A will or trust that accurately reflected your wishes when it was signed may no longer fit your circumstances after a few years. Marriages end, families grow, real estate changes hands, and laws can change, yet many people never review their estate planning documents after signing them. The result can be a plan that remains legally effective but no longer reflects what the person actually wants.
Knowing when to update your estate plan is less about picking a date on the calendar and more about recognizing the moments that quietly rewrite your priorities. Florida law also provides specific rules that can change how certain estate planning documents and beneficiary designations operate after events such as divorce. Those rules can provide a statutory backstop, but they do not replace a deliberate review of the entire estate plan.
Why “Set It and Forget It” Doesn’t Work in Florida
Florida law provides automatic rules that can affect certain estate planning provisions after events such as divorce, but those rules do not update an entire estate plan. For example, Florida Statute 732.507(2) generally voids provisions in a will that affect a former spouse after the marriage is judicially dissolved, subject to statutory exceptions. Florida Statute 736.1105 provides a similar rule for certain provisions of revocable trusts, generally treating provisions affecting a former spouse as void after dissolution of the marriage, unless an exception applies. The trust statute applies to revocable trusts of decedents who die on or after June 29, 2021.
That may provide some protection, but it only reaches a narrow slice of what a typical estate plan controls. It does not fix outdated guardian nominations or update your health care surrogate designation. Florida Statute 732.703 separately addresses certain nonprobate assets, including life insurance policies, annuities, individual retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts, and transfer-on-death accounts. In many circumstances, a pre-divorce designation in favor of a former spouse is treated as void after the divorce. But the statute contains important exceptions, including situations in which controlling federal law provides otherwise. For example, federal law, including ERISA, can preempt state laws that would otherwise revoke certain beneficiary designations. The U.S. Supreme Court addressed that issue in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001).
The safer approach is not to rely on a statutory backstop. It is to update the documents yourself.
Life Events That Should Trigger a Review
Your estate plan should reflect the people, property, and priorities that matter to you today. Certain life changes can affect who inherits your assets, who can make decisions for you, and how your property is handled, making them good reasons to take another look at your plan.
Marriage or Remarriage
A new marriage can affect an existing estate plan even if the will is never changed. Florida’s pretermitted spouse statute may provide certain inheritance rights to a spouse who marries the testator after the will was signed and is later omitted, subject to statutory exceptions. Florida’s homestead rules also add another layer: if a protected homestead is owned by a married person or a person survived by a minor child, the Florida Constitution restricts how the property may be devised. A new marriage is one of the clearest signals that it’s time for an estate plan review in Florida.
Divorce
Florida’s automatic revocation statutes offer some protection, but they do not rewrite your entire plan. Updating a will after divorce in Florida should include naming a new personal representative if your former spouse held that role, revisiting guardian nominations for minor children, and reviewing beneficiary designations directly with each financial institution.
Retirement accounts deserve particular attention because they are not always governed solely by Florida law. Florida’s former-spouse beneficiary rules contain an exception when controlling federal law provides otherwise, and federal law can affect beneficiary rights under employer-sponsored retirement plans. A divorce should therefore prompt a review of retirement plan and other beneficiary designations with the plan administrator.
Birth or Adoption of a Child or Grandchild
Florida’s pretermitted child statute offers some protection for children born or adopted after a will is signed, but it is subject to exceptions and does not replace deliberate estate planning. Naming guardians and deciding how and when a child’s inheritance should be distributed can be addressed directly in an updated plan.
Death of a Beneficiary, Personal Representative, or Trustee
If someone named in your documents predeceases you, your plan may produce unintended results or leave an important role unfilled. Replacing that person and reviewing the other people named in your documents can help keep the plan aligned with your wishes.
A Significant Change in Assets
Buying property, starting a business, receiving an inheritance, opening a new retirement account, purchasing life insurance, or experiencing a major increase or decrease in net worth can all change whether your existing plan still makes sense. New assets should also be reviewed to determine whether ownership and beneficiary designations coordinate with the rest of the plan.
Relocating To or From Florida
Estate planning law varies meaningfully by state. Homestead protections, elective share rules, and execution requirements in Florida do not necessarily mirror what you had in another state. Even if your existing documents remain valid, a move can be a good reason to review whether they still work as intended under Florida law.
Minor Child Turns 18 or an Adult Child Faces a Life Change
A guardianship nomination for a minor generally no longer applies once the child reaches adulthood, but other provisions involving that child may remain important. Special needs, creditor concerns, substance-abuse issues, divorce, or other circumstances may call for different inheritance or trust planning.
Serious Illness or Significant Change in Health
Powers of attorney, health care surrogate designations, and living wills become especially important when health circumstances change. If a person still has legal capacity, reviewing and updating these documents can help ensure the people they trust are prepared to act if incapacity later occurs. The Firm’s Advanced Directives page covers what a health care surrogate designation and living will actually do in Florida.
Even Without a Major Life Event, Consider a Periodic Review
Estate plans do not have a fixed Florida expiration date. Still, a periodic review can help identify changes in your family, assets, beneficiary designations, and applicable law. Reviewing the plan every few years is a reasonable planning practice, with an earlier review whenever a major life event occurs.
What Actually Needs to Be Updated (It’s Rarely Just the Will)
A complete Florida estate plan usually includes several documents, and each one can become outdated independently.
- Last will and testament: Florida imposes specific execution requirements. Generally, the testator must sign at the end of the will, and at least two witnesses must sign in the required manner. Codicils must follow the same formalities. A will executed in another state is not necessarily invalid in Florida, but its validity and compatibility with Florida law should be reviewed before relying on an older document. Handwritten changes made after execution generally should not substitute for a properly executed codicil or new will. The Firm’s Wills & Trusts page explains how these documents are structured under Florida law.
- Revocable trust: If you have one, confirm it is still funded correctly and that successor trustee designations reflect who you would want managing your affairs today.
- Durable power of attorney: Florida generally requires a power of attorney to be signed by the principal, witnessed by two subscribing witnesses, and acknowledged before a notary. An older power of attorney is not automatically invalid simply because it predates Florida’s current statute. Florida law provides rules for the validity of existing powers of attorney. Even so, an older document should be reviewed to confirm that the named agent is still the person you trust and that the powers granted remain appropriate. Details on how this document is drafted and executed are on the Firm’s Durable Power of Attorney page.
- Health care surrogate designation and living will
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts
- Guardian nominations for minor children
Key Takeaways
- Florida automatically voids certain former-spouse provisions in wills and revocable trusts after dissolution of marriage, subject to statutory exceptions.
- Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, relocation, health changes, and major financial changes are good reasons to review your estate plan.
- Even without a major life event, a periodic review can help confirm that your family information, assets, beneficiary designations, and documents still reflect your wishes.
- A complete plan review means checking the will, trust, power of attorney, health care documents, guardian nominations, and beneficiary designations, not just one document.
- Florida has specific execution requirements for wills and powers of attorney. An older document is not automatically invalid, but improperly executed changes may not be effective.
FAQ
Q. How often should I review my estate plan in Florida?
A. A periodic review every few years is reasonable, with an earlier review after a major life event such as marriage, divorce, a birth, a death in the family, a significant change in assets, relocation, or a change in health.
Q. Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my will in Florida?
A. Generally, yes. Florida Statute 732.507(2) provides that provisions in a will affecting a former spouse are void after the marriage is judicially dissolved, and the will is generally construed as though the former spouse had died at the time of dissolution. However, the statute contains exceptions, including where the will or dissolution judgment provides otherwise or the will was executed after the dissolution. Other estate planning documents and beneficiary designations should also be reviewed separately.
Q. Do I need to update my estate plan if I move to Florida from another state?
A. Yes, a Florida review is often worthwhile. A will validly executed in another state may remain valid in Florida, but Florida’s homestead restrictions, elective-share rules, trust rules, powers of attorney, and other estate-planning provisions may differ from the law of your former state. Reviewing the entire plan after establishing Florida residency can help identify provisions that should be updated.
Q. What happens if I never update my will after a major life event?
A. Depending on the circumstances, Florida’s default statutes may address part of the situation, but they may not produce the result you intended. An outdated plan can also create confusion, disputes, or delays during probate.
Q. Is a handwritten change to an existing will valid in Florida?
A. Generally, no. A handwritten change to an existing will does not ordinarily become a valid codicil simply because the testator writes or signs it. Florida requires a codicil to be executed with the same formalities as a will, including the required witnessing. Florida law also permits a separate writing identifying certain tangible personal property, subject to statutory requirements, so the effect of a handwritten document depends on what it contains and how it was prepared.
Reassess Your Plan Before Life Makes the Decision for You
An estate plan is not a document you finish once. It is a reflection of your life at a single point in time, and life in Melbourne, Florida rarely stays still for long. Between marriages, growing families, new property, and changes in Florida law, the gap between what your documents say and what you actually want can widen without anyone noticing.
The good news is that a review does not have to mean starting over. Often, it means confirming that your existing will, trust, power of attorney, and beneficiary designations still work together as intended and making targeted updates where they do not. The Firm’s Estate Planning practice area page outlines the documents most Melbourne-area families rely on.
If it has been more than a few years since your plan was drafted, or since your family, assets, or address changed, it may be worth taking another look. The Law Firm of Cheryl A. Ward, PL works with families throughout Melbourne and Brevard County on estate plan updates and related planning needs.