Mistake 1: Having No Estate Plan at All
This is by far the most serious of estate planning mistakes. According to a widely cited survey, nearly 60% of Americans do not have a basic will or a trust, leaving their families without clear direction when it matters most.
When a Florida resident dies without a will – in legalese, dies intestate – Florida’s intestacy laws take over, and those laws determine the distribution of your assets. That distribution may not reflect your wishes at all. Under Florida’s intestate succession rules, the estate passes to a strict hierarchy of relatives: surviving spouses first, then children, then parents, then siblings, and so on.
That hierarchy sounds orderly, but it creates real problems. Unmarried partners receive nothing under intestacy law, no matter how long you were together. The share of your current spouse is only half your estate if you have children who are not their children. Stepchildren are generally excluded unless they were legally adopted. Charities or close friends you wished to include get nothing.
Dying without a will in Florida leaves your estate entirely in the hands of the state’s intestacy framework, which rarely reflects the personal choices most people would make for their families. The solution is straightforward: create at least a basic will, and consider whether a trust or advance directives would benefit your situation.
Mistake 2: Failing to Update Your Documents After Major Life Changes
An estate plan is not a one-time task. It is a living set of documents that must grow with you.
Life events such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or the death of a beneficiary can significantly impact your estate. Your will should reflect these changes to ensure your assets are distributed according to your current wishes.
Florida estate planning attorneys regularly see documents that were drafted decades ago, with named beneficiaries who are deceased, estranged, or no longer the right choice. If you already have an estate plan, it needs to be regularly reviewed after any big change to your personal life or financial circumstances.
A good rule of thumb is to review your plan every three to five years, or immediately after any major life event. Divorce, remarriage, the birth of a grandchild, a significant inheritance, a move from another state, or the death of someone named in your documents are all triggers for a review.
Mistake 3: Ignoring or Not Using Beneficiary Designations
Many people do not realize that some of their most valuable assets do not need to be probated by the court in order to pass to their beneficiaries. The naming of payable on death beneficiaries on your bank accounts, retirement accounts, and other liquid accounts means that such accounts will pass directly to such beneficiaries almost immediately, without having to get a court involved, and will protect those assets from being pursued by any creditors you may have when you die. This is one of the most frequently misunderstood aspects of estate planning, but one of the most important ways to make sure your assets pass on to whom you want, without having to go through probate.
When planning your estate, make sure you tell your estate planning attorney about all such assets and accounts you have, so that they can help you make sure that such accounts have designated payable on death beneficiaries, and to make sure that such beneficiaries are who you want to receive those accounts. Such designations will override anything your will says about such accounts. It is important to make sure that, as life changes, those designations change with it. Make sure to consult your estate planning attorney any time you have a significant life change, such as a divorce, a remarriage, or a death in your family.
Mistake 4: Creating a Trust but Failing to Fund It
Trusts are among the most effective estate planning tools available to Floridians. A properly structured revocable living trust can help your family avoid probate, maintain privacy, and transfer assets efficiently. But there is a critical step many people skip.
A trust that is not funded, meaning assets are not retitled into the trust, may not avoid probate as intended. In other words, creating the trust document is only half the job. The assets themselves must be transferred into the trust’s name.
Assets that remain untitled in the name of the trust are usually subject to probate court administration. Florida courts have reinforced this point consistently: the trust document alone does nothing if your bank accounts, real property, and investments are still titled in your individual name.
Funding a trust in Florida typically involves retitling real estate through a new deed, updating the ownership of bank and brokerage accounts, and, where appropriate, updating beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts. For Florida real estate, the process involves preparing and recording a new deed, and your estate planning attorney can handle this to ensure it is done correctly.
Florida homeowners should also know that placing homestead property into a revocable trust will not affect the homestead exemption, so you can maintain those valuable property tax protections while still enjoying the benefits of trust ownership.
Mistake 5: Relying on DIY Documents or Generic Online Forms
The internet is full of estate planning forms. Some are free, some cost a small fee, and most are inadequate for Florida residents.
DIY wills and trusts may lead to errors that could complicate probate. Florida has specific execution requirements for wills, including signatures by two witnesses. It also has unique laws around homestead property, spousal rights, and trust administration that generic national templates simply do not account for.
Florida has unique rules regarding homestead property and inheritance rights for spouses and children, and not considering these laws can lead to unintended consequences. A document drafted without knowledge of Florida-specific statutes can be challenged, invalidated, or simply fail to accomplish what you intended.
Florida law continues to emphasize strict compliance for powers of attorney, and these documents must be signed, witnessed, and notarized properly to be valid. Generic online forms often fail to meet these standards, leaving families without the authority they need in a crisis.
Beyond the technical requirements, estate planning involves strategy. An experienced attorney helps you coordinate your will, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives into a cohesive plan. Each piece must work together. When documents are drafted in isolation or without professional guidance, gaps and conflicts can emerge.
What to Do Next
Estate planning does not have to be complicated, but it does require attention and a clear-eyed understanding of Florida law. The mistakes above are common, but they are also preventable.
If you do not yet have an estate plan, now is the time to start. If you have documents in place but have not reviewed them recently, a review with a qualified attorney is a worthwhile investment. And if you have created a trust, confirm that it has been properly funded so that it will actually accomplish what you intended.
The team at Harris Guidi serves Jacksonville and the surrounding communities with experienced, straightforward estate planning counsel. Whether you are starting from scratch or need to update an existing plan, we are here to help you protect what matters most.
