Does a spouse automatically inherit everything in Florida?

No, a spouse does not automatically inherit everything in Florida. A spouse is entitled to some portion of the estate, but not all and not automatically. However, any property that is held jointly between the spouses or as tenants by the entirety will transfer automatically upon death.

A common misconception in Florida is that if you are married, the spouse gets everything immediately. This is simply not true. I remember one of my early clients even tried to argue with me about this, claiming that marriage overruled everything else. But for better or worse, this is just not the case.

There are some situations where a spouse inherits everything according to the Florida Probate Code. For example, if neither spouse has children and there is no will, then the assets in the estate will all end up with the surviving spouse. However, this is not an automatic process. Generally, the surviving spouse will have to go through the probate court to get the assets. To make matters worse, there are some situations where the rules of intestate succession give half the assets to someone other than the spouse (like when one spouse has children who do not belong to the other spouse).

A spouse is entitled to something called the elective share. This share is about 30% of the assets (depending on the nature of those assets). The surviving spouse is entitled to this share regardless of what is said in the decedent’s last will and testament. But again, this is not automatic. Getting the elective share can take months and requires the involvement of a probate court.

However, the good news is that if you want your spouse to inherit everything automatically, you can have an estate plan that does just that. A good estate planner will even provide you with multiple ways to accomplish this goal. For example, you could use a living trust and name you spouse as the successor trustee. this would result in in immediate, automatic ownership over every asset in the trust. Or you could handle each asset individually, retitling them as needed to automatically transfer to your spouse at death.

If you have questions about estate planning, give my office a call. I would be happy to sit down with you during a free consultation to answer any questions you might have.