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

Updating your estate plan after a divorce, marriage, or a move to Florida means revisiting your will, trust, powers of attorney, health care designations, and—just as critically—your beneficiary designations, so they reflect both your current intentions and the laws of your new home state. Florida treats marriage, divorce, and residency very differently from most other states, and a document that worked perfectly in New York or New Jersey can produce results you never intended once you become a Florida resident. The safest assumption after any of these three life events is that your plan is out of date until a Florida attorney confirms otherwise.

I have sat across from too many physicians, executives, and retirees in Palm Beach who believed their estate plan was “done.” They had a binder. They had signatures. What they did not have was a plan that matched their actual life—an ex-spouse still named as agent under a power of attorney, a new spouse with statutory rights nobody accounted for, or a revocable trust executed under another state’s formalities. Each of those is fixable. None of them fixes itself.

Why divorce, marriage, and relocation are the three biggest triggers

Estate plans are snapshots. They capture your family, your assets, and your wishes on the day you sign. Divorce, marriage, and a change of domicile each rearrange those facts so thoroughly that the snapshot stops matching the person standing in front of it. Of the dozen or so events that should prompt a review, these three carry the most legal weight in Florida because each one interacts directly with statute, not just with sentiment.

Here is the practical problem: the law does not wait for you to update your documents. The moment your residency or marital status changes, certain Florida statutes begin to apply automatically—sometimes in your favor, sometimes very much against your stated wishes.

Updating your estate plan after divorce in Florida

Florida has a built-in safety valve for divorce, but it is narrower than people assume. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), any provision of your will that affects your spouse is treated as if that former spouse predeceased you once the marriage is legally dissolved. A parallel rule in § 736.1105 applies to revocable trusts, and § 732.703 reaches certain beneficiary designations on assets like life insurance and annuities governed by Florida law.

That sounds like the law cleans up after a divorce. It does not—not completely. Here is where the gaps live:

• ERISA-governed retirement plans. Your 401(k) and most employer pension plans are controlled by federal law, which generally honors the named beneficiary on file regardless of state divorce statutes. If your ex is still listed, your ex may inherit—full stop. The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed this preemption principle in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff and reinforced it in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings.
• Out-of-state assets. Florida’s revocation-on-divorce rules don’t necessarily govern real property or accounts sitting in another state.
• Powers of attorney and health care surrogates. Many people forget these entirely. An ex-spouse named as your agent or surrogate can retain authority unless you revoke and replace those documents.
• Trustee and executor roles. Even if your ex no longer inherits, they may still be named to run your estate or trust. Revocation-on-divorce statutes address gifts more cleanly than fiduciary appointments.

If your divorce is still pending, understand that you remain legally married until the judgment is entered. During that window your spouse generally retains spousal rights, including the elective share. Many clients want interim documents that lawfully limit exposure while the case proceeds; that is a conversation worth having early, not after the dust settles.

The Florida elective share and your ex

Florida’s elective share gives a surviving spouse the right to claim 30% of the elective estate under § 732.201 and following. The good news after divorce is that an ex-spouse is no longer a spouse, so the elective share no longer applies to them. The trap is the reverse situation—remarriage—which I’ll come to next.

Updating your estate plan after marriage in Florida

Marriage is the event clients most often underestimate. They assume a new spouse simply slots into the existing plan, or that nothing changes until they get around to redrafting. Florida law disagrees on both counts.

The pretermitted spouse rule (§ 732.301). If you signed your will before the marriage and never updated it, your new spouse is generally entitled to an intestate share—essentially what they would have received if you had died without any will at all—unless the will contemplated the marriage, provided for the spouse, or a valid agreement waived the right. For a physician with a substantial estate, an unintended intestate share carved out for a surprised spouse can blow apart a carefully structured plan for children from a prior marriage.

The elective share (§ 732.201). A surviving spouse may elect to take 30% of the elective estate. This estate is broad: it reaches far beyond the probate assets and pulls in revocable trust property, certain joint accounts, payable-on-death assets, and more under § 732.2035. You cannot quietly disinherit a Florida spouse through clever titling. The only reliable way to alter these rights is a properly executed prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with adequate financial disclosure.

Homestead. Florida’s homestead protection is constitutional, generous, and a frequent source of unwelcome surprises. If you are married and have minor children, Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and § 732.401 sharply restrict how you may devise your homestead—your spouse and children have protected interests that override your will. You may believe you can leave the house to whomever you choose. Often, you cannot.

For blended families—a common reality among the professionals we serve in Palm Beach—marriage is the moment to align three things at once: the new spouse’s statutory rights, the inheritance you intend for children of a prior relationship, and the homestead. Trusts, marital agreements, and life insurance arranged together can satisfy everyone. Left uncoordinated, they collide in probate court.

Updating your estate plan after moving to Florida

This is the one out-of-state arrivals get wrong most often, because the documents look fine. Welcome to Florida—now let’s make sure your plan actually works here.

Will and trust execution formalities

Florida recognizes wills validly executed under the law of the state where they were signed. So your New York will is probably still valid. But “valid” and “ideal” are not the same thing. Two Florida-specific issues matter:

• Self-proving affidavits. Florida lets a will be “self-proved” under § 732.503 with a notarized affidavit, which speeds probate by removing the need to locate witnesses years later. Out-of-state wills frequently lack a Florida-compliant self-proving affidavit, which means delay and cost at exactly the wrong moment.
• Holographic and oral wills. Florida does not recognize handwritten (holographic) wills that lack proper witnessing, even if your prior state did. A will that was perfectly enforceable up north can be worthless here.

Powers of attorney and advance directives

Florida’s durable power of attorney statute (Chapter 709) is unusually demanding. Florida law generally does not recognize “springing” powers of attorney signed after October 1, 2011, and it requires specific signing formalities and enumerated “superpowers” for certain acts. An out-of-state POA may be honored, but banks and brokerages in Florida routinely balk at unfamiliar forms. Re-executing a Florida-compliant durable power of attorney, health care surrogate designation (Chapter 765), and living will is the single most effective thing a new resident can do to avoid a future guardianship.

Establishing—and proving—Florida domicile

Many people move to Florida precisely because it has no state income tax and no state estate or inheritance tax. To capture those benefits, you must actually become a Florida domiciliary and be able to prove it if a former high-tax state comes asking. Practical steps include:

1. File a Declaration of Domicile with the clerk of court in your Florida county.
2. Register to vote and obtain a Florida driver’s license.
3. Apply for the homestead exemption on your Florida residence (this also caps annual assessment increases under Save Our Homes).
4. Update your estate documents to recite Florida residency, retitle assets, and move banking and primary physicians to Florida.
5. Spend more than half the year in Florida and keep records that show it.

Domicile is a question of fact and intent. Sloppy documentation invites a residency audit from your former state. A coordinated estate plan is part of the evidence that your move was real.

Beneficiary designations: the update everyone forgets

I’ll say this as plainly as I can: your beneficiary designations override your will. Life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, and transfer-on-death accounts pass by contract to whoever is named, no matter what your will or trust says. After a divorce, a remarriage, or a move, these are the first documents to review and the most likely to be wrong. A 20-minute review of beneficiary forms has rescued more estate plans than any clever trust provision I have ever drafted.

If you have a child or family member with a disability, name designations require special care. Naming them outright can disqualify them from needs-based government benefits. A properly drafted lets you provide for a loved one without jeopardizing eligibility—an arrangement that should be revisited any time your family structure changes.

A short checklist for each life event

• After divorce: revoke and replace your will, trust, durable power of attorney, and health care surrogate; update every beneficiary designation, especially ERISA retirement plans; remove your ex from fiduciary roles.
• After marriage: address pretermitted-spouse and elective-share rights; review homestead devise restrictions; consider a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement; coordinate provisions for children of a prior relationship.
• After moving to Florida: re-execute Florida-compliant POA and advance directives; add a self-proving affidavit; file a Declaration of Domicile; claim homestead; confirm your trust funding survived the move.

Where the right counsel makes the difference

None of this is do-it-yourself territory. The interplay between Florida’s homestead clause, the elective share, and federal ERISA preemption is exactly the kind of problem that looks simple until it isn’t. Our attorneys handle these reviews regularly for Palm Beach professionals through our , and we coordinate with our New York office when clients keep ties to the Northeast. If part of your estate still runs through New York, our guidance on the explains how the two states’ rules fit together.

You can read more about the documents themselves on our wills overview, learn what to expect from Florida probate, or simply schedule a consultation to have your existing plan reviewed against your current life. The review is the easy part. Living with an outdated plan is the expensive one.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Largely, yes. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), provisions favoring a former spouse are treated as if the ex-spouse died before you once the divorce is final, and similar rules apply to revocable trusts and certain beneficiary designations. But this does not cover ERISA-governed retirement plans like 401(k)s, out-of-state assets, or some fiduciary appointments. You should still revoke and replace your documents and update beneficiary forms directly.

What happens to my old will if I get married and never update it?

Florida’s pretermitted spouse rule (§ 732.301) generally entitles a spouse you married after signing your will to an intestate share, unless the will provided for the marriage or a valid marital agreement waived the right. A surviving spouse may also claim the 30% elective share under § 732.201. The reliable way to adjust these rights is a properly executed prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with full financial disclosure.

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

Usually yes—Florida recognizes wills validly executed under the law of the state where they were signed, with the notable exception of handwritten (holographic) wills that lack proper witnessing. However, your will may lack a Florida-compliant self-proving affidavit under § 732.503, and your power of attorney and advance directives often need to be re-executed to meet Florida’s stricter requirements. A Florida review is strongly recommended.

Why do beneficiary designations matter more than my will?

Assets like life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, and transfer-on-death accounts pass by contract directly to the named beneficiary, overriding whatever your will or trust says. After a divorce, marriage, or move, these forms are the most common source of unintended outcomes, so reviewing and updating them should be your first step.

How do I prove I'm a Florida resident for tax purposes?

File a Declaration of Domicile with your county clerk, get a Florida driver’s license, register to vote, apply for the homestead exemption, retitle assets and update estate documents to recite Florida residency, and spend more than half the year in the state with records to show it. Domicile is a question of fact and intent, so consistent documentation protects you if a former high-tax state audits your move.