Major life events such as marriage, divorce, or remarriage often bring significant changes. Amid these transitions, many individuals forget to update their estate plans. Failing to revise your estate documents after a change in marital status can lead to unintended outcomes, such as assets being distributed to unintended beneficiaries or disputes among family members.
While Florida law offers certain automatic protections, these may not reflect your current wishes. Reviewing and updating your estate plan is the best way to ensure that it aligns with your present circumstances.
Below is a summary of how marriage, divorce, and remarriage can affect your estate plan in Florida.
Marriage
Getting married significantly alters your legal rights and responsibilities, including your spouse’s right to inherit. Under Florida law, a surviving spouse is typically entitled to a portion of the deceased spouse’s estate, regardless of whether they are named in the will or trust.
This may occur through:
- The Pretermitted Spouse Rule: If your will was created before your marriage and does not include your spouse, Florida law may still entitle them to a share of your estate, unless the omission was intentional or waived by agreement.
- The Elective Share: In Florida, a surviving spouse may choose to claim 30% of the “elective estate,” which includes probate and certain non-probate assets such as revocable trusts and joint accounts, unless waived through a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
Failing to update your documents may unintentionally disinherit other beneficiaries or force your estate to be distributed in ways you didn’t intend.
Divorce
Divorce is a critical time to revisit your estate plan. While Florida law automatically revokes certain provisions in favor of a former spouse, not all documents are affected.
Some of the most important steps to take after a divorce include:
- Updating Personal Documents: This includes revising your durable power of attorney, health care surrogate designation, living will, and declaration of preneed guardian. If any of these name your former spouse, those designations should be changed.
- Revising Wills and Trusts: In Florida, divorce does not revoke your entire will or trust, but any provisions favoring your ex-spouse are generally considered void. If a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement remains in place, it should also be reviewed and possibly amended to reflect the new reality.
- Protecting Minor Children: If you have children, your estate plan should reflect your preferences regarding guardianship and provide for any specific needs, such as educational or medical trusts or special needs planning.
- Reviewing Beneficiary Designations: Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death accounts may still list your former spouse as the beneficiary. Unless you update those designations, your ex-spouse could still inherit those assets, regardless of the divorce.
Although the elective share typically dissolves upon divorce, complications can arise if the divorce is not finalized before one spouse passes away. Acting promptly is essential to avoid confusion or litigation.
Remarriage
Remarrying can be an exciting new chapter, but it also adds complexity to your estate plan. Blended families, stepchildren, and shared property require thoughtful planning to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes.
If your estate plan is not updated after remarriage, the following issues may arise:
- Elective Share Rights: Your new spouse may be entitled to 30% of your elective estate, even if your intention was to leave most of your assets to your children from a prior relationship.
- Homestead Protections: Florida law provides surviving spouses with specific homestead rights. These may interfere with your intended distribution of real property, particularly if you wish to leave a residence to your children.
- Unintended Disinheritance: Without proper planning, your children may be unintentionally excluded from your estate. This is common in blended families where all assets pass to the surviving spouse, who is under no legal obligation to later distribute them to your children.
To address these concerns, consider:
- Creating or updating a revocable living trust to control how assets are distributed between your spouse and children.
- Executing a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to clarify each spouse’s rights and preserve separate property.
- Utilizing financial tools such as life insurance to provide for one group of beneficiaries while preserving other assets for another.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait
Even if Florida law provides certain automatic protections, a failure to update your estate plan can still lead to unnecessary conflict, confusion, or litigation.
Taking the time to meet with an estate planning attorney after a major life change allows you to:
- Protect your loved ones (especially minor children or dependents)
- Preserve your assets in line with your wishes
- Minimize taxes, court costs, and delays
- Avoid unintentionally empowering an ex-spouse or excluding a new one
Conclusion
Life circumstances change. Your estate plan should change with them. If you have recently married, divorced, or remarried, now is the time to review and update your estate plan.
At EPGD Business Law, we help individuals and families navigate these important transitions with clarity and care. Whether you are updating an existing plan or starting from scratch, our attorneys can help ensure your documents are current, comprehensive, and legally sound.
To learn more about how marriage, remarriage, or divorce affects your estate plan, contact one of our experienced estate planning attorneys at EPGD Business Law. Call us at (786) 837-6787.
