Estate Planning for Parents of Minor Children in Florida
Estate planning for parents comes down to two decisions no one else should make for you: who raises your children if you cannot, and who manages the money you leave them. A will for parents is where the first decision starts, but on its own it rarely settles the second, and in Florida the difference between the two decides whether your children’s inheritance is handled privately or under a court’s supervision until they turn eighteen.
I am Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Florida Bar No. 107002, and the only attorney in my practice. I prepare wills, guardian designations, trusts for children and the documents that protect you while you are alive, for parents throughout Florida. Estate planning for minor children in Florida has its own rules, and this page walks through them. The lawyer you speak with on the first call is the lawyer who drafts your documents. To start: call (305) 224-6811 for a short, free first call, or use the contact form. Please do not put Social Security numbers, account numbers or medical details in the web form.
| What does a parent’s plan decide? | Who raises your children (a guardian of the person), who manages their money (a guardian of the property or a trustee), and who acts for you if you are alive but unable to |
| What does it cost? | A will on its own starts at $675. The core estate planning package is $1,500 for one person and, for parents, includes a filed preneed guardian declaration and a health care surrogate designation for your minor children. A trust for your children written into your will is quoted separately. A revocable living trust plan starts at $2,500. Married couples receive a discount, quoted individually |
| Is there a free consultation? | Yes: a short phone call with me, with no charge and no obligation |
| Do I have to come to an office? | No. I explain on the first call which documents can be signed remotely in your situation and which need witnesses in the room |
Who raises your children, and who manages their money?
These are two different jobs, and Florida law treats them as two different roles. Many parents name one person and assume that settles both. Sometimes that is the right answer. Often it is not, and it is worth deciding on purpose. When you choose a guardian and a money manager for your children, treat them as two choices, even if the answer turns out to be the same person.
Guardian of the person: who raises your children
The guardian of the person makes the decisions a parent makes: where the children live, where they go to school, their medical care and their day-to-day life. It is the role people mean by a legal guardian if parents die, and it settles who cares for children if parents die.
Guardian of the property, or a trustee: who manages their money
Money left to a child needs someone to manage it, because a minor cannot manage property in his or her own name. If you leave money to a child outright, a parent acting as natural guardian can handle it without a court only while the total the child receives stays within $15,000; above that, the person managing it is a guardian of the property, appointed and supervised by a court. If you leave it in a trust, that person is the trustee you chose, working under the trust’s terms and not under a court’s supervision. So the answer to who manages money for my children if I die is whoever your plan names, or, if it names no one, whoever the court appoints. For most families, a trust is the better answer, for reasons set out below.
Guardian vs trustee: should it be the same person?
It can be, and it does not have to be. Can I name a guardian and a different trustee? Yes: the trustee of your children’s trust can be anyone qualified to serve, whoever is raising the children. The sister who would be a wonderful parent to your children may not be the person you want managing a life insurance payout, and the brother who is careful with money may not be the right person to raise them. Naming different people also builds in a second set of eyes: the trustee pays for what the children need, and the guardian asks for it.
The trade-off is coordination. Two people have to work together for years, so choose two who can. Naming the same person for both roles is simpler, and it is a reasonable choice when that person is suited to both.
Does naming a guardian guarantee the court will appoint that person?
No. Naming a guardian in your will is the first step, and the court must consider the person you named, but it is not bound to appoint that person (section 744.312(3)(c), Florida Statutes). A separate preneed guardian declaration, signed and filed with the clerk of court, does more: when it is produced, it creates a rebuttable presumption that the person you named is entitled to serve, and the court will appoint that person if he or she is qualified, unless the appointment is contrary to the child’s best interests (sections 744.3046(4) and 744.312(1)). For parents, I prepare both.
The two are separate documents, and one cannot stand in for the other. A will is not a preneed declaration, even if it names the same person: the declaration has to be its own instrument, signed while you are alive and filed with the clerk in advance. The presumption it creates is strong but not absolute. A court can still decline the person you named if he or she is not qualified to serve or the appointment would be against your child’s best interests. That is why a Florida guardian designation for your children works best as both: a nomination in your will and a declaration on file with the clerk.
What if the other parent is still living?
This is the question most parents do not know to ask. In Florida, both parents are the natural guardians of their children, and if one parent dies, the surviving parent remains the sole natural guardian, even if he or she remarries (section 744.301(1), Florida Statutes). No court appointment is needed.
Who counts as a natural guardian depends on your family’s situation. After a divorce, natural guardianship belongs to the parent granted sole parental responsibility, or to both parents if responsibility is shared. For a child born to unmarried parents, the mother is a natural guardian, and so is a father who has legally established paternity. Your parenting plan, any court orders and whether paternity was established all bear on the answer, so bring them to the first call.
Two consequences follow. First, if you were the parent with sole parental responsibility and you die, natural guardianship passes to the children’s other parent. Your sole parental responsibility ends at your death, and a guardian nomination, in your will or in a filed declaration, does not override the surviving parent’s rights as natural guardian. To keep the children from a living natural guardian, someone has to show compelling reasons, such as that the parent is unfit or that placing the children with that parent would endanger them; a court cannot do it simply because it thinks the person you named would do better. Second, a father who has not established paternity is not a natural guardian. Once paternity is established, through a court or a signed acknowledgment of paternity, the father is a natural guardian, and if the mother dies he becomes the children’s sole natural guardian.
So who gets custody of my child if I die? If the other parent is alive, the answer is almost always the other parent. A guardian you name in your will, or in a preneed declaration, comes into play only if the last surviving parent dies or is found incapacitated. A court cannot hand your children to the person you named over a living, fit parent who is their natural guardian. Exceptions exist, for example where that parent’s rights have been terminated, a dependency court is involved, or the parent has been adjudicated incapacitated, but they turn on facts and orders, not on your will.
Estate planning for single and divorced parents
If you are divorced, separated or raising children on your own, estate planning for single parents turns on this rule. You usually cannot choose who raises your children while their other parent is alive. You can choose who controls the money.
That is the part a single parent’s will most often overlooks. The surviving parent’s authority as natural guardian covers the child and property held directly for the child. It does not extend to a trust. If you leave your children’s inheritance in a trust with a trustee you choose, the other parent has no right to serve as trustee or to direct the money, although he or she usually receives the trustee’s annual accounting on the child’s behalf until the child turns eighteen, unless a court has appointed a guardian of the property or the parent has a conflict of interest with the child. Without a trust, money left to your child can end up managed by the very person you would not have chosen.
The guardian you name still matters. If both parents die, or if the other parent cannot serve, your nomination is what the court looks at first.
Choosing guardians, trustees and backups
Guardian planning for Florida parents is mostly about people, not paperwork. You do not need every answer before we speak, and you do not need to have asked anyone yet. You do need to think it through before the documents are signed, because these names are the heart of the plan. The worksheet below is the one I use; it is useful on its own even if you never call me.
| Role | What the person does | First choice | Backup | Have you asked them? | Open questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian of the person | Raises the children if both parents are gone | Where would the children live? Would they move schools? | |||
| Trustee of the children’s trust | Manages and pays out the money you leave them | Same person as the guardian, or someone else? | |||
| Personal representative | Settles your estate through probate | Is this person in Florida, or a relative Florida allows to serve from out of state? | |||
| Agent under your power of attorney | Handles your finances if you are alive but cannot | Could this person also pay the household bills? | |||
| Health care surrogate for you | Makes your medical decisions if you cannot | ||||
| Health care surrogate for your children | Consents to your children’s medical care while you cannot be reached | Who is nearby when you travel? |
The second half of the worksheet is about the money: what your children would receive, what it is for and when they should have it.
| Question | Prompts | Your notes |
|---|---|---|
| What would the children receive? | Life insurance (and through work), retirement accounts, 529 plans, bank and brokerage accounts, your home, a business | |
| How is each item set up to pass today? | Who is named as beneficiary or successor owner on each policy and account; how the deed to your home is held | |
| What should the money be used for? | Everyday support, health, school and college, a first car or home, help for the guardian’s household | |
| When should each child have it? | Only for needs until a set age; a share at 25, 30 or 35; different treatment for different children | |
| Anything unresolved? | A child with special needs, a blended family, a former spouse, a guardian who lives out of state |
How to choose a guardian: questions worth asking
- Values and parenting. Would this person raise your children the way you would want, including faith, education and discipline?
- Age and health. A grandparent may be the obvious choice today and a harder one in ten years.
- Location. Would your children have to leave their school, their friends and the rest of the family?
- Their own household. Do they have children of their own, and room for yours?
- Willingness. Ask them. A person who agrees knowingly is a better choice than one who learns about it from the court.
- Money. Taking in children is expensive. Leave enough in trust that the guardian is not choosing between your children and his or her own.
Backups, and naming a couple
Name a backup for every role; the first choice can die, move, divorce or decline. If you name a married couple as guardians, decide what should happen if they separate, or if one of them dies. Naming one of them, with the other as backup, often avoids the question.
A letter of wishes to the guardian
Not everything belongs in a legal document. A letter to the guardian, in your own words, about the children’s routines, their doctors, the people who matter to them and what you hope for them, is often the thing a guardian values most. It is not binding. Keep it with your plan and update it as the children grow.
Which documents do I prepare for parents?
Wills for parents are not a different kind of will; they are a will written with children in mind. The core estate planning package is $1,500 for one person: a will, a durable power of attorney, a designation of health care surrogate, a living will and a preneed guardian designation. For parents of minor children, the package also includes a preneed guardian declaration for your children, filed with the clerk, and a designation of health care surrogate for your children. Married couples each sign their own documents, drafted to work together.
- Last will and testament. A Florida will for parents with young children records your guardian nomination alongside everything else the will does: who inherits and who administers your estate. It operates only after death, and only through the court.
- Preneed guardian declaration for your minor children. A separate written declaration naming the guardian of the person, the guardian of the property, or both, with an alternate, to serve if the last surviving parent dies or becomes incapacitated. Both parents can sign one together, or a surviving parent can sign alone. When both parents are living, the statute speaks of both parents signing. Whether one divorced, separated or unmarried parent can file a declaration alone, or what happens if each parent files one naming different people, is not settled. Where both parents are living, the safest course is for both to sign, and I review who can sign in your family’s circumstances before the declaration is prepared. It must be signed in front of two witnesses present at the same time, list each child’s full name, date of birth and Social Security number, and be filed with the clerk of court (section 744.3046). We collect those details through the intake questionnaire, never the web form. When the last surviving parent dies, the person you named can act immediately and must ask the court to confirm the appointment within 20 days.
- Designation of health care surrogate for your minor children. Names an adult who can consent to your children’s medical care when you cannot be reached, explained below.
- Durable power of attorney. Lets a person you choose handle your financial and legal affairs. A Florida power of attorney signed today takes effect when you sign it, so it is ready if you are ever unable to act. It ends at death.
- Designation of health care surrogate and living will. Your own medical decisions and your end-of-life wishes.
- Preneed guardian designation for you. Names the person you want appointed if a court ever decides that you, as an adult, need a guardian.
Together, these are the parents’ will and incapacity documents most families need. Estate planning for new parents usually starts with exactly this set. If your plan needs a trust for the children, that is the next decision.
Will, testamentary trust or revocable trust?
The question is not really whether to have a will or a trust. Every parent needs a will: it records your guardian nomination, and it decides where the property subject to disposition by your will goes. For most families, a will and trust for minor children work as a pair: the will names the guardian, and the trust holds the money. The question is whether the money you leave your children goes to them outright, into a trust written into your will, or into a revocable living trust.
What happens if a minor inherits money outright?
Can a minor inherit money in Florida? Yes, but not manage it. A parent acting as natural guardian can manage up to $15,000 in total for a child without a court (section 744.301(2), Florida Statutes). Above that, a court-appointed guardian of the property is required, with annual reporting to the court. And when the child turns eighteen, the guardianship ends and the guardian must hand over the entire balance, outright (sections 744.521 and 744.531). An eighteen-year-old with a life insurance payout and no one entitled to say no is the outcome most parents are trying to avoid.
What is a testamentary trust?
A testamentary trust is a trust created by a will. It sits inside your will, costs nothing to maintain while you are alive, and comes into existence only if it is needed. At your death, what you leave your children passes to the trustee you named, who manages it on the terms you wrote: what it can be spent on, and at what ages the children receive it.
After probate, a testamentary trust is not under continuing court supervision unless a court orders it (section 736.0201(3), Florida Statutes). There are no annual court filings, no court audits and no guardianship bond. The trustee does owe duties to your children: to keep them informed and to give them a full trust accounting at least once a year, without waiting to be asked (section 736.0813(1)(d)). While a child is a minor, the accounting goes to the child’s representative, usually the surviving parent, unless that parent has a conflict of interest with the child. Your will cannot waive that annual accounting; the duty is one the trust’s terms cannot override. Only a beneficiary can waive it, in writing, and a waiver made on behalf of a minor raises its own questions. That is the practical difference from a guardianship of the property: the oversight comes from the trust’s terms and the beneficiaries, not from a court file.
A testamentary trust will costs more than a simple will, because the trust terms have to be drafted for your family. I quote the trust separately, before the work starts.
Choosing distribution ages
Trust planning for minor children is mostly about timing. A trust lets you decide when your children receive the money, instead of the law deciding it for you at eighteen. There is no correct schedule. The example below is a hypothetical, not a recommendation.
| Stage | What the trustee may do |
|---|---|
| Until 18 | Pay for health, education, housing and support, usually through the guardian |
| 18 to 25 | Continue paying for college, trade school and living costs; no lump sum |
| At 25 | Distribute one third of the balance |
| At 30 | Distribute half of what remains |
| At 35 | Distribute the rest |
When a revocable living trust is worth it
A revocable living trust does everything a testamentary trust does for your children, and it also keeps the assets titled in it out of probate and lets a successor trustee step in if you become incapacitated. The trade-off is cost and funding: the trust has to be set up now and your assets moved into it. A revocable living trust plan is a separate engagement, starting at $2,500, with a pour-over will that still names the guardian for your children. My Orlando and Orange County estate planning page compares the will and the living trust in detail.
Your home, and a minor child
Florida’s homestead rule limits what any plan can do with your home. If you are survived by a minor child, your homestead cannot be left by will, and it cannot be left through a trust either: a trust counts as a devise for this purpose (section 732.4015). The house passes by Florida law instead.
With no surviving spouse, it passes to your descendants. With a surviving spouse, the spouse takes a life estate, keeping the right to live in the home for life while the children own the remainder, or may elect instead to take a one-half interest as a tenant in common, with the other half going to your descendants (section 732.401). That election must be made within six months of the death, and once made it cannot be undone. A minor child’s share of the house belongs to the child at once, and managing it may require a court guardianship of the property.
How you own the house matters as much as the rule. The descent statute does not apply to a home you and your spouse own as tenants by the entireties, or in joint tenancy with right of survivorship; that home passes to the survivor by the deed (section 732.401(5)). The rule returns at the second death: if the surviving spouse later dies while a child is still a minor, the house cannot be left by that spouse’s will or trust either.
The practical point for parents: the house cannot be directed into the trust for your children, so the trust and the plan for the house have to be thought through together. My Florida homestead probate FAQ covers the rules in depth.
If one of your children has a disability
If one of your children has a disability, or may need government benefits later, tell me at intake; it changes how that child’s share should be held. The usual answer is a trust with special needs provisions, called a third-party supplemental needs trust: a discretionary trust, funded with your assets rather than your child’s, and drafted to supplement government benefits rather than replace them. Because it is funded with your assets, it does not require Medicaid to be repaid from what is left at your child’s death. It can be written into your will or into a revocable trust. I quote it separately, once I understand what it needs to do.
Life insurance, retirement accounts, 529 plans and UTMA accounts
Most of what young families leave their children does not pass under the will at all. Life insurance, retirement accounts and 529 plans pass by the beneficiary designation or owner designation on file, and a carefully drafted will controls none of them. This is where parents’ plans most often fail: a minor beneficiary named directly on a policy is a child inheriting outright, with every problem described above.
| Asset | How it passes | If your minor child is named directly | What to consider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life insurance | Beneficiary designation | If the total your child receives outright exceeds $15,000, a court guardianship of the property; everything to the child at 18 | Whether the trust for your children should be the beneficiary |
| 401(k), IRA and other retirement accounts | Beneficiary designation | The same guardianship problem, plus retirement-account payout rules | Who should be named, your spouse’s rights, and how any trust is drafted for payout and tax rules; this one needs individual advice |
| 529 college savings plan | Owner and successor owner named in the plan | The child is the beneficiary already; the question is who controls the account after you | Who you want as successor owner |
| Bank accounts with a payable-on-death designation | POD designation | If the total your child receives outright exceeds $15,000, a guardianship of the property | Whether the trust should be named, or the account should pass under your will into the trust |
| UTMA custodial account | Held by a custodian for the child | The child takes the account at 21 for most gifts | Whether the amount is small enough for a custodial account, or large enough to need a trust |
| Your home | The deed, and Florida homestead law if you are survived by a minor child | A homestead you own alone passes by law, not by your will or trust; a home held with your spouse as tenants by the entireties passes to your spouse | How the deed is held, and how the house fits with the trust |
Can a minor be a life insurance beneficiary in Florida?
Yes, and the insurer will pay, but only to someone with legal authority to receive it. If the total your child receives outright exceeds $15,000, that means a court-appointed guardian of the property, and the child receives the whole balance at eighteen. Naming a trust as beneficiary of life insurance avoids both. It is one of the most common mistakes I see, and one of the easiest to fix. On retirement accounts, 401(k) minor beneficiary rules add a second layer, because retirement plans have their own payout requirements; the trust should be drafted with that in mind.
What about a UTMA account in Florida?
Under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, a custodian holds property for a child until the child reaches 21 for most gifts, or 18 for some transfers by a fiduciary. The person making the gift can set 25 instead, but the child can still demand the whole account at 21 unless a specific written-notice procedure is followed (section 710.123). A UTMA account in Florida is a sensible home for modest gifts from grandparents. It is not a substitute for a trust when the amount is large.
How I advise on beneficiary designations
I advise you on what is necessary to make your designations match your plan and how to get it done efficiently. You make the changes with your insurer, employer plan or bank, because it is faster and less expensive for you to do it directly than to pay counsel to do it. Part of the first conversation is simply making a list of what you own and how each item is set up to pass.
If a parent cannot make decisions during life
Most plans are written for death, but many of the emergencies parents worry about happen during life: an accident, a hospital stay, a trip abroad. Two different sets of documents cover two different people.
Documents for you
Your durable power of attorney, designation of health care surrogate and living will cover your own finances and medical care. They do not give anyone authority over your children, and a power of attorney cannot transfer custody of a child. Parental authority is not something a parent can hand over by signing a form.
Temporary care: who can consent to your children’s medical care?
If a doctor cannot reach a parent, Florida lets certain relatives consent to ordinary medical and dental care for a child without any document: a stepparent, a grandparent, an adult brother or sister, or an adult aunt or uncle, in that order (section 743.0645). That covers routine care, not surgery or general anesthesia, and only after a reasonable attempt to reach you.
The better answer is a designation of health care surrogate for your minor children. As a parent, you can name an adult to make health care decisions for your children when you cannot be reached; it is signed in front of two adult witnesses, the person you name cannot be one of them, and it stays in effect until you revoke it unless it says otherwise (section 765.2035). A designation signed today includes consent to medically necessary surgery and general anesthesia unless you exclude it. I prepare this document for parents, and it is included in the core estate planning package. Give a copy to the person you name, and keep one with your travel documents.
A standby guardianship is different: it is a court proceeding, started by petition, that puts a named person in place to take over at once if a parent dies or is adjudicated incapacitated (section 744.304). It suits a parent facing a serious illness, not a parent going on a trip. If it fits your situation, we discuss it on the first call.
What estate planning for parents costs, and how it works
I publish my estate planning fees.
- Will. A will on its own starts at $675, with your guardian nomination included.
- Core package. The core estate planning package is $1,500 for one person: a will, a durable power of attorney, a designation of health care surrogate, a living will and a preneed guardian designation. For parents of minor children, it also includes a preneed guardian declaration for your children, filed with the clerk, and a designation of health care surrogate for your children.
- Trust for your children in your will. A testamentary trust is quoted separately, before the work starts. If you want a single will, guardian and trust package for Florida parents, this is it: the core package plus the trust.
- Revocable living trust plan. A separate engagement, starting at $2,500, plus $575 per deed when Florida real estate is moved into the trust. That deed fee includes reading your recorded deed, deed preparation, online notarization, witnesses, county recording fees, and the minimum documentary stamp charge; documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate.
- Trust with special needs provisions. Quoted separately.
- Couples. Married couples receive a discount. Each spouse signs his or her own documents, so I quote a couple’s plan individually rather than doubling the single price. Estate planning for couples with children is most of what I do for parents, and a couple’s estate plan with young children is drafted as two plans that fit together.
How much does a will cost in Florida? Prices vary widely, which is one reason I publish mine. When you compare, compare what is included: whether the guardian nomination is backed by a filed declaration, and whether anyone has looked at how your life insurance is set up to pay.
How it works
The first conversation is free: a short phone call with me, so you can tell me about your family, ask how the process works and decide whether you want to go ahead. If you do, we email you an intake questionnaire. I then draft the documents myself and send them to you to read, with the reasoning explained in plain language, and we change what needs changing before anything is signed. Timing is discussed with you; we work around your schedule and any deadline you are facing, including a baby’s due date.
Much of the signing can be handled remotely. Florida permits a will to be signed electronically with an online notary and witnesses on the same audio-video session, but remote signing has limits, and I tell you which documents can be signed remotely in your situation before anything is scheduled. When a document needs witnesses physically present, that is arranged at no extra charge. My online estate planning page explains remote signing in detail.
I handle estate planning for young families in Florida statewide, from Orlando and Lake Nona to South Florida, from offices in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale.
Keep the plan current
An estate plan for a young family ages faster than most, because the children do. Review it when any of these happen:
- A new baby, or another child. Estate planning for new parents is best done before the birth, but estate planning after a baby arrives is far better than none.
- A divorce, separation or remarriage.
- The guardian or trustee you named moves, divorces, becomes ill or has a change of heart.
- You move to Florida, or buy a home here.
- A child turns eighteen, or develops a need you did not plan for.
- A large change in what you own, including a new life insurance policy.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to my children if we die without a will?
If you die without a will, there is no will nomination for the court to consider; unless you have filed a preneed guardian declaration, the court chooses a guardian with no nomination from you. Property held in a trust, or passing by a valid beneficiary designation, follows that arrangement. The rest of your estate passes under Florida’s intestacy rules, and what your children receive that way is theirs outright. Once the total a child receives outright exceeds $15,000, a court guardianship of the property is required, and each child receives the whole balance at eighteen.
Do I need a will if I have a baby?
Yes, and it is the one document a new parent should not put off. Your will records the guardian you want for your baby, and it is what directs your estate. Without a will, and without a filed preneed guardian declaration, the court has no nomination from you to consider. Property in a trust or passing by a valid beneficiary designation follows that arrangement, but the rest of your estate passes under Florida’s intestacy rules, and what your baby receives that way passes outright. Once the total a child receives outright exceeds $15,000, a court guardianship of the property is required, and your child receives everything at eighteen. The estate planning documents for new parents are the will, a durable power of attorney and health care documents for you, and the guardian declaration and health care designation for your baby that come with my core package.
Do I need a trust if I have kids?
Not always, but you need a plan for the money. The choice of will or trust for Florida parents of minor children turns on how much would pass to the children, including life insurance, and whether you want them to receive it after eighteen rather than at eighteen. If more than a modest amount would pass to them, a trust, either written into your will or as a revocable living trust, is usually the better answer.
Can I name my parents as guardians?
Yes. Grandparents are common choices. Consider their age and health over the years your children would need them, and name a backup.
Can I leave different amounts to each child?
Yes, in a will or a trust, subject to Florida’s homestead rule for your home if you are survived by a minor child. A trust can also treat children differently by age, for example by paying for a younger child’s education before dividing what remains.
Do I need to choose every guardian and backup before the first call?
No. Bring what you have decided and the questions you have not. Many parents settle the backups after the first conversation.
Do both parents need to take part?
Married parents each sign their own documents, and the plans are drafted to work together, so it helps if both are on the calls. A preneed guardian declaration for your children can be signed by both parents together. A single or divorced parent signs his or her own will and incapacity documents. Who signs the preneed guardian declaration for your children depends on whether the other parent is living and is a natural guardian. Where both parents are living, the safest course is for both to sign, and I go through your situation with you on the first call.
Do I need a lawyer to name a guardian in Florida?
No law requires one. But a guardian nomination in a will that is not signed with Florida’s formalities does nothing, and a will that names a guardian without addressing the money leaves the harder half of the problem unsolved.
For the statewide picture, see my Florida estate planning attorney page. To talk about estate planning for your family, call (305) 224-6811.
Last updated: September 26, 2026.
Written and reviewed by Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., attorney, Florida Bar No. 107002.
This page is general information about Florida law and does not constitute legal advice for any particular situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.