Living Trust Florida

Last will and testaments

Wills are a part of all basic estate planning documents. Even if you have a living trust, you have a last will & testament called a "pour over will" to handle distribution of any assets not in the living trust (a common accident by oversight) and titled in your name with the following exceptions:

Assets with beneficiaries already listed (IRAs, 401k's, some bank accounts)
Assets held jointly with rights of survivorship

If you do not have a last will and testament

If you pass without a will ("intestate") Florida statutes state the following:

732.103 Share of other heirs.--The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under s. 732.102, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, descends as follows:

To the descendants of the decedent.
If there is no descendant, to the decedent's father and mother equally, or to the survivor of them.
If there is none of the foregoing, to the decedent's brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased brothers and sisters.
If there is none of the foregoing, the estate shall be divided, one-half of which shall go to the decedent's paternal, and the other half to the decedent's maternal, kindred in the following order:
(a) To the grandfather and grandmother equally, or to the survivor of them.
(b) If there is no grandfather or grandmother, to uncles and aunts and descendants of deceased uncles and aunts of the decedent.
(c) If there is either no paternal kindred or no maternal kindred, the estate shall go to the other kindred who survive, in the order stated above.
If there is no kindred of either part, the whole of the property shall go to the kindred of the last deceased spouse of the decedent as if the deceased spouse had survived the decedent and then died intestate entitled to the estate.
If none of the foregoing, and if any of the descendants of the decedent's great-grandparents were Holocaust victims as defined in s. 626.9543(3)(a), including such victims in countries cooperating with the discriminatory policies of Nazi Germany, then to the descendants of the great-grandparents. The court shall allow any such descendant to meet a reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof to substantiate his or her lineage. This subsection only applies to escheated property and shall cease to be effective for proceedings filed after December 31, 2004.

Who is named in a will?

Personal representatives (in other states called executors) are listed in the will to manage the transition of your estate. If formal probate is required they will work with the probate court during the process.

Beneficiaries are the heirs to the estate. A will alone can not hold assets for a beneficiary. A will can create a testamentary trust to hold assets for beneficiaries similar to a living trust (though testamentary trusts do not help assets avoid probate if that is a goal).

Guardians are listed in the will, not living trust. Guardians are nominated by the will but must be approved by a court. Read more about listing guardians.

Steps for creating a will

The will's creator (the testator) must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind when signing the will.
The signing must be witnessed and notarized as required by the state of Florida

Changing (amending) a will

The will can be changed or revoked by the testator anytime before his or her passing. The document becomes only effective only after the testator passes.

Wills and probate

Not all wills are subject to probate. The value of the probate estate must be taken into account. Read more about Florida probate.

Wills from other states

Upon moving to Florida, an attorney can review that your will is properly executed according to Florida laws, your personal representative is qualified to service in Florida and that your witnesses are available to prove your will.

Resource: Florida state bar guide on Wills