When and Why to Review Your Florida Estate Plan: A Guide for Adult Children

You should review a Florida estate plan at least every three to five years, and immediately after any major life event such as a marriage, divorce, death, move to a new state, or significant change in health or assets. A review confirms that your will, trust, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations still match your wishes and still comply with current Florida law. Skipping these reviews is the single most common reason families end up in probate court fighting over a plan that was technically valid but badly out of date.

If you are an adult child helping an aging parent, this is one of the most useful conversations you can start. A signed estate plan sitting in a drawer for fifteen years is not a finished project. It is a snapshot of a life that has almost certainly changed. Below is how to know when that snapshot has gone stale, and what to actually look at when you sit down to review it.

What “reviewing” a Florida estate plan really means

A review is not the same as a rewrite. Most of the time, a thorough review confirms that the core documents still work and only minor updates are needed. The point is to verify, not to assume.

A complete Florida estate plan usually includes several moving parts, and each one ages differently:

• Last will and testament — names who inherits, who serves as personal representative, and who cares for any minor or dependent children.
• Revocable living trust — if one exists, it controls assets that were properly retitled into it and helps avoid probate.
• Durable power of attorney — lets a trusted agent handle finances if your parent becomes incapacitated. Under Florida’s Power of Attorney Act (Chapter 709, Florida Statutes), this document must be carefully drafted; “springing” powers of attorney signed after October 1, 2011 are generally no longer valid.
• Designation of health care surrogate — authorizes someone to make medical decisions (Chapter 765, Florida Statutes).
• Living will — states wishes about life-prolonging procedures.
• Beneficiary designations — on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts. These pass outside the will and quietly override it.

That last point catches families constantly. A will can leave everything “equally to my children,” but if a 401(k) still names an ex-spouse as beneficiary, the 401(k) goes to the ex-spouse. The will never touches it. Reviewing beneficiary designations is often the highest-value thirty minutes in the whole process.

How often should you review a Florida estate plan?

There are two answers, and you need both.

The calendar rule: every 3 to 5 years

Even when nothing dramatic happens, set a recurring review. Laws change. Florida’s homestead rules, the federal estate tax exemption, and trust statutes all shift over time. A document drafted under the Florida Trust Code as it read a decade ago may not take advantage of options available now. Three years is the right cadence for older parents whose health and assets are more likely to move; five years is reasonable for a younger, stable household.

The event rule: review now, not later

Life events override the calendar. When one of these happens, schedule a review within a few months rather than waiting for the next scheduled check-in. The most important triggers are below.

Life events that should trigger an estate plan review

Here is the practical checklist. If you can answer “yes” to any of these for your parent, the plan is probably overdue for attention.

1. Marriage or remarriage. Florida gives a surviving spouse strong protections, including the elective share (Chapter 732, Part II, Florida Statutes), which entitles a spouse to roughly 30% of the elective estate regardless of what the will says. A remarriage that the old will never anticipated can scramble the entire plan, especially in blended families.
2. Divorce. Florida law automatically voids most gifts and fiduciary appointments to a former spouse after a divorce is final, but it does not fix beneficiary designations on every account, and it does nothing while the divorce is merely pending. Update everything.
3. A death in the family. If a named personal representative, trustee, guardian, or primary beneficiary has died, those gaps must be filled. A will that names a deceased executor with no backup invites court appointment of a stranger.
4. The birth or adoption of a grandchild. Many parents want grandchildren included, or want protections in place if a child predeceases them.
5. A significant change in health. A new diagnosis of dementia, a stroke, or a serious illness raises urgent questions about the durable power of attorney and health care surrogate. These documents are only useful if signed while your parent still has capacity.
6. Buying, selling, or transferring real estate. Florida homestead property has special protections and descent rules. How a home is titled matters enormously, and retitling decisions deserve real attention.
7. A large change in net worth. An inheritance, a business sale, or a substantial loss can change whether trust planning, tax planning, or asset-protection strategies make sense.
8. Moving to Florida from another state. This one is huge and often missed.

Why an out-of-state plan needs a Florida review

Florida is full of people who retired here with documents drafted in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, or Illinois. Those documents are usually still valid, but “valid” is a low bar.

Florida has its own quirks that an out-of-state plan rarely addresses. The state’s homestead protections are among the strongest in the country and restrict how a primary residence can be devised if there is a surviving spouse or minor child. Florida also requires that a will be signed with specific formalities (Section 732.502, Florida Statutes), and it does not recognize holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) wills even if they were valid where they were written.

There is also the matter of who can serve. Florida law limits who may act as your personal representative — generally a Florida resident, or a close relative regardless of residence (Section 733.304). A parent who moved south and named a non-relative neighbor back in their old state may have an executor who cannot legally serve here.

If your parent recently relocated, a Florida-specific review is not optional. For families who keep ties to more than one state, it is worth coordinating with counsel in both. A New York office handling matters like a can address obligations or assets that remain up north, while Florida counsel handles the homestead and probate side here. The same is true when real property is involved across state lines; sophisticated tools such as are handled very differently depending on the state where the property sits.

What to check during the review

When you finally sit down with your parent (and ideally an attorney), work through these in order.

1. The people

Are the right people still named, and are they still willing and able? Confirm the personal representative, successor trustee, agent under the power of attorney, and health care surrogate. Make sure each has a named backup. People move, fall out, get sick, or pass away — the document should not assume otherwise.

2. The assets and titling

If your parent has a revocable living trust, the most common failure is that assets were never actually transferred into it. An unfunded trust is an empty box. Walk through the deed on the home, bank accounts, and brokerage accounts to confirm titling matches the plan.

3. The beneficiary designations

Pull statements for every life insurance policy, IRA, 401(k), annuity, and POD/TOD account. Verify the named beneficiaries and confirm there is a contingent beneficiary on each. This is where stale ex-spouses and long-deceased relatives hide.

4. The incapacity documents

Read the durable power of attorney closely. Florida’s 2011 statute requires specific, enumerated powers — a vague, old form may not let your parent’s agent do the very things you will need done, such as making gifts or dealing with a trust. If the document is more than a decade old, banks and brokerages may also balk at honoring it.

5. The tax picture

Florida has no state estate tax or inheritance tax, which simplifies things considerably. But the federal estate tax exemption is scheduled to change, and high-net-worth families should confirm their plan still fits the current numbers. Do not rely on a figure you remember from years ago; confirm the exemption in effect at the time of your review.

Common mistakes families make between reviews

• Treating the plan as “done.” Signing is the beginning of maintenance, not the end of a task.
• Hiding the documents too well. If no one can find the original will, Florida law presumes a lost will was revoked — a difficult presumption to overcome. Make sure a trusted person knows where the originals are.
• DIY edits. Crossing out a name or stapling a note to a will does not amend it and can invalidate it. Changes require proper execution.
• Ignoring digital assets. Online accounts, photos, and cryptocurrency need explicit authority under Florida’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740).
• Waiting until capacity is already gone. Once a parent can no longer understand their decisions, the window to update closes, and the only remaining option may be a court guardianship — slow, public, and expensive.

How to start the conversation with an aging parent

For most adult children, the hard part is not the legal review. It is bringing it up. Lead with care rather than control. You are not trying to learn what you will inherit; you are trying to make sure their wishes are honored and that you are not left guessing during a crisis.

A simple opener works: “Mom, I want to make sure that if something happens, we follow exactly what you want, and that I’m not scrambling. Can we get your documents looked at together?” Frame it as protecting their voice, because that is what it is.

When you are ready for professional help, a Florida estate planning attorney can run the full review, flag the gaps, and update only what needs updating. You can learn more about the firm’s , and our own pages on Florida wills and Florida probate walk through what happens when a plan is — or is not — kept current. When you are ready to schedule a review for yourself or a parent, our contact page is the place to start.

The bottom line

An estate plan is a living document for a changing life. Review it every three to five years, and review it immediately when life changes. For adult children of aging parents, a current, Florida-compliant plan is the difference between honoring a parent’s wishes smoothly and untangling them in a courtroom. The best time to look was when the plan was signed. The second-best time is now.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I review my Florida estate plan?

Review your Florida estate plan at least every three to five years, and immediately after any major life event such as a marriage, divorce, death of a named person, serious illness, a move to or from Florida, or a significant change in assets. The calendar review catches changes in Florida law; the event-based review catches changes in your own life.

Does an estate plan made in another state work in Florida?

Usually it remains valid, but valid is not the same as effective. Florida has unique homestead protections, will-execution formalities, and rules on who can serve as personal representative. Florida also does not recognize handwritten, unwitnessed wills. If a parent moved here from another state, a Florida-specific review is strongly recommended.

What happens if I never update my beneficiary designations?

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts pass outside your will and override it. An outdated designation, such as a former spouse named on a 401(k), can send assets to the wrong person regardless of what your will says. Reviewing these designations is one of the most important parts of any estate plan review.

Can my elderly parent still update their estate plan if their health is declining?

Only while they still have the mental capacity to understand their decisions. That is why incapacity documents like the durable power of attorney and health care surrogate must be signed before a crisis. Once capacity is lost, the only path to manage affairs may be a court guardianship, which is slower, public, and more expensive.

Is there a Florida estate tax I need to plan around?

Florida has no state estate tax or inheritance tax. However, the federal estate tax exemption is subject to change, so higher-net-worth families should confirm their plan still aligns with the current federal exemption at the time of each review rather than relying on an older figure.