David Fall's article on "Surviving Spouses Can Elect to Receive More Property From Your Estate."

The Florida legislature recently made several important amendments to Florida’s elective share statutes. This article describes some of the key changes and how those changes bring great news to the surviving spouses of deceased Florida residents. In Florida, despite the terms of any will attempting to disinherit him or her, the surviving spouse of a deceased Florida resident is entitled to what’s called an “elective share” of the decedent’s property equal to 30% of the elective estate. The “elective estate” consists of the decedent’s probate estate plus certain property that is omitted from the probate estate, such as the homestead and property jointly owned in a right of survivorship form. This means that the decedent’s surviving spouse can elect to receive a potentially larger portion of the decedent’s property than that left to him or her in the decedent’s will. Moreover, the elective share is in addition to other rights afforded surviving spouses, such as entitlement to homestead protection, creditor exempt property, and the family allowance.

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