Remarriage and stepchildren reshape an estate plan in ways a first-marriage template never anticipates. In Palm Beach, where second marriages, prenuptial agreements, and out-of-state property are common, a plan built for a blended family must do two jobs at once: protect a surviving spouse and preserve an inheritance for children from a prior relationship. Our practice is organized around exactly that tension under Florida law.
Why Blended Families Need Florida-Specific Planning
Florida grants a surviving spouse powerful default rights that can override what a will appears to say. The elective share (Florida Statutes §732.2065 and following) entitles a surviving spouse to roughly 30% of the elective estate, even if the will leaves everything to children. Florida homestead protections (Article X, §4 of the Florida Constitution) restrict how a married person can devise the family residence. And an omitted (pretermitted) spouse who marries after a will is signed may inherit an intestate share. For a second marriage, these defaults can quietly redirect assets away from the children a parent intended to protect.
The Tools We Use
We coordinate several instruments so the plan works as a whole rather than as disconnected documents:
- Wills executed to Florida’s strict standards (§732.502).
- Revocable living trusts (Chapter 736) to keep stepfamily arrangements private and avoid probate.
- QTIP-style marital trusts that support a surviving spouse for life while guaranteeing the remainder passes to your own children.
- Durable powers of attorney and advance directives (Chapter 709 and §765) so the right person — not a former spouse or an estranged stepchild — makes decisions.
- Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deeds to pass Palm Beach real estate outside probate while preserving homestead.
Common Palm Beach Scenarios
A retiree who moved to Palm Beach County after a second marriage may own a condo here plus a lake house in another state, triggering ancillary probate. A surviving second spouse may want to remain in the homestead while the deceased spouse’s adult children worry about ever inheriting it. A blended family may include children of very different ages and needs. Each of these calls for deliberate drafting, not a fill-in-the-blank form.
How We Work
We start by mapping who you want to protect and in what order, then identify where Florida’s spousal-rights rules could defeat that intent. From there we build a coordinated plan — often pairing a marital trust with clear beneficiary designations and, where appropriate, a marital agreement that waives or shapes the elective share. Our goal is a plan your family can administer without a courtroom fight after you are gone.
Consult a Florida Attorney
This site is general information about Florida estate planning, not legal advice for your situation. Spousal rights, homestead, and probate outcomes turn on specific facts. Please consult a licensed Florida attorney before acting. Explore our pages on wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, blended-family trust planning, and Florida probate to learn more.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of Florida estate planning. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Article 81 guardianship in New York.