Your Divorce Is Final. Your Estate Plan Is Not.

By Dominic L. Scheer, Esq., Florida Bar No. 1022250 · Reviewed by Dominic L. Scheer, Esq. · Last updated September 28, 2026

Divorce lawyers are good at divorce. When the final judgment is entered their job is done, and almost none of them will sit down with you afterward and go through the documents that still name the person you just divorced. That is not a criticism. It is a different practice. Here is what actually happens to those documents in Florida, and what you have to do yourself.

Is my ex-spouse still in my will after divorce?

Legally, mostly no. Florida treats a former spouse as if they had died at the moment the divorce became final, for purposes of your will and your revocable trust. Gifts to the former spouse and their appointment as personal representative or trustee fall away on their own. The same rule applies to a revocable trust. But that is the floor, not the plan. If your will left everything to your spouse and then to your children, it now goes to the children, at 18, outright, with no one in charge of the money except a court-appointed guardian if they are minors. If your will named your spouse's sister as backup trustee, she is still in it. And a will written before the divorce, that expressly says it should survive one, does survive one. Read the document, then rewrite it.

What happens to my life insurance and retirement accounts?

Florida voids most beneficiary designations in favor of a former spouse on life insurance, annuities, IRAs, pay-on-death bank accounts and transfer-on-death brokerage accounts, as of the date the divorce became final. That protection has holes big enough to drive a truck through:

• Employer retirement plans governed by federal law pay whoever is on the form, and Florida's rule yields to that. If your former spouse is still named on your 401(k), the plan will pay your former spouse.
• The divorce judgment may require you to keep the former spouse as beneficiary, for example as security for child support or alimony. The rule does not override the judgment.
• Jointly held accounts and property with survivorship are not touched by the rule. Whatever is still in both names is still in both names.
• A designation you sign after the divorce naming the former spouse is valid. Sometimes that is what you want, for the children's sake. It has to be deliberate.
• The financial institution does not know you got divorced. Until it receives the right paperwork, it will pay the person on the form and let the family sort it out in court.

Practical rule: assume nothing is fixed until you have seen a new beneficiary confirmation from every account, in writing. The statute references and the list of what the rule does and does not cover are in our explainer on what changes automatically after a Florida divorce.

Can my ex still use my power of attorney?

No. Your former spouse's authority as your agent under a Florida power of attorney ends when the divorce (or annulment, or legal separation) case is filed, not when it is final, unless the document says otherwise. The document itself, however, is still out there, and banks do not track court dockets. If the former spouse is the only agent named, you now have a power of attorney with nobody in it, which is the same as having none. If you are in a car accident next week, your family goes to court to get authority over your affairs. A new durable power of attorney naming a new agent, and a new alternate, is the single most urgent document on this list.

Who makes my medical decisions now?

Florida revokes your former spouse's designation as your health care surrogate on divorce, unless your document or the divorce judgment says otherwise. Same problem: revoked is not the same as replaced. Name someone. If you have minor children, also think about who can consent to their medical care when they are with you and you are unavailable.

What about the house?

If you and your former spouse owned the home together as a married couple, the divorce converts that ownership into a plain co-ownership, each of you holding half that you can separately sell, mortgage or leave to someone else. The deed on file still shows both names. Whatever the divorce judgment said about the house (one spouse keeps it, it gets sold, one buys the other out) has to be carried out with an actual recorded deed, and often a refinance. Until that happens, your former spouse's half is your former spouse's half, and their creditors and heirs come with it. Florida's homestead rules also restrict how you can leave the house if you have a minor child, so the new plan has to account for that.

Who takes care of my children if I die?

Usually the other parent, by law, regardless of what your will says, as long as that parent is living and fit. Your will can name a guardian to take over if the other parent cannot or does not, and it can, and should, name a separate person to manage the money you leave the children. Those can be different people. The person you trust to raise your kids is not always the person you trust with a checkbook. A trust that holds the children's inheritance until 25 or 30, run by a trustee you choose, is the way to keep your former spouse from managing your money on the children's behalf. See naming a guardian for your children.

Why this is not a do-it-yourself project

The mistakes here are invisible until someone dies. A will signed without the formalities Florida requires is not a will. A trust that names the right people but was never funded controls nothing. A deed drafted from a template can break your homestead protection or trigger a tax you did not expect. A power of attorney the bank will not accept is worthless in the emergency it was written for. And the interaction between the divorce judgment and the beneficiary rules, what you are required to keep and what you are free to change, is a question with a wrong answer that costs your children money. We handle the whole plan, including the beneficiary changes on every account and the deed if one is needed, on a flat fee, in a few weeks.

What is in the post-divorce plan?

A new will. A new revocable trust where one makes sense, with the children's shares held to an age you choose and a trustee who is not your former spouse. A new durable power of attorney with an agent and an alternate. A new health care surrogate and living will. A guardian designation for minor children. A beneficiary designation audit of every policy and account, reconciled against what the divorce judgment requires you to keep. A deed if the house changed hands and no one recorded it. And, if you own a business, a look at whether the operating agreement or shareholder agreement still names your former spouse anywhere. Flat fee, quoted in writing after a free consultation, in English or Spanish. See how our fees work and the overview of what comes after your case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to change my will after divorce in Florida?

Yes. Florida automatically cancels the provisions of a will or revocable trust that favor a former spouse, treating the former spouse as having died at the divorce. But that leaves the rest of the document as written, often sending everything to minor children outright or leaving the former spouse's relatives in fiduciary roles. A new will is the fix.

Is my ex still the beneficiary on my life insurance after divorce?

Under Florida law, most designations of a former spouse on life insurance, annuities, IRAs and pay-on-death accounts are void once the divorce is final. Employer retirement plans governed by federal law are the major exception and pay whoever is on the form. Also, the institution does not know about your divorce until you tell it. Change every designation and keep the confirmations.

Can my ex-spouse still use my power of attorney?

No. A former spouse's authority as agent ends when the divorce, annulment or separation case is filed, unless the document says otherwise. But the document still exists and the bank does not know. Sign a new power of attorney naming a new agent.

Who is my health care surrogate after divorce?

Nobody, if your former spouse was the only person named. Florida revokes the former spouse's designation on divorce unless the document or the judgment says otherwise. Name a new surrogate.

Does the divorce automatically take my ex off the deed?

No. The divorce changes how you own the house together, from a married couple's joint ownership to a plain co-ownership, but the deed still shows both names until a new deed is recorded. Whatever the judgment ordered has to be carried out with a recorded deed and often a refinance.

Who will raise my children if I die after the divorce?

Usually the other parent, by law, if living and fit, regardless of your will. Your will can name a backup guardian and, separately, a trustee to manage the children's inheritance so the former spouse does not control the money.

How long does a post-divorce estate plan take?

A few weeks. Flat fee, quoted in writing after a free consultation. Bring the final judgment and marital settlement agreement, because they decide what you are required to keep in place.