under Florida Statutes § 733.304. The trusted out-of-state friend named in your old will may not be eligible to serve.
• Self-proving affidavits. Florida’s self-proving format under § 732.503 lets a will be admitted without tracking down witnesses. Re-executing your documents in Florida form smooths the eventual probate.
• Powers of attorney. Florida’s durable power of attorney statute, Chapter 709, has specific requirements (including two witnesses and a notary for many powers). Banks and title companies here often balk at out-of-state forms. A Florida-compliant document avoids fights at the worst possible moment.
• Health care directives. Florida uses its own designation of health care surrogate and living will forms under Chapter 765. Update these so a Florida hospital recognizes your agent without hesitation.

The tax and homestead upside of becoming a Floridian

Florida has no state income tax and no state estate or inheritance tax, which is part of why so many people move here. To capture the benefits, you have to genuinely establish Florida domicile — file a declaration of domicile, register to vote, get a Florida driver’s license, and claim the homestead exemption on your residence. High-net-worth families relocating from high-tax states should treat domicile as a deliberate project, not an afterthought, especially if a former state may contest residency.

If you still own real property in another state, that out-of-state real estate will typically require an ancillary probate there unless it is held in a trust or another transfer structure. Coordinating across states is one of the most common reasons new residents end up restructuring rather than just re-signing. Many of our clients keep property up north, and tools like a properly drafted trust or a can keep that property out of a second probate entirely. The same coordination applies to the document at the center of it all — your — which should be aligned with, not contradicted by, your new Florida plan.

A Practical Checklist When Life Changes

Whatever the trigger, the review process follows a consistent order. Walk through it after any divorce, marriage, or move:

1. Re-read your will and confirm beneficiaries, the personal representative, and any guardian nominations for minor children still reflect reality.
2. Review every trust — successor trustees, beneficiaries, and distribution terms — and confirm the trust is actually funded.
3. Audit beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, annuities, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts. These pass outside your will and are the most commonly forgotten.
4. Refresh your incapacity documents — durable power of attorney, health care surrogate, and living will — in Florida-compliant form.
5. Check your homestead and titling. How your home and accounts are titled can override your will entirely.
6. Reconcile against any marital agreement so your plan and your prenup or postnup say the same thing.
7. Confirm domicile if you have moved, and address any out-of-state property to avoid ancillary probate.

When to Bring in a Florida Estate Planning Attorney

Some updates are simple. Many are not, and the cost of getting them wrong is paid by the people you love, after you can no longer fix it. Blended families, surviving-spouse and elective-share planning, Florida homestead, and multi-state property all reward professional drafting and punish do-it-yourself shortcuts. If you have recently divorced, married, or relocated to South Florida, this is the moment to act — not someday.

Our firm helps Miami families update wills, trusts, and incapacity documents so they hold up under Florida law and in Florida probate court. You can learn more about our approach to , explore the specifics of Florida wills, understand what happens in Florida probate, or simply contact our office to start the conversation. The review costs you an afternoon. The mistake it prevents could cost your family far more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my will in Florida?

Mostly, but not entirely. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), provisions in your will favoring a former spouse are treated as void after divorce, and § 732.703 voids many beneficiary designations naming an ex-spouse. However, ERISA-governed retirement plans and pensions follow the named beneficiary regardless of state law, and roles like trustee, agent, or health care surrogate may survive unless you revoke them. You should still do a full update.

Can I disinherit my spouse in Florida if I leave everything to my children?

Generally no. Florida’s elective share (Florida Statutes §§ 732.201–732.2155) entitles a surviving spouse to 30% of the elective estate, which includes revocable trust assets and many nonprobate transfers — not just probate assets. Homestead rules add further protection. A spouse can only waive these rights through a valid marital agreement. Disinheriting a spouse requires deliberate planning, not silence.

Is my out-of-state will still valid after I move to Florida?

Usually yes. Under Florida Statutes § 732.502(2), a will validly executed in another state is generally recognized in Florida, with an exception for handwritten unwitnessed (holographic) or oral wills. That said, your out-of-state executor may not qualify to serve under § 733.304, and your powers of attorney and health care directives should be redone in Florida-compliant form so local banks and hospitals honor them.

What should I update first after a major life change?

Start with beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts, since those pass outside your will and are the most commonly forgotten. Then review your will, any trusts and their funding, and your durable power of attorney and health care surrogate. Finally, address homestead, titling, and any out-of-state property to avoid a second probate.

Do I need a Florida attorney, or can I use online forms?

Simple changes can sometimes be straightforward, but divorce, remarriage, blended families, elective-share and homestead issues, and multi-state property routinely defeat do-it-yourself tools. Florida’s spousal protections and homestead restrictions are unusually strong, and a single drafting error can rewrite who inherits your home. For any significant life change, a Florida estate planning attorney is worth the consultation.