A new year can be a welcome opportunity to put important plans in place. Estate planning helps you decide who should act for you, how loved ones should be supported and how property should pass. Starting with a few clear priorities can make the process manageable and give you greater confidence about the arrangements you leave behind.
Steps For Estate Planning In Florida
- Understand the Florida Rules That Affect You: Florida homestead involves separate creditor protections, inheritance restrictions and property-tax benefits. A spouse or minor child can affect how the home may pass at death. Florida currently has no separate state estate or inheritance tax, but those are different taxes, and federal taxes or another state’s rules can still matter. Inherited property can also involve later income, gains or property taxes. Review the actual property and family circumstances.
- Inventory Your Assets: Compile a list of your assets, including real estate, bank accounts, investments, insurance policies, and personal property of value. This will give you a clear picture of what comprises your estate.
- Determine Your Goals: Decide what you want to achieve with your estate plan. This may include providing for the family, protecting assets, minimizing taxes, or supporting charitable causes.
- Create a Will: A will directs covered probate property, nominates a personal representative and can nominate a guardian for minor children. Court appointment and applicable parental rights still matter. Without a valid disposition, probate property passes under Florida intestacy law; effective nonprobate beneficiary and ownership arrangements operate separately.
- Consider an Appropriate Trust: A trust can provide continuing management and avoid probate for property properly placed under its terms. Revocable and irrevocable trusts have different control, tax and creditor consequences. Choose the structure for your needs, then complete the required funding and beneficiary coordination.
- Designate Beneficiaries: Ensure that all your accounts with beneficiary designations (like retirement accounts and life insurance policies) are updated. These designations often supersede instructions in the will and trust documents.
- Prepare Financial Authority: Choose a trustworthy agent and appropriate successors for a power of attorney. A new Florida power of attorney generally takes effect when signed, subject to limited exceptions; durability addresses whether it continues during later incapacity. Understand the authority you are granting and appropriate safeguards.
- Prepare Health Care Directions: Discuss a living will and health care surrogate designation. The documents serve different purposes, and a surrogate designation can be structured to provide immediate authority if desired. Coordinate the language with your treatment preferences and the people who may help.
- Consult an Estate Planning Attorney: Estate planning can be complex, and Florida has some unique laws, as we discussed above. An attorney can help navigate these complexities and ensure that your estate plan is valid and effective.
- Review and Update Regularly: Life changes, such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, or acquiring significant assets, can impact your estate plan. Review it regularly and update it as needed.
You do not need to have every answer before beginning. Gather your existing documents and a basic asset list, then discuss your goals with counsel. Spiro Verras can help you understand the choices and prepare a plan suited to your circumstances. Consultations are available in Palm Harbor or by Zoom, with Tampa and St. Petersburg consultation locations available by appointment.
Sources: Florida Statutes § 732.4015; Florida Statutes § 709.2108; Florida Statutes § 765.202; Florida Department of Revenue estate tax information.
Updated October 26, 2026.