Beneficiary Designations and How They Override Your Will in Florida
In Florida, beneficiary designations on life insurance, IRAs, and POD accounts override your will. Here’s why that matters for blended families.
June 23, 2026
In Florida, beneficiary designations on life insurance, IRAs, and POD accounts override your will. Here’s why that matters for blended families.
A Florida estate attorney explains the durable power of attorney under Chapter 709 — how it works, what it must include, and why it matters in blended families.
Second marriages and stepchildren make Florida estate planning tricky. A plain-English guide for blended families in Key West, FL.
How a pour-over will works with a Florida living trust, what Fla. Stat. 732.513 requires, and why blended families rely on both. A Key West attorney explains.
Key West business owners: protect your shop, charter, or rental with a Florida succession plan, POA, and trust. Plain-English guide.
Key West runs on the energy of people who came from somewhere else. Walk down Duval Street or visit the harbor and you will find
How special needs trusts protect a disabled beneficiary’s SSI and Medicaid in Florida, including third-party, first-party, and pooled trusts for blended families.
How to include digital assets and online accounts in your Florida estate plan under the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. Key Largo to Key West.
A plain-English Key West guide to pour-over wills: how they pair with a Florida revocable trust, what they catch, and why probate may still apply.
A Florida estate attorney explains the core documents every adult needs: will, durable POA, health care surrogate, living will, and trust planning.
How joint ownership and right of survivorship can derail a Florida estate plan, especially in blended families and second marriages. Avoid the common traps.
Snowbirds with a Key West home: learn how Florida residency, homestead, and probate affect your estate plan across two states.
Avoid the costly Florida estate planning mistakes that derail wills, trusts, and blended-family inheritances. A Key West attorney explains the fixes.
A Key West first-timer’s look at DIY wills vs. hiring a Florida attorney, including witness rules, homestead traps, and where templates fail.
Married, divorced, or welcomed a baby in Key West? Here is how Florida law changes your estate plan and what to update right away.
A plain-English Key West guide for young parents: naming guardians, wills, trusts, and protecting your homestead under Florida law.
Unmarried partners in Key West have no automatic legal rights under Florida law. Learn how wills, POA, and deeds protect each other.
The estate planning mistakes that trip up Key West families, from invalid wills to forgotten beneficiaries, and how Florida law treats each.
From the Key West reef to local causes, learn plain-English ways to build charitable giving into a Florida estate plan that fits your family.
Divorced, remarried, or moved to Florida? Learn how FL law (homestead, elective share, beneficiary rules) changes your estate plan and what to update now.
How Florida couples in second marriages coordinate prenups with wills, trusts, and elective share rules to protect children and a new spouse.
How Florida health care surrogate designations and living wills work under Chapter 765 — and why blended families and second marriages need them.
Creating a living trust is only step one. Learn how to fund a revocable trust correctly under Florida law so it actually avoids probate.
How Florida homestead law protects the family home in your estate plan, plus the inheritance traps blended families and second marriages must avoid.
How Key West families use Florida trusts and spendthrift provisions to protect an inheritance for young, struggling, or impulsive heirs.
How Florida residents reduce federal estate tax through lifetime gifting, trusts, and blended-family planning. No state estate tax, but federal rules still apply.
A plain-English Key West checklist for when to review your Florida estate plan, from marriage and moves to new homestead and outdated documents.
Florida estate planning for snowbirds and dual-state residents: domicile, homestead, probate, and protecting blended families across two states.
How to fund a revocable trust correctly in Florida, retitle assets, handle homestead, and avoid the mistakes that derail blended-family estate plans.
Why beneficiary designations override your will in Florida, and how Key West families can keep retirement accounts and life insurance on track.
