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FLORIDA LEGAL INFORMATION
Last Will and Testament Statutes
Link to the Florida Statutes online, See Title XLII, Section 732 which contains the portion of the Probate Code dealing with last wills.
Information about Florida Wills from the Florida Bar Association.
American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates
American Bar Association, Estate Planning
Selected Florida Statutes
- Who may make a will. Any person who is of sound mind and who is either 18 or more years of age or an emancipated minor may make a will.
Florida Code Section 732.501.
- Execution and signature of will; witnesses. Every will must be in writing and executed as follows:
(1)(a) Testator's signature.--
- The testator must sign the will at the end; or
- The testator's name must be subscribed at the end of the will by some other person in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction.
(b) Witnesses.--The testator's:
- Signing, or
- Acknowledgment:
a. That he or she has previously signed the will, or
b. That another person has subscribed the testator's name to it, must be in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses.
(c) Witnesses' signatures.--The attesting witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other.
(2) Any will, other than a holographic or nuncupative will, executed by a nonresident of Florida, either before or after this law takes effect, is valid as a will in this state if valid under the laws of the state or country where the will was executed. A will in the testator's handwriting that has been executed in accordance with subsection (1) shall not be considered a holographic will.
(3) No particular form of words is necessary to the validity of a will if it is executed with the formalities required by law.
(4) A codicil shall be executed with the same formalities as a will.
Florida Code Section 732.502.
- Who may be a witness. Who may witness.--
(1) Any person competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will.
(2) A will or codicil, or any part of either, is not invalid because the will or codicil is signed by an interested witness.
Florida Code Section 732.504.
- Revocation by writing.--A will or codicil, or any part of either, is revoked:
(1) By a subsequent inconsistent will or codicil, even though the subsequent inconsistent will or codicil does not expressly revoke all previous wills or codicils, but the revocation extends only so far as the inconsistency.
(2) By a subsequent will, codicil, or other writing executed with the same formalities required for the execution of wills declaring the revocation.
Florida Code Section 732.505.
- Revocation by act.--A will or codicil is revoked by the testator, or some other person in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction, by burning, tearing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or destroying it with the intent, and for the purpose, of revocation.
Florida Code Section 732.506.
- Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution of marriage.--
(1) Neither subsequent marriage, birth, nor adoption of lineal descendants shall revoke the prior will of any person, but the pretermitted child or spouse shall inherit as set forth in ss. 732.301 and 732.302, regardless of the prior will.
(2) Any provision of a will executed by a married person that affects the spouse of that person shall become void upon the divorce of that person or upon the dissolution or annulment of the marriage. After the dissolution, divorce, or annulment, the will shall be administered and construed as if the former spouse had died at the time of the dissolution, divorce, or annulment of the marriage, unless the will or the dissolution or divorce judgment expressly provides otherwise.
Florida Code Section 732.507.
- Separate writing identifying devises of tangible property.--A written statement or list referred to in the decedent's will shall dispose of items of tangible personal property, other than property used in trade or business, not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing must be signed by the testator and must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. The writing may be prepared before or after the execution of the will. It may be altered by the testator after its preparation. It may be a writing that has no significance apart from its effect upon the dispositions made by the will. If more than one otherwise effective writing exists, then, to the extent of any conflict among the writings, the provisions of the most recent writing revoke the inconsistent provisions of each prior writing.
Florida Code Section 732.515.
- Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue influence.--A will is void if the execution is procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence. Any part of the will is void if so procured, but the remainder of the will not so procured shall be valid if it is not invalid for other reasons.
Florida Code Section 732.5165.
- Penalty clause for contest.--A provision in a will purporting to penalize any interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable.
Florida Code Section 732.517.
Library of Informational Legal Articles
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