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 revisiting your will, trust, beneficiary designations, and powers of attorney so they match your new family and your new state of domicile. Florida law automatically changes some of these documents the moment a marriage ends, but it leaves many others exactly as you left them, which is why a deliberate review matters. The goal is simple: make sure the right people inherit, the right people can act for you, and nothing slips through to an ex-spouse or a court by accident.

In my years working with retirees and seasonal residents in Palm Beach County, the same pattern shows up again and again. Someone keeps the will they signed up north, never touches the beneficiary form their employer mailed them a decade ago, and assumes a life change “took care of itself.” Sometimes Florida law does help. Often it does not. Below is how to think about each of the three big triggers, and what actually changes when your life does.

Why Life Changes Break an Estate Plan

An estate plan is a snapshot of who you trusted and what you owned on the day you signed it. Divorce, marriage, and relocation each move all three variables at once: the people, the assets, and the law that governs them. A document that was perfect in 2014 can quietly become a liability without a single word being changed on the page.

The danger is rarely a dramatic, obvious error. It is the small disconnect, such as the old IRA form, the deed that still lists a former spouse, the executor who now lives three time zones away. These gaps tend to surface only after death, when no one can fix them.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Divorce in Florida

Divorce is the change most people assume Florida handles for them, and they are partly right. Two statutes do real work automatically, but neither is a substitute for a clean update.

What Florida Law Revokes Automatically

Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), any provision of your will that affects your spouse becomes void when the marriage is judicially dissolved or annulled. The will is then read as though your former spouse died at the time of the divorce. So if your 2010 will leaves everything to your now ex-husband and names him personal representative, Florida treats him as predeceased, and the estate passes to your alternate beneficiaries instead.

Florida Statutes § 732.703 extends a similar rule to many beneficiary designations, including life insurance, payable-on-death accounts, and annuities. For decedents dying after July 1, 2012, a designation naming a former spouse is void as of the date the marriage was dissolved, and the asset passes as if the ex-spouse had died first, unless the designation was reaffirmed after the divorce or the court order says otherwise.

Where the Automatic Rules Stop

This is where people get hurt. The revocation statutes have hard limits, and the gaps are exactly the assets worth the most.

• The divorce must be final. If you separate, file, and then die before the judgment of dissolution, your soon-to-be ex is still your spouse under the law, and the old provisions still control.
• ERISA-governed plans are exempt. Employer 401(k)s, pensions, and group life insurance are governed by federal law, not Florida’s. In Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, the U.S. Supreme Court held that ERISA preempts state revocation-on-divorce statutes. The plan administrator must pay whoever is named on the form, even if that is your ex-spouse, and even if a Florida statute says otherwise.
• Jointly titled property and deeds are untouched. A revocation statute does not retitle real estate. If you and a former spouse still hold a property as joint tenants with right of survivorship, that survivorship feature can override your will entirely.
• Trustee and agent roles persist. Your revocable trust, durable power of attorney, and health care surrogate are not swept clean the way a will is. If your ex is still named as trustee or agent, that designation may stand until you change it.

The practical takeaway: divorce is the moment to re-paper everything, not just to rely on the statute. Re-execute the will, restate the trust, sign fresh financial and health care documents, and request new beneficiary forms from every plan administrator and insurer in writing. For larger or income-producing assets, families sometimes layer in advanced tools, and a is one example of a structure that requires careful, intentional beneficiary planning rather than a default form.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Marriage or Remarriage

Marriage works in the opposite direction. Instead of cutting someone out, Florida law tends to write a new spouse in, sometimes in ways that surprise the rest of the family, especially in second marriages with adult children from a prior relationship.

The Pretermitted Spouse and the Elective Share

If you marry after signing your will and the will makes no provision for your new spouse, Florida Statutes § 732.301 treats that spouse as “pretermitted.” Unless you provided for them elsewhere or they waived rights in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, the new spouse can claim the share they would have received had you died with no will at all.

Separately, Florida Statutes § 732.201 gives a surviving spouse the elective share: the right to claim 30% of the elective estate, regardless of what the will says. This right reaches beyond probate assets into many trusts and accounts. A surviving spouse can be intentionally left a modest gift in the will and still elect the 30% share unless that right was validly waived in writing.

What Newly Married Florida Couples Should Do

For couples blending families later in life, intention has to be documented, because the defaults rarely match what either spouse actually wants.

1. Decide deliberately how much passes to the spouse versus children from a prior marriage, and put it in writing rather than relying on statutory defaults.
2. If you have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement waiving the elective share or homestead rights, confirm it is valid and referenced in your plan.
3. Consider a trust that provides for a surviving spouse during their lifetime while preserving the remainder for your children, a common solution in remarriages.
4. Address the homestead, since Florida’s constitution restricts how a primary residence can pass when there is a spouse or minor child, and survivorship arrangements like a need to be coordinated with those protections.
5. Update beneficiary forms and health care documents to name your spouse where you intend, since marriage does not automatically rewrite those.

Updating Your Estate Plan After Moving to Florida

This is the trigger snowbirds underestimate most. A will or trust signed in New York, New Jersey, or Ohio is generally still valid in Florida; the state recognizes documents properly executed elsewhere. “Still valid” and “still fits” are not the same thing.

Why an Out-of-State Will May Not Work the Way You Expect

Florida has formalities and protections that other states do not, and a foreign document can collide with them.

• Self-proving affidavits. Florida lets a will be “self-proved” so witnesses do not have to be tracked down years later. Many out-of-state wills lack a Florida-compliant affidavit, which slows probate.
• Out-of-state personal representatives. Florida restricts who can serve as personal representative. A non-resident generally must be a close relative or a spouse of one. The friend or neighbor you named up north may be legally disqualified here.
• Homestead rules. Florida’s homestead protections are unusually strong and unusually rigid. A plan drafted under another state’s rules can inadvertently violate them, voiding a devise of the home.
• Powers of attorney and health care directives. Hospitals, banks, and title companies want to see Florida-form documents. An out-of-state power of attorney may technically be honored but is often met with friction at exactly the wrong moment.

Establishing Florida Domicile

If you are becoming a true Florida resident, the estate plan is part of a larger picture: declaration of domicile, voter registration, driver’s license, and where you spend your days. Domicile affects creditor protection, the homestead exemption, and whether your former state tries to tax your estate. Getting these signals aligned matters as much as the documents themselves. A local review focused on Florida is the cleanest way to confirm your plan fits your new home rather than your old one.

A Practical Checklist When Life Changes

Whatever the trigger, the same documents deserve a fresh look. Walk through each one and ask whether it still names the right people:

• Last will and testament, with a Florida self-proving affidavit and a qualified personal representative
• Revocable living trust, including successor trustees
• Durable power of attorney for finances
• Designation of health care surrogate and living will
• Beneficiary designations on every retirement account, IRA, annuity, and life insurance policy, requested in writing from each institution
• Property deeds and account titling, checking for outdated joint owners or survivorship language

If you are reviewing the foundational documents from scratch, our overview of Florida wills and what to expect from Florida probate are useful starting points before you sit down with an attorney.

The Bottom Line for Palm Beach Residents

Florida’s revocation statutes are a safety net, not a plan. They catch some mistakes after a divorce and quietly write a new spouse into your estate after a marriage, but they leave ERISA accounts, deeds, trustees, and out-of-state documents exactly where you last left them. For retirees and seasonal residents in particular, the move to Florida is the moment to make sure every document speaks the language of your new state. The fix is almost always straightforward when handled deliberately, and almost always expensive when left to chance.

If you have recently divorced, married, or made Palm Beach your home, a focused review is worth far more than the time it takes. Contact our office to make sure your plan reflects the life you are actually living.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Largely yes. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507(2), provisions in your will that benefit a former spouse become void once the divorce is final, and the will is read as if your ex predeceased you. But this only applies after the judgment of dissolution is entered, so if you die while a divorce is still pending, the old provisions still control. It does not reach ERISA-governed plans, jointly titled property, or trustee roles, which you must update yourself.

Are my retirement and life insurance beneficiary designations updated automatically after divorce?

Sometimes, but not always. Florida Statutes § 732.703 voids many payable-on-death and life insurance designations naming a former spouse for deaths after July 1, 2012. However, employer plans such as 401(k)s, pensions, and group life insurance are governed by federal ERISA law, which preempts the Florida statute under Egelhoff v. Egelhoff. The plan administrator must pay whoever is named on the form, so you should submit new beneficiary designations in writing.

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

Generally yes. Florida recognizes a will validly executed in another state. The issue is fit, not validity. Your will may lack a Florida self-proving affidavit, name a personal representative who is disqualified as a non-resident, or conflict with Florida’s strict homestead rules. Most new residents update their documents to Florida form to avoid delays and complications during probate.

What happens if I marry after signing my will and never update it?

Florida treats your new spouse as ‘pretermitted’ under § 732.301. Unless you provided for them elsewhere or they waived their rights in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, they can claim the share they would have received if you had died without a will. Separately, § 732.201 gives a surviving spouse the right to claim 30% of the elective estate regardless of the will’s terms.

How soon after a major life change should I update my estate plan?

As soon as the change is legally final and practically settled. After a divorce, re-execute your will, trust, powers of attorney, and beneficiary forms once the judgment is entered. After a marriage or a move to Florida, schedule a review promptly so the defaults built into Florida law do not produce a result you never intended.