Estate planning is not just for the wealthy or the elderly. Every adult in Miami benefits from a handful of core documents that decide who manages your affairs, who makes your medical decisions, and who inherits your property. This checklist breaks down the essentials and what each one actually does under Florida law.
1. A Last Will and Testament
Your will is the foundation. Under Florida Section 732.502, it must be signed at the end and witnessed by two people who sign in your presence. A will names your beneficiaries, designates a personal representative to settle your estate, and, for parents, nominates a guardian for minor children. Without a will, Florida’s intestacy statutes (Chapter 732) distribute your assets to relatives in a fixed order that may not reflect your wishes, and a Miami-Dade judge chooses who handles everything.
2. A Durable Power of Attorney
This document, governed by Florida’s Chapter 709, lets you name an agent to handle your finances, pay bills, manage property, and conduct business if you become incapacitated. Florida’s power of attorney rules are strict and effective immediately upon signing, with specific requirements for the most powerful authorities. Without one, your family may have to ask a Miami court to appoint a guardian of the property, a slow and public process.
3. A Designation of Health Care Surrogate
This names the person who makes medical decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself. It is one of the most important and most overlooked documents. Whether you are single, partnered, or married, naming a surrogate spares your loved ones from uncertainty and lets Miami hospitals act on your behalf without delay.
4. A Living Will
A living will states your wishes about life-prolonging procedures if you are terminally ill, in an end-stage condition, or in a persistent vegetative state. It works alongside your health care surrogate, giving your chosen decision-maker clear guidance instead of leaving an impossible choice to family members.
5. Updated Beneficiary Designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and many bank and brokerage accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by your will. These designations override everything else, so keeping them current is essential. Pay-on-death and transfer-on-death registrations let assets move directly to your chosen person and skip probate entirely.
Consider These Add-Ons
- A revocable living trust (Chapter 736) to avoid probate, keep your affairs private, and control how assets are distributed over time, useful for Miami homeowners and families with minor children.
- A Lady Bird deed to pass your Florida home automatically at death while keeping full control and homestead protection (Article X, Section 4) during your life.
Know What Probate Looks Like in Florida
If probate is needed, Florida offers summary administration for smaller or older estates and formal administration for larger ones. Good planning, through trusts, beneficiary designations, and proper deeds, can reduce or eliminate the need for probate altogether. And because Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, your planning can focus on smooth transfer rather than state tax bills.
Talk to a Florida Attorney
These five documents form a baseline every Miami adult should have. Because execution requirements, homestead, and probate rules in Florida are specific, consider working with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to put a complete, valid plan in place for you and your family in Miami-Dade County.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of powers of attorney in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles how a will is contested in New York.
