Snowbird Estate Planning
in Florida.

Every winter South Florida fills with people who live in two states and have paperwork from only one of them. That works fine until someone becomes incapacitated or dies, and then the gaps surface all at once: a New Jersey will naming an executor who cannot serve in Florida, a Michigan cottage that forces a second probate, a power of attorney the Florida bank will not honor.

This guide covers the three snowbird questions we see most from our Fort Lauderdale office: how to actually become a Florida resident, what happens to real estate in more than one state, and whether your northern documents still work once you are here.

Becoming a Florida Resident, Properly

Florida has no state income tax, no state estate tax, and no inheritance tax. Combine that with strong homestead protection and it is obvious why snowbirds switch their domicile here. But domicile is a legal conclusion, not a feeling. You have exactly one domicile at a time, and it is the place you treat as your permanent home and intend to return to. Changing it means changing the evidence.

The Two-State Audit Trap

High-tax states do not let residents go quietly. New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and others run residency audits, and a halfway move is their favorite target: Florida driver license, but the old homestead-style exemption still on the books; a declaration of domicile here, but the family doctor, the safe-deposit box, and most of the calendar still up north. In a domicile dispute the old state can claim income tax during life and, in states that have one, estate tax at death, on top of whatever Florida-facing planning you did. If you are going to move, move all the way and keep the paper trail.

Property in Two States Means Probate in Two States

Probate courts only control real estate inside their own state. So when a non-Florida resident dies owning Florida real estate, the main probate runs where they lived, and the Florida property requires a separate ancillary administration under chapter 734, Florida Statutes, in the county where the property sits. A second court file, a second set of filing fees, a Florida attorney, and typically another 4 to 8 months before the condo can be sold or the title passed to the heirs. If the will was already admitted to probate in the home state, authenticated copies of the foreign proceedings are filed here, which streamlines the paperwork but does not eliminate the proceeding. For Florida property worth 50,000 dollars or less, a short-form admission of the foreign will can shortcut the process.

The reverse is just as common and just as expensive. A Florida resident who still owns the lake house in Michigan or the co-op in New York dies, the estate opens in a Florida court, and then the family discovers they need a second, ancillary proceeding up north under that state's rules, with that state's timelines and that state's counsel. Every state where you own real estate in your own name is a state where your family may have to open a probate file.

Ancillary work is quoted per matter rather than flat, because the shape of the home-state proceeding drives the Florida work. Our probate cost estimator shows how Florida fees scale, and our pricing page lays out which matters we handle flat-fee.

How to Avoid Double Probate

The fix is almost always titling, done while everyone is alive and healthy. Three tools do most of the work.

A Revocable Living Trust for the Out-of-State Property

One revocable living trust can hold real estate in every state you own it. Deed the Michigan cottage and the Florida condo into the trust, and at death the successor trustee signs the transfer documents. No probate in either state. This is the standard answer for snowbirds with property in two states, and it is why we push funding, actually recording the new deeds, as hard as the trust itself. An unfunded trust avoids nothing. See our trust vs will comparison for the full cost picture.

A Lady Bird Deed for the Florida Home

Florida recognizes the enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a lady bird deed. You keep full control of the property for life, including the right to sell or mortgage it without anyone's consent, and at death it passes automatically to the people you named, outside probate. It is a clean, inexpensive tool for a Florida home when a full trust is not otherwise needed, and it preserves the homestead exemption. It is Florida-specific, so it does not solve the northern property.

An LLC for Rental Property, With a Caveat

Investment or rental property often belongs in an LLC for liability separation, and LLC membership interests can in turn be held by your trust, which keeps the rental out of probate too. One honest caveat: since the Florida Supreme Court's Olmstead decision, charging-order protection for a single-member Florida LLC is limited, so a bare one-owner LLC protects less than most people assume. The structure matters, whether that is a multi-member arrangement, a different formation state, or trust ownership layered on top. This is consult territory, not a DIY form off the internet.

Do Your Northern Documents Work in Florida?

Mostly yes on paper, and frequently no in practice.

Wills. Under section 732.502, Florida Statutes, a will executed by a nonresident is valid in Florida if it was valid under the law of the place where it was signed. The notable exception: handwritten wills without witnesses (holographic wills) are not recognized here even if your old state allowed them. Beyond validity, an out-of-state will can still misfire in Florida: a nonresident personal representative may be unable to qualify unless closely related to you, and a devise of your Florida homestead may collide with the restrictions described below.

Powers of attorney and health directives. This is where snowbirds actually get hurt. An out-of-state durable power of attorney may be legally recognized, but Florida banks review POAs against the Florida Power of Attorney Act and routinely balk at unfamiliar forms, stale documents, and execution that does not match Florida's requirement of two witnesses and a notary. Hospitals do the same with out-of-state health care proxies. When the document is needed, in a crisis, is exactly the wrong time to litigate whether an institution must accept it.

The practical rule. Once Florida is your domicile, refresh the set: Florida will (or a trust with a pour-over will), Florida durable power of attorney, health care surrogate designation, and a living will. The refresh costs a fraction of what one rejected POA costs in guardianship fees.

Homestead Quirks Snowbirds Do Not See Coming

Florida homestead is three different bodies of law wearing one name: a property-tax exemption, a shield against most creditors, and a set of restrictions on who can inherit the home. The third one surprises people. If you are survived by a spouse or a minor child, the Florida Constitution and sections 732.401 and 732.4015, Florida Statutes, restrict how the homestead can be devised. With a minor child you effectively cannot devise it at all; with a surviving spouse you can generally leave it only to the spouse outright. Get it wrong and the default rules take over: the spouse receives a life estate (or can elect a half interest) with the rest passing to your descendants, which is rarely what a blended-family will intended.

For snowbirds the twist is timing. The day your Fort Lauderdale condo stops being the second home and becomes your homestead, these rules attach, and the estate plan you signed up north, which assumed the Florida property was just another asset, may now be partly unenforceable. Second marriages feel this most: a will leaving the condo to your children from a first marriage simply does not work if your spouse survives you and never waived homestead rights. The fixes exist (spousal waivers, trust structures, deed planning), but they have to be done deliberately.

How We Handle Snowbird and Out-of-State Matters

The Kogan Firm is based in Fort Lauderdale and serves Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach, the three counties where most of Florida's seasonal residents land. Palm Beach in particular sees a steady stream of estates with out-of-state heirs and residency questions. Florida files probate through a statewide e-filing portal, so we handle ancillary administrations and estate filings remotely; out-of-state heirs and personal representatives rarely need to set foot in Florida. And because our estate plans are drafted by a litigator who spends the rest of the week enforcing and attacking documents in court, they are built for the fight we hope never happens. Start at our probate county hub if you are administering an estate now, or call (954) 281-8888 for a planning consult.