Florida Statute 732.2065
“Amount of the elective share”
What it means
The elective share is an amount equal to 30 percent of the elective estate (§ 732.2065). The base is the elective estate defined in § 732.2035.
The election does not reduce what the spouse would receive without it (§ 732.201). Section 732.2075 then applies certain property already passing to the spouse first toward satisfying the share, unless the will or a trust referred to in the will provides otherwise, and charges any unsatisfied balance to other recipients in the order it sets out.
- The elective share equals 30 percent of the elective estate. (§ 732.2065)
- The elective estate is the broader base defined in § 732.2035, not only the probate estate. (§ 732.2035)
- Elective estate property that passes to the spouse is applied first toward satisfying the share, unless the will or referenced trust provides otherwise. (§ 732.2075(1)(a))
- The election does not reduce what the spouse would receive if no election were made. (§ 732.201)
Text of the statute (2026)
The elective share is an amount equal to 30 percent of the elective estate.
Unless otherwise provided in the decedent’s will or, in the absence of a provision in the decedent’s will, in a trust referred to in the decedent’s will, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective share: (a) Property interests included in the elective estate that pass or have passed to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse, including interests that are contingent upon making the election, but only to the extent that such contingent interests do not diminish other property interests that would be applied to satisfy the elective share in the absence of the contingent interests.
Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 732.2065.
History. s. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 81-27; s. 6, ch. 99-343.
How it applies
The 30 percent rate is fixed. Disputes concern which interests belong in the elective estate (§§ 732.2035, 732.2045) and how much the spouse already receives that counts toward the share (§ 732.2075(1)).
If the share is not fully satisfied by those interests, § 732.2075(2) allocates the unsatisfied balance among classes of recipients in a stated order of priority. Comparing the 30 percent figure with what the spouse already receives shows whether an election changes the outcome.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.2065 does real work:
- Will vs. trust in Florida: what each does, how each is signed and what each avoids
- What Florida homestead protects: tax exemption, creditor protection and inheritance rules
- Florida will checklist: who may make a will, signing and witness rules under section 732.502, the self-proving affidavit, and decisions on beneficiaries, personal representative, guardian and homestead
- Florida spousal elective share: 30 percent of the elective estate, what the elective estate includes and leaves out, the filing deadline, waiver, the court process and a worked example
- Blended families and estate planning in Florida: homestead, elective share, stepchildren and trusts
- Florida snowbird estate planning: domicile, homestead, other-state taxes and ancillary probate
- Disinheriting a child in Florida: what the law allows, protected homestead and how to draft it
- Pretermitted spouse and child in Florida: the share owed when a will predates a marriage or birth
- Out-of-state wills in Florida: validity, moving to Florida and probate steps
- The Giving Pledge
Questions people ask
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 732.2065, Amount of the elective share (2026) ("The elective share is an amount equal to 30 percent of the elective estate.")
- Fla. Stat. § 732.2075, Sources from which elective share payable; abatement (2026) (Sources from which the elective share is payable; property passing to the spouse is applied first.)
Last checked: October 17, 2026
Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.