Out-of-state wills in Florida: validity, moving to Florida and probate steps
Under § 732.502(2), Florida accepts a will signed by a nonresident if it was valid where it was signed, except holographic and nuncupative wills. This page covers moving to Florida, probating an out-of-state will, ancillary administration and out-of-state trusts, each with its statute.
A will signed by a nonresident of Florida is valid in Florida if it is valid under the law of the state or country where it was signed, unless it is a holographic or nuncupative will (§ 732.502(2), Fla. Stat. (2026)). A will signed with two attesting witnesses is not a holographic will even if the testator wrote it by hand (same subsection). Moving to Florida does not revoke a will: the statutes revoke a will only by a later will or writing (§ 732.505) or by an act of destruction (§ 732.506).
The sections below state which law tests the will, what changes once the testator is domiciled in Florida, how the clerk and court handle an out-of-state will after death, and what applies to a trust signed in another state. Each rule links to its source. The Sources section lists every one, last checked October 17, 2026.
- Validity: the law of the place of signing decides, for a nonresident testator, with the holographic and nuncupative exceptions (Table 1).
- Domicile in Florida: the elective share and homestead devise limits apply to a person who dies domiciled in Florida whatever the will says; the pretermitted spouse share applies unless an exception in § 732.301(1)-(3) applies (Table 2).
- After death: the original will goes to the clerk within 10 days. A Florida domiciliary is probated in the county of domicile. A nonresident with Florida assets needs ancillary administration or one of two shorter routes (Table 3).
- Trusts: a trust signed in another state is validly created if it complies with the law of the place of signing or the settlor's domicile at creation (§ 736.0403(1)).
Which law decides whether the will is valid
Florida's execution rule is in § 732.502(1): the will is in writing, the testator signs at the end (or another person signs the testator's name in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction), the testator signs or acknowledges the signature before at least two attesting witnesses, and the witnesses sign in the presence of the testator and of each other. Subsection (2) adds the rule for out-of-state wills. Table 1 applies both.
| Situation | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Testator was a nonresident of Florida when signing, will is not holographic or nuncupative | Valid in Florida if valid under the law of the state or country where it was signed. The rule applies to wills signed before or after the statute took effect. | § 732.502(2) |
| Handwritten will signed at the end before two witnesses who signed in the presence of the testator and each other | Not a holographic will. It meets the Florida formalities directly. | § 732.502(1), (2) |
| Holographic will (testator's handwriting, no attesting witnesses) or nuncupative (oral) will | Excluded from the out-of-state validity rule in subsection (2). Subsection (2) does not make it valid because another state would. | § 732.502(2) |
| Testator was a Florida resident when signing | Subsection (2) is written for “a nonresident of Florida.” Subsection (1) states the Florida formalities. | § 732.502(1), (2) |
| Military testamentary instrument under 10 U.S.C. § 1044d, signed by a person eligible for military legal assistance | Valid as a will in Florida. | § 732.502(3) |
| Codicil | Executed with the same formalities as a will. | § 732.502(5) |
| Will made self-proved in another state under that state's law | Considered self-proved in Florida. A self-proved will can be admitted without further proof of execution. | § 732.503(2); § 733.201(1) |
| Will that is not self-proved | Admitted on the oath of an attesting witness taken before a circuit judge, a commissioner appointed by the court, or the clerk. If the witnesses cannot be found, the oath of the nominated personal representative or of a disinterested person stating belief that the writing is the decedent's will can substitute. | § 733.201(2), (3) |
| Will written in a foreign language | Filed with a true and complete English translation. The order admitting the will sets the correct translation. | § 733.204; Fla. Prob. R. 5.216 |
| Notarial will held by a notary in a foreign country | A duly authenticated copy may be admitted if the original could be admitted in Florida. Any interested person may oppose it. | § 733.205 |
Sources: §§ 732.502, 732.503, 733.201, 733.204 and 733.205, Fla. Stat. (2026); Fla. Prob. R. 5.216 (October 15, 2026 edition).
Any person competent to be a witness can witness a will, and a will is not invalid because an interested witness signed it (§ 732.504). A will is void to the extent it was procured by fraud, duress, mistake or undue influence (§ 732.5165).
What changes when a testator becomes a Florida domiciliary
The will stays valid. Several Florida rules attach to a person who dies domiciled in Florida or who owns Florida homestead, and the elective share and homestead devise limits operate whatever the will says. The pretermitted spouse share applies unless an exception in § 732.301(1)-(3) applies. Table 2 lists them.
| Topic | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Elective share | The surviving spouse of a person who dies domiciled in Florida may elect 30 percent of the elective estate. The election does not reduce what the spouse would otherwise receive. | § 732.201; § 732.2065 |
| Marriage after the will was signed | Marriage does not revoke the will. A spouse who marries the testator after the will was made receives an intestate-equivalent share unless the spouse was provided for by agreement or in the will, or the will shows an intention not to provide for the spouse. | § 732.507(1); § 732.301 |
| Divorce | A will provision affecting the testator's spouse is void on dissolution of the marriage, with listed exceptions. Applies to decedents who die on or after June 29, 2021. | § 732.507(2), (3) |
| Homestead devise | Homestead cannot be devised if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child, except to the spouse when there is no minor child. For a trust described in § 733.707(3), the grantor counts as the owner and a disposition by trust counts as a devise. | Art. X, § 4(c), Fla. Const.; § 732.4015(1), (2) |
| Spousal waivers | A waiver signed by a nonresident of Florida is valid in Florida if valid under the law of the place where it was signed, whether or not the person is a Florida resident at death. A waiver signed by a Florida resident needs two subscribing witnesses. | § 732.702(1) |
| State taxes | Florida may not levy a tax on estates, inheritances or the income of natural persons who are residents or citizens, beyond the credit allowed against the federal tax. The Department of Revenue states Florida has no estate tax for deaths after December 31, 2004. | Art. VII, § 5(a), Fla. Const.; Florida Department of Revenue, Florida Estate Tax (accessed October 17, 2026) |
| Federal estate tax filing threshold | The 2026 threshold in the IRS table is $15,000,000. | IRS, Estate Tax (accessed October 17, 2026) |
| Evidence of Florida domicile | A person with a Florida domicile may file a sworn statement of domicile with the clerk of the circuit court of the county of residence. A person domiciled in another state may file a sworn statement that the domicile is elsewhere. | § 222.17(1), (2), (4) |
| Venue for probate | The county in Florida where the decedent was domiciled. If the decedent had no Florida domicile, any county where the decedent's property is located. | § 733.101(1) |
Sources: §§ 222.17, 732.201, 732.2065, 732.301, 732.4015, 732.507, 732.702 and 733.101, Fla. Stat. (2026); Art. VII, § 5 and Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.
A change of domicile is a question of fact. The property appraiser weighs the factors in § 196.015(1) when deciding a homestead exemption claim, including a recorded declaration of domicile, a Florida driver license with evidence of relinquishing the old license, voter registration, the address on federal income tax returns and the location of bank accounts. A person receiving a residency-based property tax exemption or credit in another state is not entitled to the Florida homestead exemption (§ 196.031(6)).
Related guides: spousal elective share, pretermitted spouse and child, what a homestead protects, snowbird estate planning and when to update an estate plan.
Holographic and handwritten wills
Whether a handwritten will works in Florida depends on witnesses. A handwritten will signed at the end before two attesting witnesses who sign in the presence of the testator and each other satisfies § 732.502(1) and is not treated as holographic (§ 732.502(2)). A handwritten will with no attesting witnesses is holographic. Subsection (2) excludes it from the rule that honors a nonresident's will, and the same subsection excludes nuncupative (oral) wills.
A will can be signed again with the Florida formalities. A new will or other writing signed with those formalities that declares the revocation revokes the earlier instrument, and a later inconsistent will revokes the earlier one to the extent of the inconsistency (§ 732.505).
Probating an out-of-state will in Florida
The procedure depends on where the decedent was domiciled at death and what the decedent owned in Florida. Table 3 lists the five routes in the statutes. Confirm the clerk's current filing requirements before filing.
| Route | Applies when | Steps and source |
|---|---|---|
| Regular administration in Florida | The decedent died domiciled in Florida, including a person who moved to Florida with a will signed elsewhere. | Whoever has the original will deposits it with the clerk of the court with venue within 10 days after learning of the death (§ 732.901(1)). Any interested person may petition for administration (§ 733.202). The will is proved as in Table 1. Venue is the county of domicile (§ 733.101(1)(a)). A copy of an official record of the death is filed within 3 months after first publication of the notice to creditors (Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(1)). |
| Ancillary administration | The decedent was a nonresident and left assets, credits due from Florida residents, or liens on property in Florida. | The petition includes an authenticated copy of the domiciliary proceedings showing the will, the petition, the order admitting the will and the authority of the personal representative (Fla. Prob. R. 5.470(a)). Formal notice goes to qualified persons with equal or greater preference and to domiciliary personal representatives (Fla. Prob. R. 5.470(b)). The court decides whether the will complies with Florida law and admits it if it does (Fla. Prob. R. 5.470(c)). The ancillary personal representative gives bond and publishes notice to creditors under ch. 733 (§ 734.102(4), (5)). Letters go first to a personal representative named in the will for the Florida property, then to the foreign personal representative if qualified in Florida (§ 734.102(1)). Venue is any county where the property is located (§ 733.101(1)(b)). |
| Nonresident, testate, Florida property of $50,000 or less | Gross value of the property subject to administration in Florida did not exceed $50,000 at death. | Within 2 years after death the foreign personal representative files an authenticated transcript of the foreign proceedings in the circuit court of a county where property is located. The court admits the will and codicils if they comply with § 732.502(1), (2) or (3). The foreign personal representative may serve and publish a notice to creditors, and if a claim is filed a personal representative is appointed under the Florida Probate Rules (§ 734.1025). |
| Foreign will admitted to record | A nonresident's will devises Florida real property, and no administration was opened in Florida. | An authenticated copy may be admitted to record in the Florida county where the property is located at any time after 2 years from death, or after the domiciliary personal representative is discharged, if the will was executed as chapter 732 requires and was admitted to probate in another state, territory or country. Any person may petition, with authenticated copies of the will, the petition for probate and the order. Once admitted, the will passes title as if probated in Florida (§ 734.104). |
| Resident's will probated elsewhere by mistake | A Florida resident's will was admitted to probate in another jurisdiction through inadvertence, error or omission before Florida probate. | The will may be admitted in Florida if the original could be. An authenticated copy, the foreign proof, the foreign order and any letters are filed in place of the original. Any interested person may oppose (§ 733.206). |
Sources: §§ 732.901, 733.101, 733.202, 733.206, 734.102, 734.1025 and 734.104, Fla. Stat. (2026); Fla. Prob. R. 5.205, 5.215 and 5.470, Florida Probate Rules, October 15, 2026 edition. Rule 5.215 provides that an authenticated copy of a will may be admitted to probate if the original could be admitted in Florida.
Fla. Prob. R. 5.030(a) requires every personal representative to be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person. A personal representative who is a Florida attorney may represent himself or herself. A foreign personal representative who files authenticated copies or takes similar acts submits to the jurisdiction of Florida courts (§ 734.201).
A copy is not the original. If the original is lost or destroyed, any interested person may establish its full and precise terms. The content must be proved by two disinterested witnesses, or by one disinterested witness if a correct copy is provided (§ 733.207). A later will or codicil discovered before the estate is completely administered and the personal representative discharged can be offered, and the earlier probate can be challenged (§ 733.208). For more on ancillary cases, see ancillary probate in Florida and out-of-state heirs and Florida property.
Florida homestead exemption claimed by a person probated elsewhere
If a decedent's estate is administered in another state on the allegation that the decedent lived there, and the decedent's Florida real property received a homestead exemption in any of the 10 years before death, the property appraiser records a notice of tax lien within 3 years after death. The lien covers the exempted taxes, a 50 percent penalty for each year and 15 percent interest per year. The lien is not filed, or is canceled, if the Florida circuit court with ancillary jurisdiction determines the decedent was a permanent resident of Florida during the years the exemption was allowed (§ 196.161(1)(a)).
Filing a sworn statement of domicile in the state where the person lives, and in Florida under § 222.17(4) when the person keeps a Florida place of abode but is domiciled elsewhere, creates a record of the intended domicile. The property appraiser and the court decide residency on the facts.
Trusts signed in another state
- Creation: a trust not created by will is validly created if it complies with the law of the jurisdiction where the instrument was executed or where the settlor was domiciled at creation (§ 736.0403(1)). A trust of Florida land must also comply with § 689.05 (§ 736.0403(2)(a)).
- Florida domiciliary settlor: the testamentary aspects of a revocable trust signed by a Florida domiciliary are invalid unless the settlor signed with the formalities for a Florida will (§ 736.0403(2)(b)).
- Governing law: the meaning and effect of the trust's terms are determined by the law the trust designates, if there is a sufficient nexus (including the location of real property or the residence of the settlor, trustee or a beneficiary), and otherwise by the law of the jurisdiction where the settlor resided when the trust was first created. A designation does not control if it is contrary to a strong public policy of Florida (§ 736.0107).
- Place of administration: a trustee may transfer the principal place of administration to another state. The trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries at least 60 days before starting the transfer (§ 736.0108(5), (6)).
- Homestead in a trust: the homestead devise limits in Table 2 apply to a disposition by trust of the part of the trust estate that would be the grantor's homestead if titled in the grantor's name (§ 732.4015(2)).
After the settlor's death, see trust administration after death for the trustee's duties, and will vs. trust in Florida for the comparison.
Property in more than one state
This page states Florida law. The probate code of each other state governs property located there, so read that state's statutes or ask that state's probate court clerk what an out-of-state estate must file. The Florida side of the same question is ancillary administration (§ 734.102) or, for small nonresident estates and real property, the two shorter routes in Table 3.
Common errors
- Treating a handwritten, unwitnessed will as valid because another state recognizes it. Subsection (2) of § 732.502 excludes holographic wills.
- Holding the original will. The custodian must deposit it with the clerk within 10 days after learning of the death, and a court can compel production with costs and attorney fees against a custodian without just cause (§ 732.901(1), (2)).
- Assuming a later marriage is covered by an old will. Marriage does not revoke the will, and the pretermitted spouse takes an intestate-equivalent share unless an exception applies (§ 732.507(1), § 732.301).
- Assuming a divorced spouse still takes. A will provision affecting a spouse is void on dissolution, with the exceptions in § 732.507(2).
- Claiming Florida homestead exemption while another state treats the person as a resident. See § 196.031(6) and § 196.161.
- Leaving a Florida home to a child when a spouse or minor child survives. The devise limit in Art. X, § 4(c) applies (Table 2).
Sources
Last checked: October 17, 2026. Statutes are cited to the 2026 Florida Statutes on the Florida Senate site.
- § 732.502, Fla. Stat. (2026). Execution of wills. § 732.503. Self-proof of will. § 732.504. Who may witness. § 732.505. Revocation by writing. § 732.506. Revocation by act. § 732.5165. Fraud, duress, mistake and undue influence.
- § 732.507, Fla. Stat. (2026). Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption or dissolution of marriage. § 732.301. Pretermitted spouse.
- § 732.201 and § 732.2065, Fla. Stat. (2026). Right to elective share; amount of the elective share.
- § 732.4015 and § 732.702, Fla. Stat. (2026). Devise of homestead; waiver of spousal rights.
- § 732.901, Fla. Stat. (2026). Production of wills.
- § 733.101, § 733.201, § 733.202, § 733.204, § 733.205, § 733.206, § 733.207 and § 733.208, Fla. Stat. (2026). Venue; proof of wills; petition; foreign-language, notarial and lost wills; probate after foreign probate; later wills.
- § 734.102, § 734.1025, § 734.104 and § 734.201, Fla. Stat. (2026). Ancillary administration; nonresident testate estate of $50,000 or less; foreign wills; jurisdiction over foreign personal representatives.
- § 736.0107, § 736.0108 and § 736.0403, Fla. Stat. (2026). Governing law; principal place of administration; trusts created in other jurisdictions.
- § 222.17, § 196.015, § 196.031 and § 196.161, Fla. Stat. (2026). Domicile statement; permanent residency factors; homestead exemption; lien for improper exemption.
- Art. X, § 4 and Art. VII, § 5, Fla. Const.
- Fla. Prob. R. 5.030, 5.205, 5.215, 5.216 and 5.470, Florida Probate Rules, October 15, 2026 edition, The Florida Bar.
- Florida Department of Revenue, Florida Estate Tax, accessed October 17, 2026.
- IRS, Estate Tax, accessed October 17, 2026.
What people ask us about this.
Is a will signed in another state valid in Florida?
Do I need a new will after moving to Florida?
Does Florida accept a handwritten will from another state?
How do I probate an out-of-state will in Florida?
Is a self-proving affidavit from another state accepted in Florida?
What if the decedent owned Florida property but lived in another state?
Is a trust signed in another state valid in Florida?
Does Florida have an estate tax or inheritance tax?
Related guides
Intake reopens late October 2026. The guides stay free.
Rachel is not accepting new clients until late October 2026. Leave your details and we'll call when intake reopens. If your matter can't wait, The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service — 800-342-8011 — refers you to another Florida attorney taking cases now.