James, a 64-year-old retiree in Sarasota, always meant to make a will. He never did. When he passed unexpectedly, his adult children assumed his house, his savings, and his collection of vintage cars would simply go “to the family.” What actually happened was decided not by James, but by the Florida Probate Code. This is what dying intestate looks like in practice.
The State Writes Your Will for You
When a Florida resident dies without a valid will, Chapter 732 supplies a default distribution scheme. It is rigid and impersonal. If you are married with children who are all from that marriage, your spouse generally inherits everything. But add a wrinkle, say James had children from a prior relationship, and the estate splits: the surviving spouse takes half and the descendants take half. Stepchildren you raised but never adopted? They inherit nothing. Unmarried partners? Nothing. The statute does not care about closeness; it cares about legal relationships.
The Homestead Trap
James’s biggest asset was his home. Florida homestead protection (Article X, §4) is a blessing and a complication. If a homeowner dies intestate leaving a spouse and descendants, the surviving spouse typically receives a life estate (or can elect a one-half interest) while the descendants take the remainder. That can force a family to either co-own a house none of them can sell freely, or buy each other out. Many Florida families learn about homestead rules only when they collide with them in probate.
Probate Still Happens, Just Without Your Voice
Skipping a will does not skip probate. James’s estate still went through the Florida probate court. Depending on size and the time since death, that could be summary administration (available for estates under the statutory threshold or where the decedent died more than two years ago, under Chapter 735) or the longer formal administration. Without a named personal representative, the court appoints one based on a statutory priority list, often a surviving spouse or majority of heirs, which can spark conflict when relatives disagree.
Who Raises the Children?
For younger parents, this is the part that stings most. With no will nominating a guardian, a Florida judge decides who raises any minor children. The judge will consider the child’s best interest, but the people who knew the parents’ wishes have no controlling vote. A simple will would have let those parents name the guardian themselves.
What Intestacy Does Not Touch
Some of James’s assets bypassed all of this. His life insurance and IRA had named beneficiaries, so they paid out directly, intestacy rules never applied. This is the same principle that lets people accidentally disinherit a current spouse by forgetting to update a beneficiary form from a decade ago. Florida courts generally honor the beneficiary designation as written.
One Bit of Good News
Florida imposes no state estate or inheritance tax, so James’s heirs did not owe Tallahassee anything on what they received. The cost of intestacy in Florida is rarely about taxes; it is about delay, legal fees, family friction, and outcomes the deceased never wanted.
Talk to a Florida Attorney
Intestacy is the plan you get when you make no plan, and it rarely matches what people actually want. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can help you replace the state’s default formula with your own clear instructions before circumstances decide for you.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of powers of attorney in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles New York probate and estate administration.