What Is a Will?

A will is a written document that meets Florida’s legal requirements. In a will:

• The decedent (the person who passed away) can name beneficiaries to receive their probate assets.
• The decedent can also designate a personal representative (Florida’s term for an executor) to handle the probate estate.

What If There’s No Will?

When someone dies without a valid will, they die intestate. But don’t worry—probate assets are rarely turned over to the state of Florida. The state would only take the assets if the decedent had no heirs.

Here are a couple of scenarios for distributing the decedent’s probate assets when they died intestate (based on Florida Statutes, Part I, Chapter 732):

1. Surviving Spouse, No Living Descendants:
   • If the decedent was survived by a spouse but had no living descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.), the surviving spouse receives all of the probate estate.
2. Surviving Spouse with Living Descendants:
   • If the decedent was survived by a spouse and had one or more living descendants (who are descendants of both the decedent and the spouse), the surviving spouse still receives all of the probate estate.
   • But if the surviving spouse has no additional living descendants (who are not descendants of the decedent), they get everything.
3. No Marriage, Only Descendants:
   • If the decedent wasn’t married at
     1. • the time of death but had one or more descendants, those descendants inherit the entire probate estate.
        • If there’s more than one descendant, Florida law prescribes how the division occurs, usually at the generational level of the decedent’s children.

     Remember, having a valid will simplifies things and ensures your wishes are followed!