What can you do if your spouse has disinherited you in Florida?
Whether your spouse willfully disinherited you or did not prepare his or her will correctly, you may still have inheritance rights in the state of Florida. It is harder to disinherit a spouse than many believe it is. In most cases, the spouse must take a series of specific steps to leave a spouse out of the will. Even then, there exists no guarantee that a spouse will walk away with nothing after their mate dies.
Under Florida law, the deceased person’s family members have many rights. In other words, the law protects families from complete disinheritance after the death of a family member.
What rights does a disinherited spouse have?
You and any children you share with your deceased spouse may acquire property after your spouse dies under the following rights.
- The right to claim an elective share (usually 30%) of the probate assets of the deceased spouse
- The right to claim any assets left after the probate process concludes
- The possible right to receive a family allowance until the decedent’s estate gets settled
- The possible right to the deceased spouse’s homestead properties
- The right to have a share in some of the deceased’s exempt property, e.g., furniture, appliances and up to two motor vehicles
In most cases, an estate planning or probate attorney fills a critical role in helping you to exercise your statutory inheritance rights. The legal and procedural knowledge lawyers have can improve your odds of success when trying to attain the assets you deserve. Those who want to avoid unintentionally disinheriting their spouses should consider working with an estate planning professional.