Estate Planning for Blended Families

Blended families are the norm in Miami, second marriages, stepchildren, his-and-hers kids, and assets brought into a new relationship. They are also where do-it-yourself estate planning fails most painfully, because Florida law contains protections that can override even a carefully written will. Here are the worries we hear most from blended families.

If I leave everything to my spouse, will my own kids be protected?

Not necessarily, and this is the heartbreak we see most. If you leave everything outright to your new spouse trusting that they will “take care of the children,” the law does not require it. Once your spouse owns those assets, they can leave them to anyone, their own children, a future partner, or a new charity. Your kids from a prior marriage can be unintentionally disinherited. Good intentions are not a plan; structure is.

Can I just disinherit my spouse and leave it all to my children?

Florida makes that surprisingly hard, on purpose. The elective share statute (section 732.2065 and the sections that follow) generally entitles a surviving spouse to roughly 30% of the elective estate, which is broadly defined and reaches well beyond what your will gives them. So a will leaving your new spouse nothing can be challenged, and the spouse can claim their share anyway. You cannot quietly cut a spouse out in Florida without a valid waiver, typically in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.

What happens to my Miami home?

Florida homestead under Article X, Section 4 has special devise rules that hit blended families hard. If you are survived by a spouse and you have any descendants, you generally cannot leave your homestead outright to whomever you choose. By default, your surviving spouse receives a life estate (or can elect a half interest), with the remainder to your descendants. That means your Brickell or Coral Gables home may not pass the way your will directs. Many couples are shocked to learn the constitution, not their will, controls the house.

How do I provide for my spouse AND my children?

This is exactly what trusts are built for. A common solution is a revocable living trust under Chapter 736, often funded with a marital trust that lets your surviving spouse benefit from the assets, income and a place to live, for the rest of their life, while guaranteeing that whatever remains passes to your children. You take care of your spouse without disinheriting your kids, and you remove the temptation and the lawsuits. Beneficiary designations and Lady Bird deeds can be coordinated into the same plan so nothing falls through the cracks.

Should we sign a marital agreement?

For many Miami blended families, yes. A properly drafted prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can waive elective-share and homestead rights in a controlled, mutually agreed way, which lets each spouse provide for their own children with clarity. Done right, it prevents the surviving spouse and the prior-marriage children from facing each other in probate court, which is where unplanned blended estates too often end up.

A note before you plan

Blended-family planning in Florida means navigating elective share, homestead devise restrictions, and the interplay of wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations all at once. The defaults rarely match what couples actually want. Before relying on a simple will or an online form, consult a licensed Florida estate planning attorney who can build a plan that protects your spouse and your children together.