Florida Probate, Trust & Estate Blog : Florida Probate Lawyers & Attorneys : Clark Skatoff Law Firm : FL Wills, Trusts & Inheritance : Palm Beach, Broward County, Boca Raton

Surviving Spouses in Florida receive certain entitlements in a Florida probate administration, including a minimum percentage of the estate (elective share), rights to a Florida homestead, support during the probate administration, and other benefits.

Marital Agreements (Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements)

·         MARITAL AGREEMENTS.  Martial Agreements which are often referred to as prenuptial agreements, ante-nuptial agreements, and post-nuptial agreements, can waive or create rights upon the death of a spouse.  It is imperative to have a lawyer review these agreements who is familiar with the probate process to properly any rights you may have at death or as a surviving spouse.   It is also important to have these documents properly reviewed by experienced probate lawyers to ensure any death time provisions are properly addressed prior to signing any of these agreements.  Many of the rights of a surviving spouse can be waived or increased in properly drafted agreements.

·         TIMELINE TO FILE A CREDITOR CLAIM.  If a surviving spouse of a Florida decedent has a Marital Agreement, it is imperative that his or her attorney file a protective creditor claim to preserve these contract rights of the surviving spouse, within the three months of the filing the Notice of Publication to Creditors or thirty days from the date of service of a known creditor, even if the surviving spouse is the personal representative.  A common mistake of probate lawyers in handling marital agreements is the failure to file such a creditor claim.  There is no harm in filing a protective claim, and often filing a protective creditor claim results in the payment of benefits to a surviving spouse which may otherwise be lost.  The Florida Supreme Court has even ruled that filing such a claim is necessary to enforce a surviving spouse’s right under a marital agreement. Spohr v. Berryman, 589 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 1991).  The consequence of failing to timely file a creditor claim for a spouse with rights under a marital agreement can be severe, and a spouse may potentially lose all benefits of the marital agreement if the proper procedures are not followed.

Spouse Dies Without a Will (Intestacy)

·         INTESTATE.  If a person dies without a Will he or she is considered to die intestate.

·         INTESTATE SHARE.  If a spouse dies without a Will, the surviving spouse receives an intestate share.  (If a couple is separated at the time of death, the surviving spouse is not barred from inheriting).

·         SHARE OF SURVIVING SPOUSE - NO CHILDREN OR ALL CHILDREN OF SURVIVOR.  If the only survivor is a surviving spouse, or if all the lineal descendants are also lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, then the surviving spouse receives the entire estate of the decedent.  This rule applies only for spouses passing away on or after October 1, 2011.  Under prior Florida law, if the deceased spouse had children, the surviving spouse received only one-half of the estate, or one-half of the estate plus $60,000 if all of the children were of the marriage.

·         SHARE OF SURVIVING SPOUSE IF THERE ARE SURVIVING CHILDREN FROM DECEDENT BUT NOT OF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE.  If there are children of the decedent who are not children of the surviving spouse, then the surviving spouse receives one-half of the intestate estate. 

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In a dramatic change from previous law, the Florida Legislature has enacted Florida Statute section 732.615 to allow the reformation of a will. Previously under Florida probate law, a trust could be reformed for a mistake of fact or law, but a will could not. The new statute allowing the modification of wills is effective as of July 1, 2011 and reads as follows:

732.615 Reformation to correct mistakes.—Upon application of any interested person, the court may reform the terms of a will, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the testator's intent if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the accomplishment of the testator's intent and the terms of the will were affected by a mistake of fact or law, whether in expression or inducement. In determining the testator's original intent, the court may consider evidence relevant to the testator's intent even though the evidence contradicts an apparent plain meaning of the will. 

Previously, if a will was ambiguous, a Florida court could allow a reformation since the primary intent was to ascertain the intent of the testator. However, in some circumstances a mistake did not involve ambiguity, but instead involved a mistake of fact or law. One such example is where a bequest was for $10,000 instead of $100,000. In such cases, courts were previously barred from introducing evidence to determine the true intent of the testator, even if it was obvious what the testator’s true intent was from evidence other than the will. 

New Florida Statute section 732.615 will give support for beneficiaries who were deprived of an inheritance or part of an inheritance under a will when it was clear from other evidence that the decedent’s intent was not properly reflected in the will.  If you have any questions, or we can help you with an estate planning or probate matter, please contact Craig Dreyer or Jeffrey Skatoff at (561) 842-4868.

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Florida Homestead laws have long been a trap for the unwary due to the unique and specialized nature of Florida Homestead laws. To further complicate the matter, Fla. Stat. § 732.401 was revised effective October 1, 2010. This revision changed the rules for spouses and descendants receiving Homestead property at death.

Article X Section 4(c) of the Florida Constitution limits who can receive Homestead property upon the death of an owner if he or she is survived by a spouse or a minor child. The revision to Fla. Stat. § 732.401 allows the surviving spouse to make an election, within six months from the date of death, to take a one-half interest as a tenant in common in the Homestead property instead of a life estate.

A one-half tenant in common interest gives the surviving spouse an ownership interest in the Homestead, which allows the surviving spouse to bring a partition action to sell the property. If the property is sold, the surviving spouse will generally receive one-half of the proceeds of any sale. Prior to the enactment of the revised Florida Homestead statute, if the Homestead was not devised in a way that was permitted by Florida law, the surviving spouse automatically received a life estate in the Homestead property and any minor children received a vested remainder in the property.  The life estate interest could not be partitioned, which required the surviving spouse and children of the deceased to negotiate a sale of the Homestead.  If there was no agreement, the property could not be sold. 

These arcane rules strained many family relationships especially, in second marriages. In these situations, the Florida Principal and Income Act governs the allocation of expenses between the life estate and vested remainder interest. The surviving spouse is generally responsible for any interest payments on the mortgage, property taxes, property insurance and repairs and the children are generally responsible for principal mortgage payments on the residence and any substantial capital expenditures.

To add another complicating factor, if the surviving spouse ever wanted to downsize, the surviving spouse had to negotiate with the children to allow a sale and they would have to determine a value for her life estate. While many see the new statute as a beneficial change, it is also important to note that it is to the detriment of the decedent’s minor children in many cases.  A very elderly widow will receive one-half of the Homestead, rather than a life estate which may have zero value.  The real winners in some situations will be the surviving spouse's children from an earlier marriage.

Therefore, this revised statute requires additional planning at the forefront to take into consideration this new contingency, and adds an additional issue to consider during the estate administration process. It is also important to note that the revised statute also approves of new planning techniques available to those with special needs children and with other unique planning objectives.

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Florida’s homestead laws provide a number of ways in which heirs can end up as unwilling co-owners of real estate. A common way is if a parent dies with a primary residence but without a will, and has several adult children. Each of those children will end up as an equal co-owner of the property.

When one heir wants to live in the property and the other wants to sell, Florida law provides a fast and easy remedy to force a sale of the property - the partition action.  

Although the name “partition” implies a split of the property, most residential real estate in Florida cannot be split, because of homeowner association rules and/or local land use ordinances limiting how small a lot can be, to the obvious impracticalities of dividing all but the most palatial of condominiums into multiple units. If the property cannot be subdivided, the property is sold under court order, with the proceeds divided among the heirs.

A partition action has no defenses, other than that the person filing the partition action previously agreed not to partition the property. Even property that was the deceased’s homestead property is subject to partition.

The Court will either order that the property be sold at a public sale, i.e. an auction, or through a private sale. Typically, in a private sale, the Court will appoint a special master (usually an attorney or real estate broker) to list and sell the property similar to any other private sale of real estate.

Partition actions are not available in life estate / remainder situations. When a married deceased person passes away with a primary residence and either has no will or leaves the property to children instead of the spouse, the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes dictate that the surviving spouse receive a life estate in the property, and the surviving children each receive an equal remainder interest in the property. Neither the surviving spouse nor the children can partition the property with respect to the other. Accordingly, if the surviving spouse wants to sell the property, he or she can only do so as a result of a negotiated settlement with the children.

Spouses who need to downsize in such a situation have no legal recourse presently under Florida law. Although practitioners in the area have been aware of this problem for some time, the Florida legislature has not yet provided a mechanism to allow the surviving spouse to sell the property.

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