Chapter 732 — Wills & Intestate Succession

Florida Statute 732.517

“Penalty clause for contest”

What it means

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. (§ 732.517)

This covers "no-contest" clauses in wills. The section makes the penalty unenforceable and does not address the rest of the will.

Trusts have a parallel rule: a provision in a trust instrument purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the trust instrument or instituting other proceedings relating to a trust estate or trust assets is unenforceable. It applies to trusts created on or after October 1, 1993, and a revocable trust is treated as created when the right of revocation terminates. (§ 736.1108)

— What it says

Covers a will provision that penalizes any interested person (§ 732.517).
Triggers: contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate (§ 732.517).
Such a provision is unenforceable (§ 732.517).
Trust instruments have a parallel rule, for trusts created on or after October 1, 1993 (§ 736.1108(1), (2)).

Text of the statute (2026)

§ 732.517

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.

Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 732.517.

History. s. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220.

— In a Florida probate

How it applies

A will may contain a clause stating that a beneficiary who challenges the will loses a gift. Under this section the clause is unenforceable against an interested person who contests the will or institutes other proceedings relating to the estate. The text contains no exceptions. The same result applies to trust instruments under § 736.1108(1). Whether a contest succeeds is a separate question, decided on grounds such as those in § 732.5165.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where § 732.517 does real work:

Related sections

§ 736.1108Penalty clause for contest § 732.502Execution of wills § 732.5165Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue influence § 732.503Self-proof of will § 733.107Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue influence

Questions people ask

Do no-contest clauses work in Florida?

Not in wills or trusts. Section 732.517 makes a will provision that penalizes an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate unenforceable, and § 736.1108(1) does the same for trust instruments.

Sources

Fla. Stat. § 732.517 (2026), Online Sunshine / Florida Senate (is unenforceable)
Fla. Stat. § 736.1108 (2026), Online Sunshine / Florida Senate (Parallel rule for trusts: A provision in a trust instrument purporting to penalize any interested person for contesting the trust instrument)

Last checked: October 17, 2026

The official text

This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the 2026 Florida Statutes — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.

Read § 732.517

Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.