Free Florida Last Will and Testament
Build a complete Florida will in minutes — free, no account. Fill in your details and download a ready-to-sign PDF with the protective clauses built in and Florida's correct signing requirements.
A free, ready-to-sign will — but not legal advice.
This builds a complete Florida will with the protective clauses most templates skip (survivorship period, residuary, minor's trust, executor powers). It becomes legally valid only when you sign it correctly (see the signing steps below). For a large or blended estate, have an attorney review it. RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm.
About you
Children
Name all your children, even any you are not leaving anything to — naming them prevents an 'omitted child' claim.
Who inherits everything else (your residuary estate)
The catch-all gift of everything not specifically given. Shares should total 100%.
Specific gifts (optional)
Particular items or sums to particular people.
Executor (the person who carries out your will)
Options
Naming them states the omission is intentional. Note: you generally cannot fully disinherit a spouse (see the warnings).
Before you sign — Florida notes
Choose 2 witnesses who are adults and who do NOT inherit under this Will. A beneficiary (or a beneficiary's spouse) should never witness your Will.
Add at least one residuary beneficiary with a share above 0%. Without a residuary gift, everything not specifically given would pass by intestacy (state default rules), defeating the point of the Will.
To make this Will valid in Florida: In Florida, the testator (18+ or emancipated, of sound mind) signs the will at the end. The signing or the testator's acknowledgment must occur in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, and both witnesses must then sign the will in the presence of the testator AND in the presence of each other. Florida does not allow holographic wills. To avoid having to locate witnesses at probate, add the § 732.503 self-proving affidavit/acknowledgment, signed by the testator and both witnesses before a notary, which may be done at signing or later.
This is a do-it-yourself Will for a straightforward estate. If you have a large or blended estate, business interests, tax concerns, a special-needs beneficiary, or want to disinherit close family, have an attorney review it. This is not legal advice and RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm.
Or email yourself a copy (PDF)
Last Will and Testament of [YOUR FULL NAME]
ARTICLE I — DECLARATION
I, [YOUR FULL NAME], a resident of [CITY], [COUNTY] County, Florida, being of full legal age to make a will and of sound mind and memory, declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, and I revoke all wills and codicils I have previously made.
ARTICLE II — FAMILY
I am not married.
If I have not named or provided for a child or other descendant in this Will, that omission is intentional and not the result of accident or mistake.
ARTICLE III — PAYMENT OF DEBTS, EXPENSES, AND TAXES
I direct my Executor to pay my legally enforceable debts, the expenses of my last illness and funeral, the costs of administering my estate, and any estate or inheritance taxes payable by reason of my death, out of the residue of my estate, without apportionment.
ARTICLE IV — TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY
I give my tangible personal property (household goods, furniture, vehicles, jewelry, collections, and personal effects not otherwise specifically given) to my residuary beneficiaries as they agree, or as my Executor determines if they cannot agree.
I may leave a separate written memorandum, signed and dated by me, disposing of items of tangible personal property. Florida law allows such a memorandum to be given effect, and I direct my Executor to honor the most recent such memorandum I leave.
ARTICLE V — RESIDUARY ESTATE
I give all the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate to [RESIDUARY BENEFICIARY].
If no beneficiary named in this article survives me, my residuary estate shall pass to my heirs at law under the intestacy laws of my state.
ARTICLE VI — SURVIVORSHIP
Except as otherwise provided, a beneficiary must survive me by 30 days to receive any gift under this Will. A beneficiary who does not survive me by 30 days shall be treated as having predeceased me. This protects my estate from passing through the estate of a beneficiary who dies shortly after me.
ARTICLE VII — APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTOR
I nominate [EXECUTOR NAME] as Executor of this Will.
I direct that my Executor serve without bond and, to the fullest extent allowed by law, without court supervision (independent administration). My Executor shall have all powers granted to executors and personal representatives under the law of my state, including the power to sell, lease, invest, and distribute estate property, to pay debts and taxes, and to settle claims, all without prior court approval, as my Executor deems to be in the best interest of my estate.
ARTICLE VIII — DIGITAL ASSETS
I authorize my Executor to access, manage, distribute, and dispose of my digital assets and electronic communications, and to act as my fiduciary under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (or its equivalent in my state), with full authority to consent to a custodian's disclosure of the content and records of my electronic communications and accounts.
ARTICLE IX — SIMULTANEOUS DEATH
If any beneficiary and I die under circumstances in which the order of our deaths cannot be established, that beneficiary shall be deemed to have predeceased me. If my spouse and I die under such circumstances, my spouse shall be deemed to have predeceased me.
ARTICLE X — GENERAL PROVISIONS
This Will shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida.
If any provision of this Will is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in full effect. Words of one gender include the other, and the singular includes the plural, as the context requires. The headings are for convenience only and do not affect the meaning of this Will.
EXECUTION
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I sign this Will, consisting of the foregoing pages, on this _____ day of ____________, 20____, at [CITY], Florida.
____________________________________
[YOUR FULL NAME], Testator
ATTESTATION — The foregoing instrument was signed by the Testator and declared to be the Testator's Will in our presence, and we, at the Testator's request and in the Testator's presence and in the presence of each other, sign below as witnesses, believing the Testator to be of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.
Witness 1: ____________________________ Address: ____________________________
Witness 2: ____________________________ Address: ____________________________
SELF-PROVING AFFIDAVIT (Fla. Stat. § 732.503) — sign this part before a notary to make probate easier:
TESTATOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT: "I, [TESTATOR NAME], declare to the officer taking my acknowledgment of this instrument, and to the subscribing witnesses, that I signed this instrument as my will."
[Testator signature: ____________]
WITNESSES' AFFIDAVIT: "We, [WITNESS 1 NAME] and [WITNESS 2 NAME], have been sworn by the officer signing below, and declare to that officer on our oaths that the testator declared the instrument to be the testator's will and signed it in our presence and that we each signed the instrument as a witness in the presence of the testator and of each other."
[Witness signatures: ____________ / ____________]
OFFICER'S CERTIFICATE: "Acknowledged and subscribed before me by means of [ ] physical presence or [ ] online notarization by the testator, [TESTATOR NAME], who is personally known to me or who has produced [TYPE OF IDENTIFICATION] as identification, and sworn to and subscribed before me by the witnesses, [WITNESS 1 NAME], who is personally known to me or who has produced [TYPE OF IDENTIFICATION] as identification, and [WITNESS 2 NAME], who is personally known to me or who has produced [TYPE OF IDENTIFICATION] as identification, and subscribed by me in the presence of the testator and the subscribing witnesses, all on [DATE]."
[Signature of Officer] ____________ (Official capacity) [Affix Official Seal]
How to Sign Your Will in Florida
In Florida, the testator (18+ or emancipated, of sound mind) signs the will at the end. The signing or the testator's acknowledgment must occur in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, and both witnesses must then sign the will in the presence of the testator AND in the presence of each other. Florida does not allow holographic wills. To avoid having to locate witnesses at probate, add the § 732.503 self-proving affidavit/acknowledgment, signed by the testator and both witnesses before a notary, which may be done at signing or later.
Florida requires 2 witnesses: Two attesting witnesses; the testator must sign (or acknowledge a prior signature/the will) in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, and the witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator AND in the presence of each other. This strict simultaneous-presence rule is mandatory in Florida.. Your will does not need to be notarized to be valid.
Choose witnesses who are adults and who do not inherit under your will. A beneficiary should never witness your will. Then sign the self-proving affidavit (Fla. Stat. § 732.503) in front of a notary. That sworn statement lets the court accept your will without tracking down your witnesses later, which speeds up probate.
Can You Use a Handwritten (Holographic) Will in Florida?
No. Florida does not recognize holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) wills — a handwritten note will not work. Your will must be typed and signed in front of 2 witnesses, which is exactly what this generator produces.
Spousal and Family Protections in Florida
Can you disinherit your spouse? You CANNOT fully disinherit a spouse. A surviving spouse may elect to take an elective share equal to 30% of the elective estate (a broad 'augmented estate' that reaches probate assets plus many nonprobate transfers such as revocable-trust property, POD/TOD accounts, and certain joint property). Flat 30% — not a UPC sliding scale by marriage length. A spouse can also claim homestead and exempt-property/family-allowance rights.
Children born after your will: A child born or adopted AFTER the will is executed (a 'pretermitted child') receives an intestate share unless: (a) it appears from the will that the omission was intentional, (b) the testator had other children at execution and devised substantially all the estate to the other parent of the omitted child, or (c) the testator provided for the child outside the will with intent it be in lieu of a testamentary provision. Fla. Stat. § 732.302. This is why the generator has you name your children and states that any omission is intentional.
If a beneficiary dies before you: If a devisee who is a grandparent of the testator, or a descendant of a grandparent of the testator, predeceases the testator, the gift passes to that devisee's surviving descendants (per stirpes) rather than lapsing — unless the will provides otherwise. Generator default should include an express survivorship/alternate-taker clause to control this. The generator's "per stirpes" option and survivorship clause work alongside this rule.
Survivorship, No-Contest, and Digital Assets
Survivorship: Florida has NOT adopted the 120-hour USDA survival default for wills. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.601, a devisee who does not survive the testator (even by an instant) takes nothing; there is no statutory 120-hour buffer. Best practice (and the generator default) is to draft an express survivorship period (e.g., 30–60 days), which Florida fully honors. The generator builds in a 30-to-60-day survivorship period regardless.
No-contest clauses: Florida does NOT enforce no-contest (in terrorem) clauses in wills. A provision penalizing an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings is VOID and given no effect, regardless of probable cause. The parallel trust rule is § 736.1108. The generator should NOT insert a no-contest clause for Florida.
Digital assets: Florida has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, so your executor can manage your online accounts and digital property — the generator includes a clause granting that authority.
Personal-property list: Florida lets you leave a separate signed list (a "memorandum") giving away specific personal items, so you can update who gets what without rewriting your will.
What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Florida?
Florida is unusual: if you die without a will and every child is also your spouse's child (and your spouse has no other kids), your spouse inherits the entire estate. But the moment a child from another relationship is in the picture, on either side, the spouse drops to one-half and your descendants split the rest. With a spouse but no children, the spouse takes everything.
- Spouse, no children: Entire intestate estate (no surviving descendant of the decedent).
- Spouse and shared children: Entire intestate estate, IF all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse AND the spouse has no other descendants. Then the spouse takes 100%.
- Spouse and a child from another relationship: One-half (1/2) of the intestate estate to the spouse if there are surviving descendants who are not also the spouse's, OR if all descendants are joint but the surviving spouse has other descendants of their own. The other one-half passes to the decedent's descendants.
- Children, no spouse: No spouse: the entire estate passes to the decedent's descendants, per stirpes.
- No spouse or children: To the decedent's father and mother equally, or the survivor; then to brothers/sisters and their descendants; then estate divided into paternal and maternal halves (grandparents, then their descendants); finally to kindred of the last deceased spouse, then escheat to the state.
Unmarried partners, friends, and stepchildren you have not adopted generally receive nothing under intestacy. A will is how you override these defaults. Source: Fla. Stat. §§ 732.102, 732.103.
Updating, Revoking, and Storing Your Will
Review your will after any big life change — marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, or a move to a new state. To change it, either sign a new will that revokes the old one (the cleanest option, and what this generator produces) or add a witnessed "codicil." Do not cross things out on a signed will — handwritten edits can invalidate it. Store the signed original somewhere safe and tell your executor where it is; a will that cannot be found is presumed revoked.
Common mistakes to avoid: using a beneficiary as a witness; forgetting a residuary clause (so part of the estate passes by intestacy); leaving a young child a lump sum outright at 18 instead of in trust; not naming a backup executor or guardian; and never actually signing the document. The generator above is built to avoid each of these.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a will made online valid in Florida?
Yes, if you sign it correctly. Florida requires 2 witnesses. The document this tool creates is a standard typed will; it becomes legally valid when you sign it following the steps above.
Does my Florida will need to be notarized?
No. Florida does not require your will to be notarized to be valid. Notarizing the separate self-proving affidavit is optional but makes probate easier.
How many witnesses does a Florida will need?
2 witnesses. Two attesting witnesses; the testator must sign (or acknowledge a prior signature/the will) in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, and the witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator AND in the presence of each other. This strict simultaneous-presence rule is mandatory in Florida. They should be adults who do not inherit under the will.
Can I leave my spouse out of my Florida will?
You CANNOT fully disinherit a spouse. A surviving spouse may elect to take an elective share equal to 30% of the elective estate (a broad 'augmented estate' that reaches probate assets plus many nonprobate transfers such as revocable-trust property, POD/TOD accounts, and certain joint property). Flat 30% — not a UPC sliding scale by marriage length. A spouse can also claim homestead and exempt-property/family-allowance rights.
What happens if I die without a will in Florida?
Florida is unusual: if you die without a will and every child is also your spouse's child (and your spouse has no other kids), your spouse inherits the entire estate. But the moment a child from another relationship is in the picture, on either side, the spouse drops to one-half and your descendants split the rest. With a spouse but no children, the spouse takes everything.
Does a Florida will avoid probate?
No. A will still goes through probate — it directs how your estate is distributed and names your executor, but the court still supervises (often a simplified, independent administration). To avoid probate entirely, people use living trusts and beneficiary designations in addition to a will.
How old do I have to be to make a will in Florida?
Generally 18. Must be 18 or older, or an emancipated minor, and of sound mind (Fla. Stat. § 732.501). You must also be of sound mind.
Can I write my will by hand in Florida?
No. Florida does not recognize handwritten, unwitnessed wills. Your will must be typed and properly witnessed.
Do I need a lawyer to make a will in Florida?
Not for a straightforward estate — a properly signed will is valid whether or not a lawyer drafts it. See an attorney if you have a large or blended estate, business interests, tax concerns, a special-needs beneficiary, or want to disinherit close family.
Is this really free?
Yes. The generator is free, requires no account, and runs entirely in your browser — your answers are not sent to a server. It is general information, not legal advice.
Disclaimer
This generator produces a general-purpose will for a straightforward estate and is not legal advice or a substitute for an attorney. Will and probate law changes; the Florida requirements here are current as of 2026-06-03. A will is only valid if signed and witnessed correctly. For a large, blended, or complex estate, tax planning, a special-needs beneficiary, or to disinherit close family, consult a Florida estate-planning attorney. RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm.
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