Revocable Living Trust in Florida: How It Works Under Florida Law

By Erik Newton, attorney. Admitted in Florida and Illinois.
Updated October 2026

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A revocable living trust is a written trust that a person, called the settlor, creates during life and can change or cancel. In Florida it is governed by the Florida Trust Code, chapter 736, Florida Statutes (as of October 2026). For a settlor domiciled in Florida, the provisions that take effect at death are invalid unless the trust is signed with the formalities of a Florida will (s. 736.0403(2)(b)).

On this page

What a revocable living trust is under Florida law
How it works during life, incapacity and after death
Signing a revocable trust in Florida
Funding the trust and Florida probate
A Florida home in a revocable trust
Limits and trade-offs
How it fits with the other Florida documents
Frequently asked questions
Planning a revocable living trust with Plan Ahead
Related reading

What a revocable living trust is under Florida law

Florida law requires, among other things, that the settlor have capacity and indicate an intent to create the trust, that the trustee have duties to perform, and that the same person not be both sole trustee and sole beneficiary (s. 736.0402(1), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026). The capacity needed to create, amend or revoke a revocable trust is the same as for making a will (s. 736.0601).

A trust signed under the current Florida Trust Code is revocable unless its terms expressly say it is irrevocable (s. 736.0602(1)). While the trust is revocable, the trustee’s duties are owed exclusively to the settlor (s. 736.0603(1)).

How it works during life, incapacity and after death

During life. The settlor can amend or revoke the trust by substantially following the method the trust sets out. If the trust sets out no method, the settlor can use a later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust or specifically leaves property that would otherwise pass under the trust, or any other method showing clear and convincing evidence of intent (s. 736.0602(3), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026). Changes to the death provisions remain subject to the will-signing requirement (s. 736.0403(2)).

If the settlor becomes incapacitated. The successor trustee named in the trust manages the trust property under its terms. An agent under a power of attorney can amend or revoke the trust only if the trust explicitly allows it and the settlor signed or initialed next to that specific power (ss. 736.0602(5), 709.2202(1)(b)).

After death. The settlor’s death makes the trust irrevocable (ss. 736.0602, 736.0813(1)(b)). The trustee must file a notice of trust with the court of the county of the settlor’s domicile and the court handling the estate (s. 736.05055(1)). Within 60 days after learning the trust has become irrevocable, the trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust’s existence, the settlor’s identity, their right to request a copy, their right to accountings, and the attorney-client privilege notice that s. 90.5021 describes (s. 736.0813(1)(b), as of October 2026).

Signing a revocable trust in Florida

For a settlor domiciled in Florida when signing, the parts of a revocable trust that dispose of property at or after death, other than to the settlor’s estate, are invalid unless the settlor signs with the formalities required for a Florida will (s. 736.0403(2)(b), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026). Florida will formalities require a signature at the end, made or acknowledged in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, who sign in the presence of the signer and of each other (s. 732.502(1)).

A trust created outside a will is validly created if it complies with the law of the place where it was signed or of the settlor’s domicile when it was created (s. 736.0403(1)). For a settlor domiciled in Florida, the death provisions still need the formalities of a Florida will (s. 736.0403(2)(b)). This matters for people who move to Florida with an existing trust.

Funding the trust and Florida probate

A revocable trust controls only the property titled to the trustee or made payable to it. A Florida will is ineffective to prove title to property until it is admitted to probate (s. 733.103(1), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026). A pour-over will that leaves remaining property to the trustee of an existing trust is valid even though the trust is amendable or revocable (s. 732.513(1), (2)(a)), but that property reaches the trust only through probate.

Summary administration, a small-estates procedure under chapter 735, is available when any will does not direct administration under chapter 733 and the estate subject to administration in Florida, less property exempt from creditors’ claims, does not exceed $150,000, or the decedent has been dead more than 2 years (s. 735.201). The threshold rose from $75,000 effective July 1, 2026 (ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.).

A Florida home in a revocable trust

Florida’s homestead tax exemption requires legal title or beneficial title in equity on January 1, permanent residence, and a recorded deed or instrument (s. 196.031(1)(a), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026). A resident whose right to the home rests on an instrument granting a beneficial interest for life qualifies (s. 196.041(2)), and a Department of Revenue rule treats a trust beneficiary who is entitled to use and occupy the property under the trust’s terms as having enough title to claim the exemption (Rule 12D-7.011, F.A.C.). Florida trusts holding a homestead commonly give the settlor that lifetime interest.

A revocable trust does not lift Florida’s limits on leaving a homestead. If the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, the homestead cannot be devised, except to the spouse when there is no minor child (art. X, s. 4(c), Fla. Const.; s. 732.4015(1)). The settlor of a revocable trust counts as the owner, and a disposition by the trust counts as a devise (s. 732.4015(2)). A lifetime transfer in trust escapes these limits only when the owner keeps no power to revoke or revest it (s. 732.4017(1)).

Limits and trade-offs

No shield from the settlor’s creditors. During life, revocable trust property is subject to the settlor’s creditors’ claims unless it would be exempt if owned directly (s. 736.0505(1)(a), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026).
Estate debts can reach the trust. The trust is liable for the estate’s expenses and obligations to the extent the estate cannot pay them (s. 733.707(3)), on the personal representative’s written certification (s. 736.05053(1)).
The elective share still applies. The surviving spouse of a Florida domiciliary may elect 30 percent of the elective estate (ss. 732.201, 732.2065), which includes property the decedent could revoke at death (s. 732.2035(5)).
Divorce changes the trust. Provisions affecting a former spouse are void on dissolution of the marriage, subject to exceptions (s. 736.1105(2)). A later marriage, birth or adoption does not revoke the trust (s. 736.1105(1)).
Florida estate tax. No Florida estate tax return is required for deaths after December 31, 2004 when no federal state death tax credit is allowable (s. 198.13(4)); Congress phased that credit out for deaths after 2004 and formally repealed it in 2014 (former 26 U.S.C. s. 2011).

How it fits with the other Florida documents

Last Will and Testament. A pour-over will leaves property outside the trust to the trustee (s. 732.513, Fla. Stat., as of October 2026).
Durable Power of Attorney. An agent can create, amend or revoke a trust only under powers the principal separately signed or initialed (s. 709.2202(1)). To amend or revoke, the trust itself must also allow the agent to do so (s. 709.2202(1)(b)).
Advance Health Care Directive and Living Will. Medical decisions sit outside the trust, in a surrogate designation and living will signed before two witnesses (ss. 765.202(1), 765.302(1)). At least one witness must be neither the signer’s spouse nor a blood relative, and the named surrogate cannot be a witness (ss. 765.202(2), 765.302(1), Fla. Stat., as of October 2026).
Declaration of Preneed Guardian. In an incapacity proceeding, it creates a rebuttable presumption that the named person is entitled to serve as guardian (s. 744.3045(4)).

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to do a revocable trust in Florida?

Plan Ahead uses flat-fee pricing, and the fee is explained in a complimentary Peace of Mind Planning Session.

What is the downside of putting your house in a revocable trust?

The homestead limits follow the home into the trust: if the settlor leaves a spouse or minor child, the trust’s terms cannot direct who receives the home, except to leave it to the spouse when there is no minor child (s. 732.4015, Fla. Stat., as of October 2026).

What are the disadvantages of a living trust in Florida?

In Florida it gives no protection from the settlor’s creditors during life beyond exemptions that already apply (s. 736.0505(1)(a)), answers for estate debts the estate cannot pay (s. 733.707(3)), counts toward the spouse’s elective share (s. 732.2035(5)), and needs will formalities (s. 736.0403(2)(b)).

Should your house be in a trust in Florida?

That is a planning judgment for each family. A homestead in a revocable trust stays subject to the devise limits (s. 732.4015(2)) and can qualify for the tax exemption when the resident holds a beneficial interest for life (s. 196.041(2)).

Do I need a lawyer to set up a trust in Florida?

Florida’s rules for creating a trust (s. 736.0402) and for signing a revocable trust (s. 736.0403(2)(b)) do not require a lawyer. Under the second, death provisions not signed with will formalities are invalid. The Florida Supreme Court has held that drafting, executing and funding a living trust document is the practice of law, so a non-lawyer cannot prepare one for someone else (The Florida Bar re Advisory Opinion, Nonlawyer Preparation of Living Trusts, 613 So. 2d 426 (Fla. 1992); The Florida Bar v. American Senior Citizens Alliance, Inc., 689 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 1997)).

What assets cannot be placed in a living trust?

Some assets are usually linked to the trust by beneficiary designation instead of being retitled. Florida law lets life insurance, annuity and retirement plan death benefits, including IRAs, be made payable to the trustee of an existing trust (ss. 733.808(1), 710.102(2)). Retirement accounts themselves stay in the owner’s name because of federal tax law: an IRA must be held for the exclusive benefit of one individual and that person’s beneficiaries (26 U.S.C. s. 408(a)), an assignment of IRA rights is treated as a distribution of the amount assigned (26 C.F.R. s. 1.408-4(a)(2)), and employer retirement plans must bar assigning benefits (26 U.S.C. s. 401(a)(13)(A)).

Planning a revocable living trust with Plan Ahead

Plan Ahead prepares Revocable Living Trusts with a Last Will and Testament, Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, Living Will and Declaration of Preneed Guardian. Planning meetings take place by Zoom; signings take place in person, at the client’s home or at our Lake Worth Beach office, with two witnesses and a notary provided by the firm. Schedule a Peace of Mind Planning Session, or read more about estate planning in Florida.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by reading it.