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 revising your will, trust, beneficiary designations, and health care documents so they reflect your current family and comply with Florida law. Some changes happen automatically by statute—Florida law voids gifts to a former spouse after divorce, for example—but most do not. The documents that decide who inherits, who makes your medical decisions, and who raises or cares for your dependents only update when you sit down and revise them.

I have spent years helping families in Miami-Dade untangle estate plans that were written for a life that no longer exists. The pattern is almost always the same. A parent retires to Florida, signs nothing new, and assumes the New York or New Jersey will they made fifteen years ago still works. Or an adult child handling Mom’s affairs discovers that her ex-husband is still the named beneficiary on a $400,000 IRA. These are fixable problems—but only while the person is alive and competent. This article walks through what each of these three life events does to an estate plan, what Florida changes for you, and what you have to change yourself.

Why these three events matter more than any others

Divorce, marriage, and relocation are the three triggers that most often turn a perfectly good estate plan into a liability. Each one alters either the people in your plan or the law that governs it. A birth or a death changes the cast; these three change the framework.

For adult children helping aging parents, the relocation trigger is the one that hides in plain sight. Your father may have everything “handled,” but if those documents were drafted under another state’s law, the assumptions baked into them may not survive a Florida probate court. The good news is that Florida is a welcoming state for estate planning—no state estate tax, strong homestead protection, and clear statutes—but those benefits only attach when the paperwork is built correctly.

Updating your estate plan after divorce

Florida does more for divorced people automatically than most other states, but it stops well short of doing everything. Understanding where the statute helps—and where it leaves a dangerous gap—is the whole game.

What Florida law changes for you automatically

Under Florida Statutes §732.507(2), when a marriage ends in dissolution, any provision in your will that benefits your former spouse is treated as though the ex-spouse died at the time of the divorce. The same logic extends to a former spouse named as personal representative or trustee. So if you never touched your will after the divorce, the ex is read out of it by operation of law.

Florida went further than many states with §732.703, which voids a former spouse’s interest in many non-probate assets after divorce—life insurance payable to the ex, payable-on-death accounts, certain retirement accounts, and similar designations governed by Florida law. This statute closed a notorious trap, where a forgotten beneficiary form quietly handed an ex a windfall.

What the statute does not fix—and where families get hurt

Do not let the existence of these statutes lull you into inaction. The protections have real limits:

• Federally governed accounts. ERISA-qualified plans—most employer 401(k)s and pension plans—are controlled by federal law, not §732.703. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff and again in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator that the plan document and the named beneficiary control, regardless of state revocation statutes. If your ex is still on the 401(k) form, your ex may still collect.
• Documents made after the divorce. If you re-named your ex-spouse after the divorce was final, the statute presumes you meant it.
• Powers of attorney and health care surrogates. An ex-spouse you named as agent under a durable power of attorney or as health care surrogate should be replaced affirmatively. Do not rely on accident to remove someone from your bank accounts or your hospital bedside.
• Guardianship nominations for minor children. If your plan named your then-spouse’s relatives as guardians, revisit that choice deliberately.

The practical takeaway: after a divorce, re-execute the will or trust, re-sign every beneficiary form in writing with the institution, and replace your power of attorney and health care surrogate. Treat the statute as a safety net, not a substitute for new documents.

Updating your estate plan after marriage or remarriage

Marriage creates rights in your new spouse whether you intend it or not. Florida law assumes that a person who marries means to provide for the new spouse, and it builds in protections that can override an outdated will.

The pretermitted spouse and the elective share

If you marry after signing your will and the will neither provides for the new spouse nor shows you intentionally left them out, Florida’s pretermitted spouse statute (§732.301) gives that spouse a share of your estate equal to what they would receive if you had died without a will—often a substantial portion. Separately, §732.301 is reinforced by the elective share under §732.201 and following, which entitles a surviving spouse to 30% of the elective estate, a figure that reaches well beyond the probate assets to include many trusts, jointly held property, and certain transfers.

In plain terms: you cannot quietly disinherit a Florida spouse with an old will. If you intend a different arrangement—common in second marriages where each spouse wants to protect children from a prior relationship—you need affirmative planning, not silence.

Blended families and the homestead trap

This is the issue I see catch remarried couples most often, and it is unique to Florida. Under the Florida Constitution (Article X, §4) and §732.401, if you are survived by a spouse and a descendant, you cannot freely devise your homestead. The surviving spouse takes a life estate (or may elect a one-half tenancy in common), with the remainder to your descendants. A will that says “I leave my house to my children” will not override these constitutional homestead protections.

For a blended family, the result can be exactly what no one wanted: a surviving stepparent living in the house for life while the deceased spouse’s children wait, often for decades, with no ability to sell or fully use the property. The clean solutions—a properly drafted enhanced life estate (“Lady Bird”) deed, a homestead waiver in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, or a trust structure—all require planning before death. Remarriage is the moment to address it.

A practical remarriage checklist

1. Re-execute your will or trust to reflect the new spouse—and to deliberately address children from any prior marriage.
2. Decide, in writing, how the homestead should pass, and use the right deed or agreement to accomplish it.
3. Update beneficiary designations on life insurance, IRAs, and retirement plans intentionally.
4. Consider a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with a knowing homestead and elective-share waiver if you and your spouse want a non-default arrangement.
5. Refresh your power of attorney and health care surrogate to name your spouse, if that is your wish.

Updating your estate plan after a move to Florida

Here is the reassuring part first: a will validly executed in another state is generally honored in Florida under §732.502(2), as long as it was valid where and when you signed it. So your out-of-state will is unlikely to be void the day you cross the state line. But “not void” is a low bar. Several Florida-specific features make a fresh Florida plan worth the effort.

Why an out-of-state plan often needs a Florida rewrite

• Self-proving affidavits and witness rules. Florida has specific execution formalities (§732.503). A will that lacks a Florida-compliant self-proving affidavit can force your family to track down witnesses years later to prove the document in court—an avoidable delay during probate.
• Out-of-state personal representatives. Florida restricts who may serve. Under §733.304, a non-resident generally cannot serve as your personal representative unless they are a close relative (spouse, parent, sibling, child, or certain others) or related by lineal or collateral kinship. The trusted friend back in Ohio whom you named may be legally disqualified here.
• Homestead and creditor protection. Florida’s homestead and asset-protection rules are among the strongest in the country, but capturing those benefits requires titling and drafting that account for them.
• Advance directives. Your health care surrogate designation, living will, and durable power of attorney should be re-executed under Florida’s statutes (Chapter 765 for health care advance directives; Chapter 709 for powers of attorney). Florida hospitals and banks recognize Florida forms instantly; an out-of-state form can stall at the worst possible moment.
• Establishing domicile. If you are leaving a high-tax state, filing a Florida Declaration of Domicile and updating your documents helps establish Florida residency—which matters for the absence of a state estate or income tax.

For adult children: what to check on your parents’ behalf

When an aging parent relocates to Miami, the move is exhausting and the estate documents rarely make the to-do list. If you are the adult child quarterbacking the transition, prioritize the documents that operate while your parent is alive—the durable power of attorney and the health care surrogate. Those are the instruments you will reach for during a hospitalization or cognitive decline, and they need to be Florida-compliant and current. The will and trust matter, but they only take effect after death; the lifetime documents are what protect your parent now.

For families whose property and planning straddle two states, coordinating documents across jurisdictions is its own discipline. If your parents kept a home up north, our colleagues handle that side directly—see Morgan Legal Group’s guidance on and on the . We routinely coordinate the Florida and New York pieces so nothing falls between the two states.

Common mistakes that turn a life change into a probate fight

• Assuming the statute did the work. Florida revokes some things on divorce, but not federally governed retirement plans or your fiduciary appointments. Re-sign every form.
• Leaving an old will untouched after remarriage. The pretermitted-spouse and elective-share rules will reshape your plan in ways you never chose.
• Ignoring the homestead. “I left the house to the kids” does not survive a surviving spouse plus descendants. Plan the homestead explicitly.
• Naming a disqualified personal representative. An out-of-state non-relative cannot serve. Confirm your nominee qualifies under §733.304.
• Relying on out-of-state advance directives. Re-execute the power of attorney and health care surrogate on Florida forms.
• Forgetting digital and financial access. A divorce or move is the moment to update institution-level beneficiary and access records, not just the will.

When to call a Florida estate planning attorney

Any one of these three events is a reason to have your plan reviewed; two or three together make it urgent. A focused review usually takes a single meeting and often costs far less than the litigation that an outdated plan invites. If you have recently divorced, remarried, or moved to Florida—or you are an adult child helping a parent who has—now is the time to update the documents while everyone is alive and competent to sign.

Our firm helps Miami families build estate plans that hold up in Florida probate court. You can review our approach to , read more about Florida wills and what to expect from Florida probate, or contact our office to schedule a review of your current documents.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Largely, yes. Under Florida Statutes §732.507(2), a divorce treats your former spouse as having predeceased you for purposes of your will, and §732.703 voids many non-probate beneficiary designations to an ex. However, federally governed retirement plans like 401(k)s are controlled by federal law and the named beneficiary, so you must re-sign those forms yourself. You should also affirmatively replace any ex-spouse named as your power-of-attorney agent or health care surrogate.

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

Generally yes. Under §732.502(2), a will validly executed in another state is honored in Florida if it was valid where and when you signed it. But it may lack a Florida-compliant self-proving affidavit, may name a personal representative who is disqualified under §733.304, and may not capture Florida’s homestead and creditor protections. Re-executing a Florida-specific plan—especially your power of attorney and health care surrogate—avoids costly delays in probate.

Can I leave my spouse out of my estate plan in Florida?

Not easily, and not by silence. If you marry after signing your will, Florida’s pretermitted spouse statute (§732.301) gives your new spouse an intestate-sized share unless you addressed them. Separately, a surviving spouse is entitled to a 30% elective share of the elective estate under §732.201. To create a different arrangement, you generally need a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with a knowing waiver.

What is the Florida homestead trap in a second marriage?

Under the Florida Constitution and §732.401, if you are survived by both a spouse and a descendant, you cannot freely devise your homestead. The surviving spouse receives a life estate (or may elect a one-half tenancy in common) with the remainder to your descendants—so a will leaving the house outright to your children will not control. Blended families typically solve this with an enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deed, a trust, or a homestead waiver in a marital agreement.

Which documents should adult children prioritize when a parent moves to Florida?

Prioritize the documents that operate while your parent is alive: the durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) and the health care surrogate and living will (Chapter 765). These are what you will rely on during a hospitalization or cognitive decline, and Florida institutions recognize Florida forms immediately. The will and trust matter too, but they only take effect after death, so the lifetime documents come first.