Florida Estate Planning Attorney Serving All of Florida in 2026

Estate planning is the process of deciding in advance what happens to your assets, who makes decisions for you if you cannot, and how to protect the people you care about from unnecessary legal complications when you are gone. Without a plan, Florida law makes those decisions for you, and the results often do not reflect what you would have chosen. The estate planning attorneys at Elder Needs Law work with Florida individuals and families at every stage of life to build plans that reflect their goals, protect their assets, and minimize the burden on the people left behind. Whether you are building your first estate plan, updating documents you have not reviewed in years, or incorporating Medicaid and elder law planning into a broader strategy, we are ready to help. Contact a Florida estate planning attorney at Elder Needs Law to schedule your consultation.

The Four Core Documents Every Florida Adult Needs

Every Florida adult should have at least four foundational estate planning documents in place. Together these documents address every major decision that may need to be made on your behalf during life and at death.

Each of these documents addresses a distinct scenario. A will covers what happens after death. A durable power of attorney and healthcare surrogate cover what happens if you become incapacitated during life. A living will covers what happens when you are at the end of life and cannot speak for yourself. Having all four in place means there is no situation in which your family is left without legal authority to act or forced to go to court to obtain it.

Last Will and Testament in Florida

A Last Will and Testament is the foundational document of any Florida estate plan. It directs how your assets are distributed after death, names a personal representative to administer your estate, and, for parents of minor children, designates a guardian if both parents predecease the child.

A Florida will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who sign in the presence of each other and the testator. Handwritten or holographic wills are not valid in Florida, even if they were valid in the state where they were originally written. Most estate planning attorneys also include a self-proving affidavit executed before a notary public, which eliminates the need for witnesses to appear in probate court to verify the will's authenticity.

A will does not avoid probate. Assets titled in the decedent's name alone at death without a beneficiary designation must still pass through the Florida probate process. What a will does is ensure that probate distributes assets according to your instructions rather than Florida's intestate succession laws, which apply automatically when there is no valid will.

Revocable Living Trust

A revocable living trust is the most powerful tool available to Florida families who want to avoid probate, maintain privacy, and ensure a seamless transfer of assets at death without court involvement.

When you create a revocable living trust, you transfer ownership of your assets from your name into the trust during your lifetime. You serve as the trustee and retain full control of all trust assets. You can buy, sell, mortgage, and manage trust assets exactly as you did before. At your death, a successor trustee you designate takes over and distributes the trust assets to your named beneficiaries according to the trust terms, without any court process, any public filing, or any delay.

Because the assets are held in the trust rather than in your individual name, they pass entirely outside probate. This saves your family the time and expense of a formal probate administration, keeps the details of your estate out of the public record, and eliminates the creditor notice period that formal probate requires. For larger or more complex estates, a funded revocable living trust is almost always the most efficient and cost-effective estate planning structure available. Florida law treats all living trusts as revocable unless the trust document specifically states otherwise.

Durable Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney authorizes a named agent to handle your financial, legal, and property matters on your behalf. For it to be effective during incapacity, it must contain specific durability language under Florida's Chapter 709 Power of Attorney Act. Without that language, the document terminates automatically if you lose capacity, which is exactly when it is most needed.

A properly drafted Florida durable power of attorney also includes specific enumerated authorities for actions such as making gifts, creating or amending trusts, and changing beneficiary designations, all of which are required to be expressly listed under the Florida Power of Attorney Act and are particularly important for Medicaid planning purposes.

Without a valid durable power of attorney, a family member who needs to act on behalf of an incapacitated person must go through the Florida guardianship process to obtain that authority, which is more expensive, more time-consuming, and far more restrictive than a power of attorney. For a complete overview of Florida's power of attorney requirements, read our guide on the Florida Power of Attorney Act.

Designation of Healthcare Surrogate and Living Will

A Designation of Healthcare Surrogate names the person you want to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are unable to make them yourself. Florida law under Chapter 765 governs healthcare surrogate designations and requires the document to be signed in the presence of two witnesses, neither of whom can be the named surrogate.

The surrogate has the authority to consult with your physicians, access your medical records, consent to or refuse treatment, and make all medical decisions consistent with your known wishes and best interests. Naming a healthcare surrogate in advance eliminates the ambiguity and family conflict that often arises when no one has clear legal authority to speak for an incapacitated patient.

A Living Will is a separate document that records your specific wishes regarding life-prolonging procedures when you are in a terminal condition, end-stage condition, or persistent vegetative state. It relieves your healthcare surrogate and family members of the burden of guessing what you would have wanted, and it gives your medical team a legally documented expression of your intent.

Estate Tax Planning in Florida for 2026

Florida has no state estate tax. The only estate tax that may apply to Florida residents is the federal estate tax, which in 2026 carries an individual exemption of $15,000,000, or $30,000,000 for a married couple with proper planning.

For most Florida families, the federal exemption is sufficient to eliminate any estate tax liability, and the primary estate planning goals are probate avoidance, incapacity planning, and asset protection rather than tax minimization. However, families with estates approaching or exceeding the federal exemption, or those with older trusts that contain formula clauses based on prior exemption amounts, should have their documents reviewed by an estate planning attorney to confirm the current funding language still achieves the intended result under 2026 exemption levels.

Families with closely held businesses, significant investment real estate, or concentrated stock positions may also benefit from advanced planning strategies such as Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, or Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, depending on their specific goals and asset profile.

Homestead Planning in Florida

Florida's homestead laws are among the strongest in the country and create both significant protections and significant planning complications for estate planning purposes. The homestead is protected from most creditor claims during the owner's lifetime and at death, but Florida law also imposes restrictions on how the homestead can be devised when the owner is survived by a spouse or minor children.

A married Florida homeowner cannot leave the homestead to anyone other than the surviving spouse without the spouse's written consent. A homeowner with minor children cannot devise the homestead away from those children regardless of what the will says. Attempting to transfer the homestead in a way that violates these restrictions can result in the transfer being voided entirely.

For families who want to incorporate the homestead into a Medicaid planning strategy, a Lady Bird Deed is the most commonly used and most flexible tool, allowing the owner to retain full control during life, pass the property outside probate at death, and avoid Florida Medicaid estate recovery without triggering the five-year lookback period. For a complete overview of how the homestead intersects with Medicaid planning, read our guide on protecting your Florida home while qualifying for Medicaid.

When to Update Your Florida Estate Plan

An estate plan that was accurate when it was drafted may no longer reflect your wishes, your family situation, or your legal needs if significant time has passed. You should review your estate plan whenever any of the following occurs:

• You marry, divorce, or enter or exit a long-term relationship
• A child or grandchild is born or adopted
• A named beneficiary, agent, personal representative, trustee, or guardian dies or becomes incapacitated
• Your assets increase significantly or you acquire major new property
• You move to or from Florida
• A major change in federal or state tax law affects your plan
• Your estate planning documents were executed before October 1, 2011, in which case your power of attorney likely does not comply with Florida's current Chapter 709 requirements
• Your trust contains formula clauses based on prior estate tax exemption levels that may no longer function as intended under the 2026 exemption

As a general rule, reviewing your estate plan every three to five years even without a triggering event is a sound practice. Laws change, family circumstances evolve, and an outdated plan can create as many problems as no plan at all.

Estate Planning and Medicaid Planning Together

For Florida families with a member who is aging or already dealing with significant health challenges, estate planning and Medicaid planning should be addressed together rather than in isolation. The documents and strategies used in each area directly affect the other, and a plan that is optimized for one goal without accounting for the other can inadvertently undermine both.

A revocable living trust, for example, does not protect assets from Florida Medicaid's countable resource calculation because the grantor retains full control and the ability to revoke. Assets in a revocable trust are still counted as the grantor's resources for Medicaid eligibility purposes. An irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust, by contrast, removes assets from the countable resource calculation but requires a five-year lookback period and gives up the flexibility of a revocable trust.

Understanding how these tools interact, and building a coordinated plan that addresses both estate planning and Medicaid planning goals, is one of the most important services an elder law attorney provides. For a complete overview of how Florida Medicaid planning works, read our guide on Florida Medicaid long-term care programs or our summary of Florida Medicaid asset rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What documents does a Florida estate plan include?

A. A comprehensive Florida estate plan includes a Last Will and Testament, a Durable Power of Attorney, a Designation of Healthcare Surrogate, a Living Will, and in many cases a Revocable Living Trust. Together these documents address what happens to your assets at death, who manages your finances if you cannot, and who makes medical decisions on your behalf.

Q. Do I need a trust or a will in Florida?

A. Both serve different purposes. A will directs how your assets are distributed after death and must go through probate. A revocable living trust also directs distribution but passes assets outside probate when properly funded. Most Florida families benefit from having both, with the trust handling probate avoidance and the will serving as a backstop for any assets not transferred to the trust.

Q. What is the federal estate tax exemption in 2026?

A. The federal estate tax exemption in 2026 is $15,000,000 per individual, or $30,000,000 for a married couple with proper planning. Florida has no separate state estate tax. Estates below the federal exemption owe no federal estate tax.

Q. How often should I update my Florida estate plan?

A. You should review your estate plan every three to five years or after any major life event, including marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a named agent or beneficiary, a significant change in assets, or a move to or from Florida. Documents executed before October 1, 2011 should be reviewed immediately to ensure they comply with Florida's current Power of Attorney Act.

Q. Is a handwritten will valid in Florida?

A. No. Handwritten or holographic wills are not valid in Florida, even if they were valid in another state. A Florida will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who sign in the presence of each other and the testator. Most attorneys also include a self-proving affidavit executed before a notary to streamline the probate process.

Work With a Florida Estate Planning Attorney

A complete estate plan gives you control over decisions that will otherwise be made by Florida courts, state statutes, or family members acting without legal authority. The Florida estate planning attorneys at Elder Needs Law build plans that address every dimension of your situation, from foundational documents to advanced trust strategies and integrated Medicaid planning, so that your family is protected at every stage. We serve all of Florida remotely and in person from offices in Aventura, Boca Raton, Plantation, and Spring Hill.

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