Florida Statute 732.603
“Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts”
What it means
Section 732.603 is Florida's antilapse statute for wills. It applies to a devisee who is a grandparent of the testator or a descendant of a grandparent and who (a) was dead when the will was signed, (b) fails to survive the testator, or (c) is treated by the will or by operation of law as having predeceased the testator. A substitute gift is created in the devisee's surviving descendants, who take per stirpes the property the devisee would have received (subsection (1)).
A contrary intent in the will displaces the statute. Words of survivorship, such as “if he survives me,” “if she survives me,” or “my surviving children,” are a sufficient indication of contrary intent (subsection (3)(a)). Subsection (2) applies the same substitution to appointees under a power of appointment exercised by will, and subsection (3)(b) treats class members as devisees and appointees.
The section applies only to outright devises and appointments. Devises and appointments in trust, including to a testamentary trust, are subject to s. 736.1106 (subsection (4)).
- Triggers: the devisee was dead when the will was executed, fails to survive the testator, or is treated as having predeceased (§ 732.603(1)(a)-(c)).
- Covers devisees who are the testator's grandparents or descendants of a grandparent (§ 732.603(1)).
- The substitute takers are the devisee's surviving descendants, per stirpes (§ 732.603(1)).
- Words of survivorship in a devise to an individual are a sufficient indication of contrary intent (§ 732.603(3)(a)).
- A devise in the form of a class gift is covered, and class members are devisees (§ 732.603(3)(b)3.-4.).
- Applies only to outright devises and appointments; trust devises are subject to s. 736.1106 (§ 732.603(4)).
Text of the statute (2026)
(1) Unless a contrary intent appears in the will, if a devisee who is a grandparent, or a descendant of a grandparent, of the testator: (a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the will; (b) Fails to survive the testator; or (c) Is required by the will or by operation of law to be treated as having predeceased the testator, a substitute gift is created in the devisee’s surviving descendants who take per stirpes the property to which the devisee would have been entitled had the devisee survived the testator.
(a) Words of survivorship in a devise or appointment to an individual, such as “if he survives me,” “if she survives me,” or to “my surviving children,” are a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of subsections (1) and (2). Words of survivorship used by the donor of the power in a power to appoint to an individual, such as the term “if he survives the donee” or “if she survives the donee,” or in a power to appoint to the donee’s “then surviving children,” are a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of subsection (2).
(4) This section applies only to outright devises and appointments. Devises and appointments in trust, including to a testamentary trust, are subject to s. 736.1106.
Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 732.603.
History. s. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 36, ch. 75-220; s. 967, ch. 97-102; s. 51, ch. 2001-226; s. 6, ch. 2003-154; s. 33, ch. 2006-217; s. 159, ch. 2020-2.
How it applies
Under this section, if a covered devisee was dead when the will was signed, fails to survive the testator, or is treated as having predeceased the testator, a substitute gift is created in the devisee's surviving descendants. They take in the devisee's place unless the will shows a contrary intent. A devisee outside the class, such as an unrelated friend, has no antilapse substitute under this section. A gift that fails and is not saved by this section is addressed by s. 732.604, which sends it to the residue. A will provision that requires the devisee to survive the testator displaces the substitute gift.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.603 does real work:
- When to update a Florida estate plan: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a move, new assets and incapacity, what Florida law changes automatically and which documents to review after each event
- 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
- Disinheriting a child in Florida: what the law allows, protected homestead and how to draft it
- Bette Davis
- Joe DiMaggio
- Larry King
- Marilyn Monroe
- Simultaneous death
- Ty Cobb
Questions people ask
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 732.603 (2026) (Entire section: subsections (1)-(4).)
- Fla. Stat. § 736.1106 (2026) (Cross-referenced in subsection (4) for devises and appointments in trust. Not summarized here.)
Last checked: October 17, 2026
Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.