A revocable living trust in Florida is a legal arrangement you create and control during your lifetime that holds title to your assets and passes them to your beneficiaries without probate, while a will is a document that takes effect only at death and must be validated by a Florida probate court before anything transfers. The right choice depends on what you own, whether you run a business, and how much you value privacy and a smooth handoff. For most Palm Beach families with real estate, accounts at multiple institutions, or a closely held company, a funded revocable trust does more work than a will alone.
That is the short answer. The longer answer is where the real decisions live, because in Florida the two tools are not interchangeable, and the wrong one quietly creates cost and delay your family pays for later.
What a Florida revocable living trust actually does
A revocable living trust is governed by the Florida Trust Code, Chapter 736 of the Florida Statutes. You sign a trust agreement naming yourself as the initial trustee, then you retitle assets — your home, brokerage accounts, business interests, bank accounts — into the name of the trust. While you are alive and competent, nothing changes in how you use those assets. You can buy, sell, refinance, and revoke the whole thing on a Tuesday afternoon if you change your mind. That is the “revocable” part doing exactly what it says.
The leverage comes at two moments. First, if you become incapacitated, your named successor trustee steps in and manages trust assets without a court-supervised guardianship. Second, when you die, that same successor trustee distributes assets to your beneficiaries under Chapter 736 without opening a probate case for anything the trust holds. No judge signs off. No public docket. The assets move on the timeline you wrote, not the court’s.
The catch nobody mentions at the signing
A trust only avoids probate for assets actually titled in its name. I have reviewed too many “estate plans” where someone paid for a beautiful trust document and then never funded it — the house was still in the individual’s name, the brokerage account never got retitled. At death, those assets went straight into probate anyway, and the trust sat in a drawer doing nothing. Funding is the trust. A signed, unfunded trust is an expensive promise.
What a Florida will does — and where probate enters
A Florida will is governed by Chapter 732. To be valid, it must be signed by you and two witnesses who sign in your presence and each other’s presence under §732.502. A will does not transfer a single asset until you die and the document is admitted to probate under Chapter 733. Probate is the court process that proves the will is genuine, appoints a personal representative, notifies creditors, pays valid claims, and then authorizes distribution to your heirs.
Florida probate is not the horror story some out-of-state articles describe, but it is real time and real money. A formal administration commonly runs several months to over a year, requires a Florida-licensed attorney for the personal representative in most counties, and creates a public court file anyone can read. For estates under $75,000 (excluding exempt and homestead property) or where the decedent has been gone more than two years, Florida offers a faster summary administration under §735.201 — but that threshold rules out most Palm Beach estates with real estate.
- Time: Formal probate typically takes 6–18 months; a funded trust can begin distributing in weeks.
- Privacy: A probated will and its inventory become public record; a trust stays private.
- Cost: Probate carries court costs and statutory or reasonable attorney’s fees; trust administration is usually leaner.
- Control during incapacity: A will does nothing if you are alive but incapacitated; a trust governs that gap.
The decision framework I use with Palm Beach clients
Forget the marketing that says everyone needs a trust or that wills are obsolete. The honest framework is situational. Here is how I walk clients through it.
Lean toward a funded revocable trust if you
- Own Florida real estate, or real estate in more than one state. Out-of-state property in a will means a second ancillary probate in that state — a trust avoids both.
- Own a business, professional practice, or partnership interest you want managed without a court freeze if you are incapacitated.
- Want privacy. Probate inventories disclose what you owned and to whom it went. High-net-worth and business families often want that closed.
- Have a blended family, a beneficiary with special needs, or minor children, where staged distributions and a long-term trustee matter.
- Want a clean answer for incapacity that does not depend on a guardianship court.
A will-based plan may be enough if you
- Have a modest estate that will qualify for summary administration or that passes mostly through beneficiary designations.
- Hold most assets in forms that already avoid probate — jointly titled property, payable-on-death accounts, and named retirement-account beneficiaries.
- Have a straightforward family situation and are comfortable with a public, court-supervised process.
Florida-specific wrinkles that change the math
Homestead protection cuts both ways
Florida’s homestead is protected from most creditors and from forced sale under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, and Chapter 732 restricts how you can devise homestead if you are survived by a spouse or minor child. Putting your homestead into a revocable trust is common and generally preserves these protections, but it must be drafted carefully so you do not accidentally lose the creditor shield or the property-tax homestead exemption. This is one of the most-botched moves in DIY trust kits sold to Floridians.
No Florida estate tax — but federal still applies to larger estates
Florida imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax. That is a genuine advantage of dying as a Florida resident. The federal estate tax still applies to estates above the federal exemption, so business owners and high-net-worth families should plan for that with strategies layered on top of a trust — not instead of one. Neither a will nor a basic trust, by itself, reduces estate tax; the planning structure built around it does.
The elective share protects a surviving spouse
Florida law gives a surviving spouse an elective share of 30% of the elective estate under §732.2065, and that calculation reaches assets in your revocable trust. You cannot use a trust to quietly disinherit a spouse in Florida. For blended families, this is a planning fact to design around openly, not a loophole to exploit.
Why business owners especially should look past a will
This site’s readers tend to own something — a practice, an LLC, a family company, rental real estate. For you the stakes are different. If a will is your only plan and you are incapacitated by a stroke or an accident, no one can sign on the business’s behalf without a court-appointed guardian, which can take weeks while payroll and contracts wait. If you die with the business in your individual name, the company’s interest is frozen in probate while a judge sorts out authority — exactly when the business most needs continuity.
A revocable trust, paired with a properly drafted operating agreement and a durable power of attorney, lets your successor trustee or designated manager keep the lights on the next morning. Succession planning is not only about who inherits the business; it is about who can act for it in the gap. That gap is where I see family companies lose value, key employees, and sometimes the whole enterprise.
Sophisticated estate plans often combine trusts with other vehicles depending on goals — for example, a for income or benefits planning, or a for the residence. The right combination depends on your assets and family, which is exactly the conversation to have before you sign anything.
Common mistakes Palm Beach families make
- Buying a trust and never funding it. The single most expensive error. Retitle the assets or the document is decorative.
- Skipping the will entirely after creating a trust. You still need a “pour-over” will to catch assets you never moved into the trust and to name guardians for minor children.
- Letting beneficiary designations override the plan. A retirement account or life insurance policy pays the named beneficiary regardless of your will or trust. Stale designations quietly defeat careful planning.
- Using out-of-state forms. Florida’s homestead, witness, and elective-share rules are unusual. A trust drafted for another state can fail in exactly the place you needed it.
- Treating it as one-and-done. Marriage, divorce, a new property, a business sale, or moving to Florida all warrant a review.
So — which one fits your family?
If you own Florida real estate, run a business, want privacy, or care about a clean answer for incapacity, a funded revocable living trust with a pour-over will is usually the better fit. If your estate is modest and already passes through beneficiary designations and joint titling, a well-drafted will may carry the day. Most plans I build for Palm Beach business owners use a trust as the spine and a will as the safety net, because together they cover both probate avoidance and the loose ends.
The wrong answer is doing nothing, or signing a document you do not understand from a kit. Our team helps families and business owners weigh these tradeoffs and build a plan that actually does what it promises — see our services, review the basics of Florida wills and what to expect from Florida probate, or contact our Palm Beach office to talk through which structure fits your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a revocable living trust avoid probate in Florida?
Yes, but only for assets actually titled in the trust’s name. A revocable trust under Florida’s Chapter 736 lets your successor trustee distribute trust assets without opening a probate case. Anything left in your individual name still goes through probate, which is why funding the trust is essential.
Do I still need a will if I have a Florida revocable trust?
Yes. Almost everyone with a trust should also sign a ‘pour-over’ will. It catches any assets you never retitled into the trust and, critically, is the only document that can name guardians for your minor children. The two work together.
Is there an estate tax on a Florida trust or will?
Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, so dying as a Florida resident avoids state-level death tax entirely. The federal estate tax still applies to estates above the federal exemption, and neither a basic will nor a basic trust reduces that on its own — it takes additional planning layered on top.
Can a Florida trust be used to disinherit my spouse?
No. Florida grants a surviving spouse an elective share of 30% of the elective estate under §732.2065, and the calculation reaches assets held in your revocable trust. A trust cannot be used to quietly cut out a spouse, so blended families should plan around this openly.
Why should a business owner choose a trust over just a will?
A will does nothing if you are alive but incapacitated, which can force a guardianship court to authorize anyone to act for your company. A funded revocable trust, with a durable power of attorney and a sound operating agreement, lets your successor trustee or manager keep the business running the next morning — protecting continuity, payroll, and value.
Have a question about your estate?
Talk it through with Russel Morgan — free 30-minute consult.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of estate planning in Boca Raton. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
