Contributing Author: Nicole Page
Florida law provides significant protection to surviving spouses who have been disinherited or left a small share by their deceased spouses.
In Florida, a spouse cannot be disinherited by a will or a trust, which is different than Illinois, where a spouse can be disinherited by using a trust. Florida law gives spouses the option to choose to inherit what was left to them according to their deceased spouses will or the choice to elect to receive a percentage of the elective estate.
A surviving spouse usually elects to take an elective share in situations where the deceased spouse attempts to disinherit them or leaves them less than they would receive if they took an elective share.
The amount of the elective share is a case-by-case analysis, depending on the value of the estate. There is no fixed number, but rather a percentage – up to 30% of the deceased spouse’s estate. It’s also important to note that some assets that aren’t typically a part of an estate are considered to determine the surviving spouse’s elective share. This means that an attempt to circumvent the elective estate statute by distributing assets into a trust may still not be sufficient to disinherit a spouse.
Florida does not discriminate by codifying what type of character the spouse had or the nature of the relationship between the spouses. This means that even if the spouses have been living separately for years, it does not infringe on the right to the elective share. As long as the spouse is a Florida resident and still married at the time of the death, they can claim the elective share.
Barriers to claiming the elective share are:
- Executing a valid premarital or postmarital agreement.
- Required procedural protocols: The surviving spouse must file a written notice that they are invoking the elective share statute with the probate court within 6 months after the date of service of the notice of administration or 2 years after the date of the decedent’s death.
Still, if you would prefer to provide for your children because you’re in a second marriage, beware of what’s lurking beneath…
