When Should You Update Your Florida Estate Plan? Seven Life Events That Change Everything

You Signed Everything. You Filed It Away. Now What?

You did the responsible thing. You sat down with an attorney, signed a will, maybe set up a trust, named beneficiaries, and put the folder in your filing cabinet. You felt good about it.

That was eight years ago. Since then, you remarried, your daughter had twins, you sold your business, and you moved from New Jersey to Winter Park. You have not looked at those documents since the day you signed them.

Here is the problem. Your estate plan was built for the life you had then. It may not work for the life you have now. And if something happens to you tomorrow, the plan that gets executed is the one on paper, not the one in your head.

Why This Matters More in Florida Than You Might Expect

Florida has its own set of rules that can quietly override what your documents say. Homestead protections under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution restrict how you can leave your home if you have a surviving spouse or minor children. A power of attorney drafted in another state may not be honored by a Florida bank. A health care surrogate form that does not comply with Chapter 765 of the Florida Statutes could be challenged at exactly the wrong moment.

If you moved to Florida from another state and never had your plan reviewed by a Florida attorney, there is a real chance your documents have gaps you do not know about.

Life Event 1: You Got Married or Remarried

Marriage changes your legal landscape immediately. In Florida, a surviving spouse has an elective share right -- the right to claim 30 percent of the augmented estate regardless of what the will says (Florida Statutes Section 732.2065). If your will still leaves everything to your children from a prior marriage and says nothing about your new spouse, the law may override your wishes.

For second marriages, the stakes multiply. You may want to provide for your new spouse without accidentally disinheriting your children. That requires deliberate planning, often involving a QTIP trust or a properly structured prenuptial agreement, not just a will update.

Life Event 2: You Got Divorced

Florida law automatically revokes provisions in a will that benefit a former spouse (Florida Statutes Section 732.507(2)). That sounds helpful, but it does not cover everything. Beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death bank accounts are not automatically revoked by divorce. If your ex-spouse is still named on your 401(k), they will receive it when you die, regardless of what your will says.

Life Event 3: You Had Children or Grandchildren

A child born after you signed your will may be treated as a "pretermitted child" under Florida Statutes Section 732.302, which could entitle them to a share of your estate that disrupts your intended distribution. Grandchildren create their own planning questions, particularly if you want to set up education funding, protect an inheritance from a grandchild's future creditors, or provide for a grandchild with special needs.

Life Event 4: You Moved to Florida

This one catches snowbirds and transplants off guard constantly. An estate plan drafted in New York, Michigan, or Illinois may reference laws that do not exist in Florida, name a personal representative who does not qualify under Florida law, or fail to account for homestead protections.

Consider Diane, who moved from Chicago to Dr. Phillips three years ago. Her will names her brother in Wisconsin as personal representative. Under Florida Statutes Section 733.304, a non-resident can serve as personal representative only if they are a spouse, sibling, parent, child, or certain other relative. Diane's brother qualifies as a sibling, but if she had named her best friend in Wisconsin instead, that person would not be eligible. Diane also never re-titled her home into her Florida revocable trust, which means the house will go through probate despite the trust she set up.

Life Event 5: You Bought, Sold, or Refinanced Property

Real estate transactions are one of the most common ways a trust becomes "unfunded." If you refinanced your home, the lender may have required you to take the property out of your trust temporarily. If it was never transferred back, the trust does not control the home anymore. The same problem arises when you buy a new investment property and title it in your personal name instead of the trust.

We see this regularly. Someone has a perfectly drafted trust, but the assets were never moved into it. At that point, the trust is an empty container and probate is required for everything that was supposed to avoid it.

Life Event 6: Someone You Named Can No Longer Serve

Plans name people: a personal representative, a trustee, a health care surrogate, an agent under your power of attorney. People move, get sick, become estranged, or pass away. If the person you named in 2016 is no longer the right choice in 2026, your documents need to reflect that.

We encourage clients to bring in what they found online so we can explain what is right, what is wrong, and what the tradeoffs are. A conversation with a lawyer is better than guessing based on internet content, online forms, or AI-generated answers.

Life Event 7: Your Net Worth Changed Significantly

If your estate has grown substantially -- through business sales, inheritance, property appreciation, or retirement account growth -- strategies that were unnecessary ten years ago may be critical now. The federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026, but that number does not mean planning is irrelevant. Portability must be elected on a timely Form 706. Basis step-up planning matters for everyone, not just the ultra-wealthy. And if your estate has grown into a range where state inheritance taxes in other states could apply to your heirs, multi-state planning may be needed.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

The plan on paper is the plan that gets executed. If it names the wrong people, leaves out a child, fails to account for Florida law, or sits in a filing cabinet while your assets grow beyond its scope, the consequences land on your family. Outdated plans cause probate delays, family disputes, unintended disinheritance, and unnecessary taxes.

What to Do Now

Pull out your documents. Look at the names, the dates, and the assets they reference. Ask yourself whether the people you named are still the right choices, whether all your property is titled correctly, and whether anything significant has changed in your life since you signed.

If the answer to any of those questions is "I am not sure," that is reason enough to schedule a review.

How Our Firm Helps

At Yergey and Yergey, we review existing estate plans every day. Some clients come in with plans that need minor updates. Others come in with documents from another state that need a complete overhaul for Florida compliance. Either way, we walk you through what still works, what does not, and what needs to change.

A plan review is one of the most cost-effective things you can do in estate planning. It is significantly cheaper than the probate litigation, family disputes, and tax surprises that an outdated plan can create.

If it has been more than a few years since you looked at your estate plan, or if any of the seven life events above apply to you, call our office at (407) 843-0430 or visit orlandoprobatelawyer.com to schedule a review. We have been helping Orlando families since 1928, and we would be glad to help yours.