Florida does not recognize common-law marriage, and its intestacy and elective-share protections are built around legal spouses. For unmarried couples in Palm Beach, that means your partner has no automatic legal standing, no matter how long you’ve been together. Careful planning is the only way to protect each other. Here’s how the process works, what it costs, and how long it takes.
Why Default Florida Law Leaves Your Partner Out
If you die without a will, Florida’s intestacy statutes (§732.101+) distribute your assets to blood relatives, parents, siblings, children, but never to an unmarried partner. Your partner could be left with nothing while a distant relative inherits. The fix is affirmatively naming your partner in a will (§732.502), a trust, or beneficiary designations.
Medical and Financial Authority Can’t Be Assumed
Unmarried partners have no automatic right to make medical decisions or access accounts for each other. A durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) and a designation of health care surrogate let you name your partner explicitly. Without these, your partner may be shut out of the hospital room or unable to manage shared finances, and a Palm Beach County court could appoint a relative instead. These documents typically take a week or two to prepare.
A Revocable Trust for Privacy and Speed
A Florida revocable living trust (Chapter 736) is often the centerpiece for unmarried couples. Because trust assets avoid probate, your partner can receive them without a court process and without your relatives being formally notified, which matters when family relationships are complicated. The trust also names your partner as successor trustee, so they can manage assets immediately if you become incapacitated or pass away.
Cost and Timeline Compared to Probate
If assets pass under a will, they go through Florida probate. Formal administration in Palm Beach County often takes several months to more than a year, with attorney’s fees guided by §733.6171. Summary administration is quicker but limited to estates under $75,000 in non-exempt assets or deaths more than two years past. A funded trust avoids these delays for the property it holds, an important advantage when you want your partner provided for promptly.
Owning a Home Together
How you title your Palm Beach home matters enormously. Married couples get tenancy by the entirety; unmarried couples do not. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship can pass the home to the surviving partner outside probate, but homestead rules under Article X, §4 add wrinkles. A Lady Bird deed may also let one partner pass the home to the other while retaining control during life. Get the deed structure reviewed, because a wrong title can undo your intentions.
Beneficiary Designations Are Your Friend
Life insurance, retirement accounts, and pay-on-death accounts pass directly to whoever you name, regardless of marital status, and they skip probate. For unmarried couples, these are a fast, low-cost way to make sure your partner is provided for. Update them whenever your relationship or assets change.
Consult a Florida Attorney
Because Florida law gives unmarried partners no default protection, your documents do all the work, and small errors can leave your partner exposed. Work with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney serving Palm Beach to build a plan that legally protects you both.
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For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of powers of attorney in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
