When someone dies without a will in Florida, lawyers call it dying “intestate.” It does not mean the state seizes your property, that is a myth. It means Florida’s statutes, not you, decide who inherits. For Boca Raton families, the result is often very different from what the person would have wanted. Here is what actually happens.
Florida’s intestacy formula
Chapter 732 of the Florida Statutes lays out a fixed order of inheritance. If you are married with no descendants, your spouse inherits everything. If you and your spouse share children and neither of you has children from another relationship, your spouse still inherits everything. But if either of you has children from a prior relationship, the estate splits, the spouse gets half and the descendants share the other half.
If you are unmarried, the estate passes to your children, then to your parents, then to siblings, and outward through the family tree. Notice who is missing from this list entirely: unmarried partners, stepchildren you never adopted, friends, and charities. Florida law simply does not see them.
The homestead twist
Your primary Boca Raton residence is likely protected homestead under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. Homestead has its own descent rules. If you leave a surviving spouse and a minor child, you cannot freely pass the home, and the spouse typically receives a life estate or, by election, a half-interest, with the remainder to the children. This often surprises families and can complicate selling the property. Without a will, you have no chance to plan around it.
Who raises your children
Dying intestate also means you never named a guardian for minor children. A Palm Beach County judge will appoint one based on the child’s best interests, choosing among relatives. The person you trusted most may not be the person the court selects.
Probate still happens, and it is public
Intestate estates still go through Florida probate. Depending on size and timing, that may be formal administration or, for smaller or older estates, summary administration (Chapter 735). The court appoints a personal representative following the statutory priority order, often the surviving spouse or a majority of the heirs. The process is a matter of public record, and disputes among heirs are common when there is no document spelling out intentions.
One piece of good news
Florida has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, so dying intestate does not trigger a state death-tax bill. The cost of intestacy is not taxes, it is lost control, family friction, and outcomes you would not have chosen.
How to avoid all of this
Avoiding intestacy is straightforward: a valid Florida will, and for many Boca homeowners, a revocable living trust. Coordinating beneficiary designations on accounts also keeps assets out of the intestate pile.
A note on your situation
Intestacy outcomes hinge on your exact family structure and how homestead rules apply to your property. A licensed Florida estate planning attorney can map out who would inherit under current law and help you replace the state’s plan with your own.
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For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of estate planning in Palm Beach. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
