Reviewing your Florida estate plan means re-reading your will, trust, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations to confirm they still reflect your wishes, your assets, and current Florida law. Most people should review their plan every three to five years, and immediately after any major life, family, financial, or residency change. For out-of-state property owners and dual-state residents, the review is doubly important, because a document that was perfectly valid in New York or New Jersey may behave very differently once Florida real estate, Florida homestead rules, and Florida domicile enter the picture.
I’ve sat across the table from too many families who assumed a plan signed a decade ago “still works.” Sometimes it does. More often, a single stale beneficiary form or an out-of-state power of attorney quietly undoes years of careful planning. Below is how I think about timing, triggers, and the specific traps that catch people who own property in more than one state.
Why a Florida Estate Plan Goes Stale
An estate plan is a snapshot, not a contract with the future. It freezes your intentions, your family structure, your asset mix, and the law as they existed on signing day. Every one of those four things drifts over time.
The law itself moves. Florida overhauled its power of attorney statute in 2011 (Chapter 709, Florida Statutes), and durable powers signed before that change follow different rules than ones signed after. The federal estate and gift tax exemption has swung dramatically over the past 15 years and is scheduled to change again. A plan built around an old exemption figure can be over-engineered, full of trust machinery you no longer need, or under-protected, depending on which way the numbers moved.
Your life moves faster than the law does. People marry, divorce, have children, lose spouses, fall out with a named executor, sell the lake house, buy a condo in Boca, and move their primary residence south. Any one of these can break the assumptions your documents were built on.
The Calendar Test: Review Every Three to Five Years
Even if nothing dramatic has happened, time alone is a reason to review. A useful default is a full read-through every three to five years. During that review you and your attorney should confirm:
- Your named personal representative (Florida’s term for executor) is still alive, willing, and qualified. Florida imposes residency and relationship limits on who may serve under Section 733.304, Florida Statutes, so an out-of-state friend you named years ago may no longer be eligible.
- Your trustee and successor trustees are still appropriate.
- Your healthcare surrogate and agent under your durable power of attorney are people you’d still trust with the keys to your life.
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities match the rest of your plan.
- Asset titling lines up with your intentions, especially for any property that crossed state lines.
That last point is where dual-state families get tripped up most often, so it deserves its own discussion.
Life Events That Should Trigger an Immediate Review
Forget the calendar for a moment. Certain events should send you to your attorney within weeks, not years. If any of these has happened since you last looked at your documents, treat it as a hard trigger.
Marriage, Divorce, or the Death of a Spouse
Florida law does some of this work automatically but not all of it, and the automatic parts can surprise you. Under Section 732.507(2), Florida Statutes, a divorce voids the provisions of your will that benefit your former spouse, treating them as if they had predeceased you. Section 732.703 does something similar for many beneficiary designations. But these statutes don’t reach every asset, they don’t rewrite your trust the way you’d want, and they create gaps where a contingent beneficiary suddenly inherits by accident. Marriage triggers Florida’s elective share and pretermitted spouse rules (Sections 732.201 and 732.301), which can override what your old documents say. None of this should be left to default.
A New Child, Grandchild, or Dependent
A child born or adopted after your will is signed may be a “pretermitted child” under Section 732.302 and entitled to a share you never intended to carve out that way. Planning for a child with special needs requires a properly drafted special needs trust so that an inheritance doesn’t disqualify them from means-tested benefits. Neither happens by accident.
A Significant Change in Net Worth
Selling a business, receiving an inheritance, or watching a brokerage account grow into seven figures can push you across planning thresholds that didn’t apply before. The reverse matters too: if your estate shrank, you may be paying for trust structures you no longer need.
Buying, Selling, or Re-Titling Real Estate
Real property is the single biggest reason dual-state clients need to revisit their plans. Florida real estate is governed by Florida law no matter where you live, and a will probated in another state does not automatically transfer Florida land. More on this below.
A Move Across State Lines
Changing your domicile to Florida, or spending enough time here that the question becomes live, affects everything from your homestead rights to which state’s probate court oversees your estate. A move is a full-review event, not a one-document tweak.
The Dual-State and Out-of-State Owner Problem
Here is the scenario I see constantly. A couple lives most of the year in New York, owns a co-op or a home up north, and buys a condo in Palm Beach or Naples. Their wills and trusts were drafted by a fine New York attorney years ago. They assume those documents cover the Florida condo. They usually don’t cover it the way the couple expects.
When you own real property in two states, your out-of-state will may require ancillary probate in Florida, a separate court proceeding here in addition to the main probate in your home state. That means two sets of court filings, two timelines, and often two sets of legal fees. The most common fix is to title Florida real estate inside a revocable living trust or another non-probate arrangement so the property passes without a second probate. Sometimes a lady bird deed (an enhanced life estate deed recognized in Florida) accomplishes the same goal for a primary residence. The right tool depends on your facts, but the point is that owning property across state lines is precisely the situation that demands a deliberate review rather than an assumption.
The same logic applies in reverse for Florida residents who still hold a home up north. Coordinating the transfer of out-of-state real estate, and deciding whether to use a trust or a retained life estate, is a recurring planning question. Attorneys who work across both markets, like the team handling , see these cross-border coordination issues constantly, and the analysis genuinely differs from one state to the next.
Florida Homestead: The Rule That Catches Newcomers
Florida’s homestead protection is famous, generous, and frequently misunderstood by people relocating from other states. It does three different jobs at once: it shields your primary residence from most creditors, it caps property tax assessment increases, and it restricts how you can leave the property at death.
That third job is the one that wrecks plans. Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution limits how homestead property can pass if you are survived by a spouse or minor child. You cannot simply will your homestead to whomever you like if a spouse or minor child survives you; the constitution dictates what happens, and a deed or will that ignores those rules can be partly void. People who moved from a state with no such restriction often have documents that assume freedoms Florida doesn’t grant. This alone is reason enough for a newcomer to have their plan reviewed by Florida counsel.
Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Documents Age Badly
Wills get all the attention, but the documents that govern you while you’re alive often fail first. Florida’s durable power of attorney statute (Chapter 709) requires specific language and execution formalities, and banks and brokerages here are notoriously strict about honoring out-of-state or older powers of attorney. A power signed in another state, or one signed in Florida before the 2011 statutory overhaul, may be refused at exactly the moment your family needs it.
Healthcare surrogate designations under Chapter 765, Florida Statutes, and your living will should also be confirmed current. If you split your time between two states, you ideally want documents that medical providers in both places will recognize without a fight. Reviewing these is quick. Discovering they’re invalid during a hospital crisis is not.
How a Thorough Review Actually Works
A real review is more than re-signing the same papers. A good one runs through a sequence like this:
- Confirm the people. Are your personal representative, trustee, agents, and surrogates still the right choices and still eligible under Florida law?
- Confirm the assets and their titling. What do you own, where is it, and how is each asset titled? Out-of-state real estate and beneficiary-designated accounts get extra scrutiny.
- Confirm the law still fits. Have statutory or tax changes made your structure obsolete, redundant, or exposed?
- Confirm coordination. Do your will, trust, deeds, and beneficiary forms all point in the same direction, or do they contradict each other?
- Fund what needs funding. An unfunded revocable trust is an empty box. Real estate and accounts have to actually be re-titled into it.
Specialized tools sometimes enter the conversation during a review, especially for clients planning around long-term care costs or eligibility for needs-based programs. For example, a can let someone preserve eligibility for certain benefits while still using their excess income, and the comparable Florida strategies differ in their details. The takeaway is that a review is the moment to ask whether newer tools fit your situation, not just whether the old documents still have your correct address.
The Cost of Skipping the Review
The families who suffer most are rarely the ones who planned badly. They’re the ones who planned well once and never looked again. A divorced beneficiary still named on a $400,000 IRA. A Florida condo dragged through ancillary probate because nobody re-titled it. A homestead left to the “wrong” person in violation of the constitution. An out-of-state power of attorney a Florida bank won’t honor. Every one of these is cheap to prevent and expensive to fix after the fact.
If you own property in more than one state, or you’ve recently moved to Florida or are thinking about it, a review with a Florida-licensed attorney is not busywork. It’s the difference between documents that work and documents that merely look reassuring in a drawer. Our firm focuses on exactly these cross-border situations through our , and you can learn more about the foundational documents on our wills and Florida probate pages, or simply reach out to schedule a review.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I review my Florida estate plan?
Review your plan every three to five years even if nothing has changed, and immediately after any major life event such as marriage, divorce, the death of a spouse, the birth of a child, a significant change in net worth, buying or selling real estate, or moving your residence to or from Florida. Dual-state owners should review more frequently because cross-border real estate and domicile issues change the analysis.
Will my out-of-state will cover my Florida property?
Not automatically in the way most people assume. Florida real estate is governed by Florida law, and an out-of-state will often requires a separate ancillary probate proceeding in Florida to transfer the property. Many dual-state owners avoid this by titling Florida real estate in a revocable living trust or using an enhanced life estate (lady bird) deed for a primary residence. A review with Florida counsel is the right place to choose the correct tool.
Does Florida law automatically remove my ex-spouse from my estate plan after a divorce?
Partly. Under Section 732.507(2), Florida Statutes, a divorce voids the provisions of your will that favor a former spouse, and Section 732.703 affects many beneficiary designations. But these statutes don’t reach every asset or rewrite your trust the way you’d want, and they can cause a contingent beneficiary to inherit by accident. You should still update your documents after a divorce rather than rely on the defaults.
Why does Florida homestead matter when I move here from another state?
Florida homestead protection shields your primary residence from most creditors, caps property tax increases, and restricts how the home can pass at death. Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, you cannot freely will your homestead to anyone you choose if you are survived by a spouse or minor child. Newcomers often have documents that assume freedoms Florida doesn’t grant, so a review by Florida counsel is essential.
Are my power of attorney and healthcare documents still valid after I move to Florida?
They may not be honored as readily as you expect. Florida’s durable power of attorney statute (Chapter 709) has specific language and execution requirements, and Florida banks are strict about out-of-state or pre-2011 powers. Healthcare surrogate designations under Chapter 765 should also be confirmed. If you split time between two states, you want documents that providers and institutions in both places will recognize.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of estate planning in Boca Raton. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Article 81 guardianship in New York.
