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, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and beneficiary designations so they match your new family situation and comply with Florida law. Major life changes can quietly invalidate parts of an old plan, redirect money to the wrong person, or leave your new spouse and children with fewer rights than you intended. A short review after any of these three events is usually all it takes to keep your wishes enforceable.

I have sat across the table from too many families who assumed their documents still worked. A woman who divorced in Ohio, moved to Boca Raton, and never realized her ex-husband was still the agent on her healthcare directive. A young couple who got married and figured marriage “automatically” handled everything. It almost never does. If you are a first-time planner or building protection around a growing family, these are exactly the moments to get this right.

Why life changes break an estate plan

An estate plan is a snapshot. It reflects who you loved, who you trusted, and what the law said on the day you signed it. Divorce, marriage, and relocation each move at least one of those pieces, and sometimes all three at once.

Here is the part that surprises people: many of the documents that control your money do not even live inside your will. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and most bank and brokerage accounts pass by beneficiary designation or pay-on-death registration. Your will cannot override them. So you can rewrite a perfect new will and still send your 401(k) to an ex-spouse if you never changed the beneficiary form.

Updating your estate plan after divorce in Florida

Florida actually tries to protect you here, but only partway. Under Florida Statutes section 732.507(2), any provision in your will that affects your former spouse is treated as though that spouse died at the time of the divorce. A parallel rule in section 732.703 revokes a former spouse’s beneficiary designation on certain assets, like life insurance and annuities, once a judgment of dissolution is entered.

That sounds like a clean reset. It is not. The statute has real gaps, and relying on it instead of updating your documents is risky.

• It only covers a former spouse. If your old plan also named your ex’s parents, siblings, or children as backup beneficiaries or trustees, those provisions can survive untouched.
• It does not reach everything. Federal law (ERISA) governs many employer retirement plans, and federal rules can override the Florida revocation statute. The named beneficiary on a 401(k) may still control, ex-spouse or not.
• It can create accidental gaps. Wiping out your ex as personal representative or trustee may leave no one named at all, which can push your estate toward a court-appointed administrator.
• It says nothing about your kids’ guardian or your healthcare agent. Powers of attorney and healthcare surrogate designations need to be revoked and replaced deliberately.

What to actually do after a divorce

1. Revoke your old durable power of attorney and healthcare surrogate, then sign new ones naming someone you currently trust.
2. Re-do your beneficiary designations on every account, including the contingent (backup) beneficiaries.
3. Sign a new will and, if you have one, restate your revocable trust rather than patching it.
4. If you have minor children, name a guardian and consider a trust so a young child does not inherit a lump sum at 18.
5. Check the deed on your home. Property held as “tenancy by the entirety” with a former spouse converts to a tenancy in common after divorce, which changes who inherits.

Updating your estate plan after marriage

Marriage is the happy version of the same problem. Many people assume a new spouse is automatically protected. Florida does give a surviving spouse strong rights, but “automatic” and “what you actually want” are rarely the same thing.

If you got married after signing your will and did not provide for your new spouse, Florida’s pretermitted spouse statute (section 732.301) generally entitles that spouse to an intestate share, as if you had died with no will at all. On top of that, a surviving spouse can claim the elective share under section 732.201, which is 30 percent of the elective estate, and that calculation reaches well beyond probate assets.

Florida also protects the family home aggressively. The homestead provisions in the Florida Constitution, Article X, section 4 sharply limit how you can leave your primary residence if you have a spouse or minor child. You generally cannot simply will the house to someone else and cut your spouse out.

Blended families and first marriages need different plans

For a first marriage with shared children, the goals are usually simple: protect each other, then the kids. For a blended family, the questions get harder. How do you provide for a new spouse and make sure children from a prior relationship are not disinherited when the survivor later changes the plan? This is where tools like a marital trust or a carefully drafted revocable trust earn their keep. For couples thinking about how to pass down a home while keeping some control during their lifetimes, our colleagues explain one such approach in this guide to , a concept that translates well to Florida planning.

A few marriage-time priorities for young families:

• Add your spouse as primary beneficiary where appropriate, and update contingent beneficiaries to your children or a children’s trust.
• Sign mirror or joint planning documents so both of you have current wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare surrogates.
• Name a guardian for minor children in your will. This is the single most important provision for new parents.
• If either spouse has significant assets, special-needs family members, or a public-benefits situation, talk to an attorney about specialized trusts before you sign anything generic.

Updating your estate plan after moving to Florida

Florida is a magnet for new residents, and almost every week I meet someone who arrived with a will or trust drafted in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, or somewhere else. The good news: an out-of-state will that was valid where signed is generally honored in Florida. The catch is that “honored” does not mean “ideal.”

Here is what most often needs attention after a relocation:

• Self-proving affidavits. Florida lets a properly executed will be “self-proved” under section 732.503, which speeds up probate. Many out-of-state wills do not meet Florida’s exact format, so the court may require witnesses to be tracked down later.
• Personal representative residency. Florida limits who can serve as your personal representative. A non-relative who lives out of state generally cannot serve under section 733.304. If your old will named an out-of-state friend, that nomination may fail here.
• Healthcare and financial documents. Hospitals and banks want forms that look like Florida forms. A New York healthcare proxy or statutory power of attorney can cause friction at exactly the wrong moment.
• Homestead. Once Florida becomes your home, the homestead rules above apply to your residence and reshape how it must pass.
• No state estate or income tax. Florida has neither, which is often the financial reason people move. That can change whether older tax-driven trust structures still make sense.

Relocation is also a good moment to revisit any specialized planning you set up elsewhere. If you previously used a niche tool, such as a to preserve eligibility for benefits, you will want to confirm how it interacts with Florida residency and Florida’s Medicaid rules before assuming it still does its job.

The documents to review after any major change

Whatever the trigger, the review checklist is largely the same. Pull these out and read them with fresh eyes:

• Last will and testament (and any codicils)
• Revocable living trust, plus the schedule of assets funded into it
• Durable power of attorney
• Designation of healthcare surrogate and living will
• Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities
• Pay-on-death and transfer-on-death registrations on bank and brokerage accounts
• Deeds to real estate, especially how title is held
• Guardian nomination for any minor children

If a name on any of these documents belongs to an ex-spouse, a deceased relative, or someone you no longer trust, that is your signal to act. You can read more about how the foundational documents fit together on our wills and trusts page, and about what happens when no plan exists in our overview of Florida probate.

Common mistakes I see

The most frequent errors are not exotic. They are ordinary, and they are avoidable.

• Updating the will but not the beneficiary forms. The forms usually win.
• Assuming the divorce statute fixed everything. It is a safety net with holes, not a plan.
• Forgetting the contingent beneficiary. People update the primary, leave the backup as an ex or a deceased parent, and never notice.
• Leaving a trust unfunded. A trust controls only what you actually transfer into it. An empty trust does nothing.
• Letting documents go stale for a decade. Even without a divorce, marriage, or move, plans should be reviewed every three to five years.

When to call a Florida estate planning attorney

If you have experienced any of the three life events in this article, that conversation is worth having now rather than after a crisis. An attorney can tell you in one meeting whether your existing documents transfer cleanly into Florida, where the gaps are, and what a focused update would cost. For a fuller picture of services and process, see this overview of .

You do not need a complicated estate to deserve a plan that actually reflects your life. You need documents that name the right people, point assets in the right direction, and satisfy Florida’s specific rules. When you are ready, reach out for a consultation and bring whatever you already have. Half the work is often confirming what still works.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Partly. Florida Statutes section 732.507(2) treats most will provisions favoring a former spouse as if that spouse died at the divorce, and section 732.703 revokes many beneficiary designations. But the rules have gaps: federal law can override them on employer retirement plans, and they do not update your powers of attorney, healthcare surrogate, or guardian nominations. You should still revise your documents deliberately.

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

Generally yes. A will validly executed in another state is usually honored in Florida. However, it may not be self-proving under Florida section 732.503, your named personal representative may be disqualified if they are an out-of-state non-relative under section 733.304, and your healthcare and financial forms may not match what Florida institutions expect. A review after relocating is strongly recommended.

Do I need to update my estate plan if I just got married?

Yes. Marriage does not automatically rewrite your documents the way you want. If your old will predates the marriage, Florida’s pretermitted spouse statute (section 732.301) and the elective share (section 732.201) give your spouse rights, but you should still update beneficiaries, sign new powers of attorney, name a guardian for any children, and address the homestead rules for your home.

What documents should I review after a major life change?

Review your will, revocable trust and its funding, durable power of attorney, healthcare surrogate and living will, all beneficiary designations on retirement and life insurance accounts, pay-on-death registrations, real estate deeds, and any guardian nomination for minor children. If an outdated or wrong name appears on any of them, update it.

How often should I update my estate plan if nothing major changes?

Even without a divorce, marriage, or move, you should review your plan every three to five years. Tax laws, family relationships, and your assets change gradually, and a periodic check keeps your documents current and enforceable.

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 how a will is contested in New York.