If you die without a will in Florida, state law determines who inherits your intestate estate. You do not get to choose the beneficiaries through verbal instructions or informal family understandings. Instead, Florida's intestate succession statutes establish which relatives inherit and in what shares.

This does not mean the State of Florida automatically takes your property. It also does not mean every asset you own must go through probate.

Under Florida Statutes § 732.101, property that is not effectively disposed of by a will passes to the decedent's heirs according to Florida's intestate succession laws.

For Florida homeowners and families, the practical question is not simply whether you have a will. It is whether your entire estate plan determines what will happen to your property, who will manage your affairs, and which assets may be able to pass outside probate.

What Does It Mean to Die Intestate in Florida?

A person who dies without a valid will is generally described as dying intestate.

Intestacy can also apply to property that was not effectively disposed of by a will. Florida Statutes § 732.101 provides that any part of an estate not effectively disposed of by will passes to the decedent's heirs under Florida's intestate succession statutes.

The important distinction is that Florida law supplies the distribution rules.

The court is not deciding which relatives seem most deserving. The law establishes an order of inheritance based primarily on the decedent's surviving spouse and family relationships.

Intestacy also concerns the intestate estate, not necessarily every asset a person owned at death.

Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Florida?

The answer depends heavily on your family structure.

Florida law gives a surviving spouse significant inheritance rights, but the spouse's share changes in certain circumstances involving descendants.

What Does a Surviving Spouse Inherit?

Under Florida Statutes § 732.102, a surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate if the decedent leaves no surviving descendants.

A surviving spouse also receives the entire intestate estate when all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse has no other descendants.

The result changes for some blended families.

If the decedent has one or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse receives one-half of the intestate estate. The statute also provides for a one-half share when all of the decedent's descendants are shared with the surviving spouse, but the surviving spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent.

These distinctions are one reason blended families should be particularly careful about relying on Florida's default inheritance laws.

What Do Children Inherit?

If there is no surviving spouse, the intestate estate generally passes first to the decedent's descendants.

If there is a surviving spouse who receives only part of the intestate estate under § 732.102, the remaining portion passes according to the rules governing other heirs.

Florida Statutes § 732.103 places descendants first in the succession order for property not passing to a surviving spouse. Florida also provides that intestate descent is per stirpes, a method of distribution that allows a deceased beneficiary's branch of the family to take the applicable share.

The actual distribution can therefore become more complicated when a child dies before a parent but leaves descendants.

What If There Is No Spouse or Child?

Florida law continues through a statutory hierarchy.

If there is no surviving spouse entitled to the property and no descendants, § 732.103 generally directs the estate to the decedent's parents equally, or entirely to the surviving parent. If neither parent survives, the statute next looks to brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased siblings. If none of those relatives survive, Florida law continues through more remote paternal and maternal kindred and, in certain circumstances, the kindred of the decedent's last deceased spouse.

This is a significant consequence of dying without an estate plan. Florida law may ultimately transfer property to relatives you would not have selected yourself.

Does an Unmarried Partner Inherit in Florida?

An unmarried partner does not receive the intestate rights Florida law gives a surviving spouse merely because the couple lived together or had a long-term relationship.

Florida's intestate succession statutes distribute property according to legally recognized relationships and the statutory hierarchy. A partner who is not a spouse does not simply replace a spouse for purposes of § 732.102.

That makes estate planning particularly important for unmarried couples.

Depending on the circumstances, planning may involve a will, trust, beneficiary designations, real estate planning, or properly structured ownership arrangements.

Without planning, the person you consider your closest family member may not receive the property you expected them to inherit.

What Happens to Your Florida Home If You Die Without a Will?

Florida homestead property requires separate analysis.

Homestead is subject to special constitutional and statutory rules, so we do not treat a Florida primary residence exactly like an ordinary bank account or other probate asset.

Under Florida Statutes § 732.401, when homestead has not been devised as authorized by law and the Florida Constitution, it generally descends in the same manner as other intestate property. A special rule applies when the owner is survived by both a spouse and one or more descendants: the surviving spouse generally receives a life estate, with a vested remainder passing to the descendants in being at the owner's death, per stirpes. Instead of the life estate, the surviving spouse may elect an undivided one-half interest in the homestead as a tenant in common, with the other one-half vesting in the descendants, subject to the statute's requirements and deadlines.

Florida also separately restricts the devise of homestead when an owner is survived by a spouse or minor child. Under § 732.4015, homestead generally may not be devised if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child, except that it may be devised to the spouse when there is no surviving minor child.

For that reason, homeowners should not assume that a general statement about intestate inheritance tells them exactly what will happen to their home.

Homestead requires specific analysis.

Does Everything You Own Go Through Probate?

No.

This is another common misconception.

The Florida Courts probate guidance explains that probate administration applies to probate assets. These generally include assets owned solely by the decedent or co-owned assets that lack a mechanism for ownership to pass automatically at death.

That distinction matters.

Assets With Named Beneficiaries

Certain assets can transfer according to beneficiary designations rather than through a will or intestate succession.

The exact result depends on the account, contract, beneficiary designation, and applicable law.

This is why beneficiary designations should be reviewed as part of an estate plan rather than treated as paperwork that can be completed once and forgotten.

Jointly Owned Assets

Some jointly owned assets include survivorship rights that allow ownership to continue with the surviving owner.

Other forms of joint ownership do not.

The form of joint ownership matters. Real estate held as tenants in common does not carry a right of survivorship, so the decedent's fractional interest may be a probate asset, subject to the separate treatment of protected homestead. By contrast, property held under a legally effective survivorship arrangement may pass to the surviving owner outside probate.

Simply putting another person's name on an asset is not a substitute for understanding the legal form of ownership.

Assets Held in a Trust

A properly structured and funded revocable living trust can be used to hold assets that are intended to pass according to the trust rather than through probate.

The word "funded" matters. Creating a trust document without properly coordinating ownership of assets may leave assets outside the trust and potentially subject to probate.

Florida Real Estate With a Probate-Avoidance Plan

Real estate can also require separate planning.

For some Florida homeowners, an enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a Lady Bird Deed, may be used to provide for the transfer of property at death while the homeowner retains substantial control during life.

A Lady Bird Deed is only one option. A revocable living trust or another ownership structure may be more appropriate depending on the property and the owner's broader estate.

Who Handles the Estate If There Is No Will?

A will ordinarily allows a person to nominate a personal representative to administer the probate estate.

Without a will, there is no nomination for the court to follow.

Florida law therefore establishes preferences for appointment.

Under Florida Statutes § 733.301, preference in an intestate estate goes first to the surviving spouse, then to the person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs, followed by the heir nearest in degree. If more than one heir of the same degree applies, the court may select the one best qualified. Any person appointed must also satisfy Florida's statutory qualifications for serving as personal representative.

This is another area where having a valid will provides greater control.

You can nominate the person you believe is best suited to handle your estate rather than leaving the issue entirely to the statutory process after your death.

What Happens If You Have Minor Children?

Parents of minor children have additional reasons to create an estate plan.

Inheritance is only one part of the issue.

Parents should also consider who they want to nominate as guardian and how inherited property should be managed for a minor child. A will can nominate a guardian, although the court ultimately appoints a guardian under the applicable guardianship law. Simply allowing a child to inherit under Florida intestacy law does not create a comprehensive plan for managing that inheritance.

A carefully designed estate plan can address both questions.

For some families, that means combining a will with trust provisions or a separate trust so assets can be managed according to the parents' instructions.

Does Florida Take Your Property If You Die Without a Will?

Usually, no.

Florida taking the estate simply because someone died without a will is a misconception.

Florida's intestacy statutes first look for qualifying heirs through the statutory succession process, including descendants, parents, siblings and their descendants, more remote paternal and maternal kindred, and, in some circumstances, kindred of a last deceased spouse. Only when there is no person entitled to inherit under Florida law does escheat become relevant.

Under Florida Statutes § 732.107, when a person dies leaving an estate without being survived by anyone entitled to inherit under Florida law, that part of the estate escheats to the state.

That is very different from saying Florida automatically takes the estate whenever someone dies without a will.

Why Is a Will Important If It Does Not Avoid Probate?

A will generally does not avoid probate, but that does not make it unnecessary.

The will allows you to provide legally recognized instructions about who should receive probate assets and whom you want to nominate to administer the estate. It can also play an important role in planning for minor children.

Without a will, Florida's default statutes make many of those decisions.

The more useful question is therefore not, "Do I need a will or a probate-avoidance plan?"

For many clients, the answer is both.

A comprehensive estate plan can coordinate a will with beneficiary designations, real estate planning, a revocable living trust when appropriate, incapacity documents, and other strategies designed around the client's actual assets and family circumstances.

Create an Estate Plan Before Florida Law Creates One for You

Florida's intestacy laws provide an orderly system for distributing property when someone dies without a valid will. They are not a personalized estate plan.

They do not know which child is best equipped to manage property. They do not know whether you intended to provide for an unmarried partner. They do not know how you want business interests handled or whether a beneficiary needs additional protection.

We build estate plans around those individual circumstances.

At Lindsay Chase Law, we evaluate the client's real estate, financial accounts, beneficiary designations, family relationships, business interests, incapacity concerns, and long-term goals before recommending specific documents.

For one client, the appropriate plan may primarily involve a will and carefully coordinated beneficiary designations. Another may benefit from a Lady Bird Deed. A family with more complex assets may need a revocable living trust and additional planning.

The objective is not to collect estate planning documents. It is to make sure those documents and ownership arrangements work together.

If you do not want Florida's intestacy statutes making critical inheritance decisions for your family, we can review your circumstances and develop an estate plan designed around your wishes.

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