Many people in South Florida signed a living will years ago, often on a printed form, and filed it away believing the hard decisions were taken care of. A Florida living will is an important document. But it was designed for a narrow set of medical situations near the end of life. Dementia usuall...

An unmarried partner is not automatically an interested person in Florida probate. Caveats, homestead occupancy, and how to get notice.

Florida real property owned by a nonresident still needs a Florida proceeding. Ancillary administration when an unmarried partner owned the house.

Signing a revocable trust is not enough. Unfunded assets still go through probate, even with a pour-over will.

Married vs Unmarried Same-Sex Couples in Florida: Estate Planning Rights Compared Marriage equality is the law of the land. Same-sex spouses in Florida generally have the same marital rights as any other married couple. That is good news—and it is not the whole story. If you live in Wilton Mano...

Florida's 2026 summary-administration cap does not make an unmarried partner an heir. When homestead is exempt, which probate track still applies.

You do not have to memorize every agency. Here is a plain map. Gay and lesbian donors use the same starting points as everyone else. To register your wish (everyone) Donate Life Florida — DonateLifeFlorida.org — (941) 308-1019 This is the statewide registry and education group. Orientati...

If you want to donate organs or tissue — including if you are gay or lesbian — Florida gives you clear ways to say yes. You do not need a complicated form to get started. Step 1: Register Go to DonateLifeFlorida.org and register. Or mark yourself as an organ donor when you get or renew your...

Donation is not one single choice. In Florida, people usually mean one of three paths. Gay and lesbian donors can use these paths the same as anyone else — orientation alone does not lock you out. Organs for transplant This is the path most people think of: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, a...

If you are gay or lesbian, you can register to donate your organs and tissue in Florida. Being gay or lesbian does not stop you from saying "yes" on your driver license or on the Donate Life Florida registry. Many people still believe an old myth: that gay men cannot be organ donors. That myth...

For years, many families were told that on January 1, 2026, the federal estate-tax exclusion would fall by roughly half. That cut did not take effect. The Internal Revenue Service now publishes a basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000 per person for deaths and gifts in 2026, up from $13,990,000 i...

Dying without a valid will is intestacy. Florida then decides two different things: who takes the property, and who may open a court file. Unmarried partners often mix those questions. They are not the same. Who takes is settled. Section 732.102 gives the surviving spouse's intestate share. If t...

At 18 your child is a legal adult in Florida. Hospitals and banks generally treat parents as strangers unless the young adult has signed a durable power of attorney, health care surrogate designation, living will, and HIPAA authorization — ideally before college move-in.

A sudden hospital stay or accident raises two questions at once: who can pay the bills and talk to doctors, and who picks up the kids. Florida has different tools for each — and a sticky note is not enough.

Families ask this when a parent can no longer sign. Someone is named in a durable power of attorney. Can that person still have a trust prepared? If I can no longer sign, can my durable power of attorney agent still have a trust prepared for me? Often yes — if the durable power of attorney was ...

You have been together for years. You share a house in Wilton Manors. You share the bills and the grocery list. One of you may need a nursing home. The question that keeps you up is simple. Can the person who stays at home keep the savings? If you are legally married, Florida Medicaid has a rule...

You meant well. You paid a son's rent for a few months. You wrote a check when a daughter was between jobs. You helped with a car. It felt like family, not a legal event. Then someone said Medicaid looks back five years, and now you are afraid those gifts will block nursing-home coverage for the ...

You are looking at a Social Security letter and a pension stub. Added together, they look like a decent month. Then someone at the nursing home mentions Medicaid, and the income line they use is about $2,982. Your parent is over it. Or your spouse is. Or you are. That is a very common place to si...

Your adult child moved in. They cook, lift, sit up at night. Someone says pay them. Someone else says a check to a child will ruin Medicaid. Paying a child for care can be real pay. It can also look like a gift. Florida looks back five years. It will look at whether there was a real agreement wh...

Someone at the facility mentions Medicaid. Someone else mentions Aid and Attendance. Should you go after the VA money first? Aid and Attendance is extra VA pension for a wartime veteran, or a surviving spouse, who needs help with daily care. For 2026, the ceiling for a veteran with no dependents...

You signed a living trust years ago. The deed now names the trust. Someone said Medicaid counts everything in a living trust as savings. A living trust you can still change is see-through for Medicaid. The house can still be treated as the home if you live there, or if you left for care and inte...