As part of our retirement strategy, in 2024 my husband and I decided to become Florida residents. We went down to the DMV, got new drivers licenses and Florida plates for the cars. Homesteaded our Florida residence and downsized our home in Illinois selling our house, buying a townhouse. Updated our voting cards too! We followed the checklist, or so we thought.
At about the same time, we were working to update Uncle Dan’s Will — changing from Massachusetts to Illinois. That’s where we learned that every state is very different. A Healthcare Power of Attorney in one state is not necessarily valid in other states. Yikes — we needed to update OUR Will and Trust ASAP.
I’m a numbers person. Nearly thirty years in finance. I know how to read a bond indenture. Somehow that didn’t stop me from overlooking the fact that our carefully crafted estate plan — updated just four years earlier — could become partially obsolete the moment we crossed state lines.
If it can happen to us, it can happen to you. Whether you’ve already made the move or you’re still planning it, this post walks through what we learned — and what to check before you need it.
Why Moving to a New State Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think
Here’s what we didn’t know going in — and what your financial advisor probably hasn’t mentioned either.
State law — not federal law — governs almost all estate planning. That means the rules that shaped your will, trust, power of attorney, and healthcare directive when you lived in Illinois (or Ohio, or New York) may not map cleanly onto your new home state.
This doesn’t mean your documents are invalid. Florida recognizes most wills and trusts drafted in another state. But “recognized” and “works exactly as intended” are two very different things. Some provisions that were standard in your old state may conflict with Florida statutes. Others may simply not take advantage of protections Florida offers that your old state didn’t.
Here’s what caught us by surprise:
- Homestead rules are different — and serious. Florida’s homestead law is one of the strongest in the country. It protects your primary residence from creditors, caps property tax increases, and restricts who you can leave your home to if you have a spouse or minor children. If your trust holds your Florida home, it needs to be structured to work with these rules, not around them.
- Florida has no estate tax. Illinois does, with a $4 million exemption. If your documents were drafted with Illinois tax planning in mind, some of those provisions may be unnecessary in Florida — or in rare cases, could work against you. And if you did not follow the Florida residency checklist properly, you could still have to pay all the Illinois taxes.
- Trustee and witness requirements differ. Florida has specific rules about who can serve as a trustee and how you must witness documents. If you executed your documents in another state with different witness requirements, they may need a Florida amendment to hold up cleanly in probate. We learned this the hard way and had to re-sign our Trust documents twice to comply with these rules.
- Your healthcare directive may not travel perfectly. Florida’s version of an advance directive (called a Living Will) and its rules for a Healthcare Surrogate designation have specific language requirements. Hospitals and doctors generally honor out-of-state documents, but Florida language gives healthcare providers more clarity in a crisis.
What We Actually Did (And What I’d Tell You to Do First)
Mike and I had a revocable living trust that we’d set up in Illinois, along with wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives. When we moved, I assumed we were fine. It had been four years since we’d updated everything — our kids were grown, our assets were straightforward — and honestly, I just didn’t think about it.
It was actually Uncle Dan’s will that jolted us into action. Watching the process of updating his documents from Massachusetts to Illinois — and seeing how different the requirements were — made us stop and ask: when did we last look at ours? The answer was four years earlier, and that was in Illinois. We called a Florida estate attorney the next week.
What followed was a two-hour meeting that turned into a fairly significant revision. Not because our old documents were bad — they weren’t — but because Florida is genuinely different, and we wanted documents that worked precisely here.
The big changes for us:
- We re-titled our Florida home into our trust with language that properly accounts for Florida homestead protections
- Our powers of attorney got updated to Florida’s statutory form, which financial institutions here recognize without question
- We signed new Healthcare Surrogate designations and Living Wills with Florida-specific language
- Trustee succession got a full review too — we confirmed our named successors meet Florida’s requirements
- We established a new LLC and put the title for the Illinois townhome in the LLC for additional protections
Was it a hassle? A little. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
When Should You Review Your Documents Regardless of a Move?
Even if you haven’t relocated, estate documents need periodic review. Most estate attorneys recommend a look every three to five years, and immediately after any major life change. Here are the triggers that should prompt a review:
- A move to a new state (yes, even if it’s just a part-time residence — Florida snowbirds, this means you)
- Marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse
- The birth or adoption of grandchildren you want to include
- Significant changes in your assets — inheritance, sale of a business, major investment shifts
- Death or incapacity of a named executor, trustee, or beneficiary
- A beneficiary’s circumstances change significantly (divorce, addiction, disability, financial instability)
- Federal or state tax law changes that affect your plan
- Your own health changes that affect your care wishes
If you can’t remember the last time you reviewed your documents, that’s probably your answer – DO IT!
A Note on Document Storage (This Is Where Most People Fall Short)
Here’s the part that doesn’t get enough attention: having the right documents is only half the battle. Your family needs to be able to find them, access them, and understand what they say — ideally without having to search through boxes in a moment of crisis.
After our Florida update, we did something we should have done years earlier: we organized every critical document — trust, wills, powers of attorney, insurance policies, account information, the deed to our home — into a secure, organized system that our kids can access when they need it. Including Gramma Elise’s famous chocolate pie recipe!
If you haven’t done this, it belongs on your list right next to the attorney appointment. I use DocuGuardian for this — it’s built specifically for this purpose, and our readers get 10% off with code OverSixty. But whatever system you use, please have one. Your future executor will thank you.
Your Estate Document Review Checklist:
Use this as a starting point for a conversation with your estate attorney:
If you’ve moved to a new state:
- Have a Florida (or new state) estate attorney review all documents
- Re-title real property into your trust if needed
- Execute new powers of attorney in your new state’s statutory form
- Execute new healthcare directives using your new state’s language
- Confirm trustee and executor eligibility under new state law
Regardless of whether you’ve moved:
- Review named beneficiaries on all accounts and policies (these override your will)
- Confirm your executor and successor trustee are still willing and able
- Make sure your trust is funded — you must re-title assets into the trust to avoid probate
- Review your healthcare surrogate and confirm they understand your wishes
- Locate originals and confirm your family knows where they are
- Review any outdated provisions (tax planning that no longer applies, children who are now adults, etc.)
The Bottom Line
Estate planning isn’t a one-and-done task. It’s a living system that needs to evolve as your life does — and moving to a new state is one of the biggest triggers of all.
Mike and I are glad we did this when we did, and not in the middle of a crisis. If you’re a recent transplant to Florida — or any new state — I’d encourage you to make that attorney call this month. Not next quarter. This month.
And if you haven’t reviewed your documents in a few years regardless of where you live, the checklist above is a solid place to start. Your family is counting on you to get this right.
Have you gone through this process? What surprised you? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
