After you marry

Marriage triggers spousal rights under Florida law. Your new spouse is entitled to an elective share, generally 30 percent of the elective estate under sections 732.2065 and following, even if your old will leaves them out. Florida also gives a surviving spouse important homestead rights, so your Miami home cannot simply be left to someone else if your spouse survives you and you have not properly addressed it. Update your will, add your spouse as a beneficiary where intended, and revisit health care surrogate and POA choices, since most people now want their spouse named.

After you divorce

Florida helps here, but only partway. Under the law, divorce automatically voids provisions in your will favoring your former spouse and revokes their authority as your agent or surrogate, treating them as if they predeceased you. However, this does not automatically fix beneficiary designations on every account, and gaps can remain. Do not rely on the automatic rules alone. Re-sign a fresh will, POA, and surrogate, and personally update beneficiaries on life insurance, retirement plans, and payable-on-death accounts.

After a new child arrives

A new baby is the most urgent prompt to plan. Name a guardian for your minor child in your will, because if you do not, a Miami-Dade court decides who raises them. Florida homestead rules also restrict how you can leave your home when you have a minor child, so review titling. Consider a trust to hold assets for the child until they are old enough to manage money, rather than handing a lump sum to an 18-year-old.

Update beneficiary designations every time

Across all three events, beneficiary forms are the most overlooked piece. They override your will. After any life change, pull every retirement account, insurance policy, and bank designation and confirm it names the right people and a contingent backup.

Refresh your decision-makers

Your durable POA under Chapter 709 and health care surrogate name people to act when you cannot. The person who fit five years ago may no longer be the right choice after a marriage or divorce. Re-confirm these names whenever your relationships shift.

Set a review rhythm

Even without a major event, review your plan every three to five years. Florida law evolves, and so does your family. A quick check now prevents an outdated document from controlling your estate later.

Talk to a Florida attorney

Life changes interact with Florida’s elective share, homestead, and revocation rules in ways that are easy to get wrong. After any marriage, divorce, or birth, consult a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to bring every document and beneficiary form back into alignment.

Why “Just Add Them On” Is Risky

Joint ownership with right of survivorship means the surviving owner takes the whole asset automatically at death, outside your will or trust. That feels efficient, but it overrides whatever your other documents say. If your will leaves everything equally to three children but your Brickell condo is jointly owned with only one of them, that one child inherits the condo and the other two are left out.

Pitfall Checklist Before You Add a Co-Owner

• Exposure to their creditors. Once your daughter is a joint owner of your Coral Gables account, her creditors, a divorce, or a lawsuit judgment can reach those funds. You have invited her financial problems into your assets.
• Loss of control. A joint owner can often withdraw funds or refuse to sign off on a sale. Selling a jointly held Miami-Dade home can require every owner’s signature.
• Unintended disinheritance. Survivorship beats your will. Joint titling can accidentally cut out the very people you meant to provide for.
• Gift tax reporting. Adding a non-spouse can be treated as a taxable gift for federal purposes. Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, but federal gift rules still apply.
• Homestead complications. Florida’s homestead protections under Article X, Section 4 of the state constitution interact in tricky ways with how your residence is titled. Careless joint titling can undercut both creditor protection and the constitution’s restrictions on devising homestead.

Florida-Specific Wrinkles Miami Owners Miss

Married couples in Florida often hold property as tenants by the entireties, a form available only to spouses that adds strong creditor protection. That is different from a plain joint tenancy with an adult child, which carries none of those spousal protections. Many Miami homeowners assume any joint title gives the same shield. It does not.

Florida also offers a cleaner tool for real estate: the Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed. It lets you keep full control of your home during life, sell or mortgage it freely, and pass it to your chosen beneficiaries at death without probate, all without making anyone a present co-owner. For a homestead, that often beats joint titling.

Smarter Alternatives to Joint Titling

• Revocable living trust (Chapter 736) to hold and direct assets while keeping control.
• Pay-on-death or transfer-on-death designations on bank and brokerage accounts, which avoid probate without giving the beneficiary present rights.
• Lady Bird deed for the Miami residence.
• Durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) so a trusted person can help manage accounts without becoming an owner.

A Quick Self-Audit

Pull up the title or registration on every significant asset. Ask: who is named, in what form, and what happens at my death? If a joint name surprises you, or contradicts your will, that is a problem to fix now, not later.

Joint ownership is rarely the simple fix it appears to be. Before changing any title in Miami-Dade, talk with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney who can review your specific assets, homestead, and family situation and recommend the right tool.

1. Establish Florida as your domicile, deliberately

Florida has no state income tax and no state estate or inheritance tax, so claiming Florida as your legal domicile can matter. Domicile is about intent shown by action: file a Florida Declaration of Domicile in Miami-Dade, get a Florida driver license, register to vote here, and spend the qualifying time in-state. Your former state may push back if you keep strong ties there, so be consistent.

2. Claim your Florida homestead

If your Miami home is your permanent residence, file for the homestead exemption with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. Beyond the property tax break, Florida’s constitutional homestead protection under Article X, Section 4 shields your residence from most creditors and provides Save Our Homes assessment caps. You can only claim homestead in one state, so pick Florida intentionally.

3. Plan for the out-of-state property

Real estate is governed by the law of the state where it sits. If you die owning a house up north in your individual name, your family may face ancillary probate in that state on top of administration in Florida. That means two courts, two sets of fees, and more delay. The fix below avoids it.

4. Use a revocable trust to unify both homes

A Florida revocable trust under Chapter 736 can hold both your Miami residence and your northern property. Property titled in the trust passes under the trust’s terms without probate in either state, eliminating ancillary administration. This is the single most valuable move for dual-state owners. Confirm any homestead protections are not disturbed by the way the Florida home is held.

5. Make sure your documents travel

A will valid in Florida is generally honored elsewhere, and a Florida durable POA under Chapter 709 and health care surrogate should be accepted in most states, but institutions in your other state may be unfamiliar with Florida forms. Keep copies accessible in both homes so a hospital or bank in either location is not left waiting.

6. Coordinate, do not duplicate

Avoid signing separate wills in each state, which can contradict each other and trigger disputes. Maintain one master plan centered on your Florida domicile, with the trust and pour-over will handling assets wherever they are located.

Talk to a Florida attorney

Dual-state living rewards careful planning and punishes guesswork. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney, coordinating where needed with counsel in your other state, can confirm your domicile, fund a trust correctly, and keep your family out of two probate courts.

Understand Why These Forms Win

A beneficiary designation is a contract between you and the financial institution. Under Florida law, these non-probate transfers generally pass directly to the named beneficiary and override whatever your will says. If your will leaves everything to your spouse but your old 401(k) still names an ex-spouse, the ex-spouse usually wins. The will does not fix the form.

Inventory Every Account With a Designation

• Retirement accounts: IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s.
• Life insurance and annuities.
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts and transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts.
• Employer benefits and pensions.
• Health savings accounts.

Check for the Classic Miami Mistakes

• Outdated names after a divorce, death, or remarriage; Florida does revoke certain spousal designations on divorce by statute, but the rule has limits and does not cover everything, so never rely on it.
• No contingent beneficiary, so if your primary beneficiary dies first the asset falls into probate.
• Naming a minor child directly, which can force a court-supervised guardianship of the property until age 18.
• Naming your estate, which can drag an otherwise non-probate asset into Miami-Dade probate and expose it to creditors.

Coordinate Designations With Your Trust

If you created a revocable trust under Chapter 736 to control distributions, your designations need to point the right way. For young children or beneficiaries who need protection, naming the trust as beneficiary can route funds through your chosen trustee instead of handing a lump sum to an 18-year-old. Retirement accounts deserve special care, because how you name a trust affects income tax timing under federal rules.

Mind Florida Homestead and Spousal Rights

Beneficiary forms do not exist in isolation. Florida’s homestead protections and the surviving spouse’s elective share under Section 732.2065 and related statutes can reach certain non-probate transfers. A spouse generally has rights that a stray POD designation cannot quietly cut out, so coordinate these decisions rather than guessing.

Set a Review Schedule

• Review every designation after marriage, divorce, birth, or death in the family.
• Confirm primary and contingent beneficiaries on each account at least every few years.
• Keep copies and tell your personal representative where to find them.

Because beneficiary designations override your will and interact with Florida homestead, spousal, and tax rules, they deserve the same attention as your core documents. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can review your forms and align them with your overall plan so nothing slips through for your Miami family.

Checklist Item 1: Name a Health Care Surrogate

Under Chapter 765, Florida Statutes, you can designate a “health care surrogate” — the person authorized to make medical decisions for you if you cannot. This is Florida’s version of a health care proxy. Choose someone level-headed who lives close enough to respond, and name an alternate in case your first choice is unavailable when a Miami-area hospital calls.

Checklist Item 2: Decide Whether the Surrogate Acts Now or Later

Florida lets you create a surrogate designation that takes effect immediately — allowing your surrogate to discuss your care and access records even before any incapacity — or one that activates only when physicians determine you cannot make your own decisions. Pick the option that fits your comfort level and note it clearly in the document.

Checklist Item 3: Add a Living Will for End-of-Life Wishes

A living will is separate from a surrogate designation. It states your wishes about life-prolonging procedures if you have a terminal condition, end-stage condition, or persistent vegetative state. Florida law sets out a recognized living will format. Putting your wishes in writing spares your surrogate from carrying that weight alone.

Checklist Item 4: Meet Florida’s Witness Requirements

Florida advance directives generally must be signed in the presence of two adult witnesses, and at least one witness cannot be your spouse or a blood relative. Keep this in mind if you plan to sign at a family gathering — line up a qualified witness in advance.

Checklist Item 5: Authorize HIPAA Access

Federal privacy rules can block even close family from getting information. Include language authorizing release of your protected health information to your surrogate and others you choose, so a Jackson Health or Baptist Health team can speak freely with the right person.

Checklist Item 6: Consider a Pre-Need Guardian Designation

Florida also lets you name, in advance, who you would want a court to appoint as guardian if guardianship ever became necessary. Pairing this with your surrogate designation gives the court your preference and reduces the chance of a contested appointment.

Checklist Item 7: Distribute and Update

A directive locked away helps no one. Give copies to your surrogate, your primary physician, and your Miami hospital of choice, and keep one with your other estate documents. Review the documents after any major life change — divorce, a move, or the death of your named surrogate.

Putting It Together

A complete Florida advance directive package usually pairs a health care surrogate designation, a living will, and HIPAA authorization, often alongside the durable power of attorney that handles your finances. Together they keep decisions in trusted hands and out of court.

This is general information, not legal advice. Florida’s directive formalities are specific and change over time, so consult a licensed Florida attorney to prepare documents suited to your situation.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

• Cryptocurrency and NFTs held in exchanges or private wallets
• Online bank, brokerage, and payment accounts
• Email and cloud storage (photos, documents, backups)
• Social media and personal websites or blogs
• Loyalty and rewards programs
• Domain names, online stores, and revenue-generating accounts
• Subscriptions tied to auto-pay from your accounts

Florida Law Behind the Scenes

Florida has adopted the Fluciary Access to Digital Assets Act, codified in Chapter 740 of the Florida Statutes. It gives your personal representative, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney a legal pathway to access digital assets, but with an important order of priority. An online tool offered by the provider (such as a platform’s legacy contact or inactive account manager) controls first; your estate documents control next; and the provider’s terms of service control last. If you say nothing, the terms of service often win, and they frequently restrict access.

The Digital Asset Checklist

• Inventory everything. Build a running list of accounts, what they hold, and where keys or recovery codes live. Do not write passwords directly into your will, which becomes a public record in Florida probate.
• Use provider legacy tools. Set up the platform’s own beneficiary or legacy contact features where available. Under Chapter 740, these take precedence.
• Authorize access in your documents. Your durable power of attorney (Chapter 709), will, and revocable trust (Chapter 736) should each contain specific language granting access to electronic communications and digital assets. Generic documents often lack this.
• Plan for crypto custody. Private keys and seed phrases are not recoverable if lost. Store them securely (a safe deposit box or qualified custody solution) with clear, lawful instructions on retrieval, separate from the public estate record.
• Address the digital business. If you run an online shop or content channel from Miami, name who can operate or wind it down and how revenue flows during the transition.

Where People Go Wrong

The most common Miami mistake is treating digital assets as an afterthought, listing them informally on a sticky note that the family never finds. The second is assuming a spouse “can just log in.” Accessing someone else’s account without authority can violate provider terms and federal law, even with good intentions. The structure in Chapter 740 exists precisely so your fiduciary can act lawfully.

Keep It Current

Digital life changes fast. Review your inventory at least once a year, after opening any significant new account, and whenever you change a primary email, since that address is the master key to password resets across everything else.

Digital assets reward planning and punish neglect. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can draft the access language Chapter 740 requires and coordinate it with your will, trust, and power of attorney so your Miami fiduciary can act without obstacles.

Know Who Decides If You Do Not

If both parents pass away without naming a guardian, a Miami-Dade judge decides who raises your children based on the child’s best interests. The court may choose a relative you would not have selected, and the process can create conflict among family members. Naming a guardian yourself gives the court your clear preference to follow.

Make the Nomination in the Right Document

• In Florida, you typically nominate a guardian for your minor children in your last will and testament, executed under Section 732.502 with two witnesses and proper formalities.
• Florida also allows a preneed guardian designation, a separate written declaration that names who should serve if you become incapacitated or die. File it with the clerk of court so it is easy to locate.
• Consider a standby guardian arrangement if you have a serious illness and want a smooth, immediate transition.

Choose People, Not Just Names

• Talk to your first choice before naming them; never assume someone is willing to take on the role.
• Name at least one alternate in case your first choice cannot serve.
• Weigh location, values, parenting style, health, and age, not just who loves your children most.
• Consider keeping siblings together and the practical reality of relocating children within or away from Miami.

Separate the Person From the Money

The guardian who raises your child does not have to be the person who manages the inheritance. In fact, splitting these roles often works better. You can name a trusted caregiver as guardian and a financially savvy person or institution as trustee. This separation provides checks and balances and reduces the chance that money strains a family relationship.

Protect the Inheritance Itself

• Without planning, assets left to a minor may be held by a court-supervised guardian of the property until age 18, then handed over in a lump sum.
• A revocable trust under Chapter 736 lets you control when and how funds are released, for example staggering distributions for education, a first home, or later milestones.
• Coordinate beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts so they pour into the trust rather than directly to a minor.

Keep the Plan Current

Revisit your guardian choices after major life events: a move, a divorce, a new child, or a change in the health of the people you named. The right guardian for a toddler may not be the right guardian for a teenager. Tell your nominees where your documents are kept.

Florida’s formalities for wills and guardian nominations are strict, and a small mistake can invalidate your wishes. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can help you document your choices correctly and align them with your overall plan for your Miami family.

Start With Intent

• Which organizations or causes matter to you and your family?
• How much do you want to give, in dollars or as a percentage of the estate?
• Should the gift happen at death, during your lifetime, or both?
• Do you want family involved in directing the giving over time?

Answering these first keeps the tools from driving the plan. The goal shapes the structure, not the other way around.

Tools for Giving at Death

• Charitable bequest in your will. A clean clause in a Florida will (executed under Section 732.502 with two witnesses and proper formalities) can leave a specific dollar amount, a particular asset, or a share of the residue to charity.
• Provisions in a revocable trust. Chapter 736 trusts can carry charitable gifts privately, avoiding the probate record and allowing more detailed, staged instructions.
• Beneficiary designations. Naming a charity as beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy is often the most tax-efficient gift, because tax-deferred retirement dollars can pass to a charity without the income tax a human heir would owe.

Tools for Giving and Receiving Income

• Charitable remainder trust. You or your beneficiaries receive income for a term or for life, and the remainder goes to charity. This can suit a Miami owner holding a highly appreciated asset who wants an income stream and a future gift.
• Charitable lead trust. The charity receives payments first, with the remainder later returning to your family.
• Donor-advised fund. A flexible, lower-overhead way to set aside charitable dollars now and recommend grants to Miami nonprofits over time, often with the next generation participating.

The Florida Advantage and a Caution

Florida imposes no state estate or inheritance tax, so your charitable planning here is driven by federal income and estate tax rules and by your personal goals, not by a state death tax. That said, do not assume a charity is automatically tax-exempt or currently active. Confirm the organization’s exact legal name and status before naming it, because a misnamed or dissolved charity can derail the gift and trigger a court proceeding to fix it.

A Giving Checklist Before You Sign

• Confirm each charity’s full legal name and status.
• Decide between a fixed amount and a percentage so inflation or market swings do not distort your intent.
• Name a contingent charity in case the first ceases to exist.
• Coordinate the gift across your will, trust, and beneficiary forms so they do not contradict each other.
• Tell your family and, where appropriate, the charity, to avoid surprises.

Charitable giving can anchor a meaningful Miami legacy, but the mechanics matter. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can match the right tool to your goals and integrate it cleanly with the rest of your plan.

1. Recognize the default: you get nothing

Under Florida’s intestacy statute in Chapter 732, an unmarried partner is not an heir. If one of you dies without a will, everything subject to probate goes to blood relatives, and your partner could be left out of the home you shared. Every protection below exists because the default fails unmarried couples completely.

2. Write wills naming each other

A Florida will meeting the section 732.502 formalities, signed and witnessed by two people, lets you leave assets to your partner. Be specific. Because you are not married, your families have no built-in reason to honor informal wishes, so put intentions in writing with a self-proving affidavit to streamline probate.

3. Give each other medical authority

Sign Florida health care surrogate designations naming each other. Without it, a Miami hospital follows a statutory proxy list that starts with spouse, then adult relatives, and never reaches an unmarried partner. A living will should accompany it so your partner is not forced to guess your wishes about life support.

4. Sign durable powers of attorney

A durable POA under Chapter 709 lets your partner manage finances if you are incapacitated, paying the shared mortgage in Coral Gables or accessing accounts. Without it, your partner has no standing, and a relative could seek guardianship and shut your partner out of decisions entirely.

5. Title your home with care

How you hold your Miami home matters enormously. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship lets the home pass directly to the surviving partner outside probate. Tenancy in common does not. Note that the Florida homestead exemption for survivors does not automatically extend to a partner who is not a spouse, so titling and a trust or Lady Bird deed become the tools that get the home to your partner.

6. Use beneficiary designations generously

Life insurance, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death accounts let you name your partner directly, bypassing probate and family disputes. This is often the cleanest way to provide for an unmarried partner. Keep these forms current, since an outdated beneficiary overrides anything your will says.

7. Consider a revocable trust

A revocable trust under Chapter 736 can hold your home and accounts, naming your partner as beneficiary and successor trustee. It avoids probate, keeps your arrangement private, and is harder for disappointed relatives to challenge than an informal understanding. Florida imposes no state estate or inheritance tax, so the planning focus is access and certainty for your partner.

Talk to a Florida attorney

Unmarried couples have to build by contract and titling what marriage would grant automatically. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can coordinate your wills, surrogates, POAs, and property titles so you and your partner are genuinely protected.

Checklist Item 1: Confirm Florida Has No State Estate Tax

Florida does not levy a state estate tax or inheritance tax. The old Florida “estate tax” was tied to a federal credit that was phased out, and the state has not reinstated a separate tax since. For Miami residents, this is a genuine planning advantage compared with many northern states retirees relocate from.

Checklist Item 2: Watch the Federal Estate Tax Threshold

The federal estate tax still exists and applies only to estates that exceed the federal exemption amount. Most estates fall well under it and owe nothing. But high-value estates — think substantial Miami real estate holdings, business interests, and investment portfolios combined — can cross the line. Because the exemption amount changes over time and is scheduled to shift under current law, confirm the current figure rather than relying on an old number.

Checklist Item 3: Add Up Everything You Own

The federal calculation counts your gross estate: real estate, retirement accounts, life insurance you control, business interests, and personal property. Waterfront property values in Miami-Dade can rise quickly, so an estate that seemed modest a decade ago may be larger than you think. Tally it honestly before assuming you are exempt.

Checklist Item 4: Use the Marital Deduction and Portability

Married couples can generally pass assets to a surviving U.S.-citizen spouse free of federal estate tax through the unlimited marital deduction. “Portability” can also let a surviving spouse use the deceased spouse’s unused federal exemption — but it requires filing a timely federal estate tax return, even when no tax is due. Missing that filing can forfeit a valuable benefit.

Checklist Item 5: Mind Non-Citizen and Non-Resident Issues

Miami’s international community makes this especially relevant. The unlimited marital deduction generally does not apply to a non-citizen surviving spouse without special planning, and non-resident owners of U.S. property face different rules. If your family has international ties, get tailored advice.

Checklist Item 6: Don’t Confuse Estate Tax With Probate

Many families assume avoiding probate avoids “death taxes.” These are separate issues. Probate is the court process under Florida’s Probate Code (Chs. 731–735) for transferring assets — handled through formal or summary administration depending on the estate. Tools like a revocable trust under Chapter 736 can streamline probate but do not, by themselves, reduce federal estate tax.

Checklist Item 7: Protect the Homestead

Your Miami homestead carries strong constitutional protections (Art. X, §4) and special property-tax treatment, but those protections are about creditors and probate descent, not estate tax. Keep the categories straight when planning.

The Bottom Line

Most Miami families will owe no estate tax at all, thanks in part to Florida’s lack of a state-level tax. The families who do need planning are those with large or complex estates, international ties, or a surviving spouse who must claim portability.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice, and figures change. Consult a licensed Florida estate planning attorney and a tax professional for guidance on your estate.