Many Floridians split the year between a home here and a place up north. It feels like the best of both worlds until you start thinking about what happens to those homes, accounts, and cars if you pass away. The law cares less about where you like to spend your summers and more about where you are legally “based” and how each state treats your property.
A domicile is your primary legal home, the state whose laws control most of your estate plan and where your will is probated. Even if you see yourself as a Florida resident, that cabin in North Carolina or condo in New Jersey can still trigger its own probate case, called ancillary probate, in that state.
Your personal representative might have to open a main probate in your domicile state and a second, smaller probate wherever you own real estate. That can mean more court filings, more fees, and more delays for your family.
A common workaround is to move out-of-state property into a revocable trust. Because the trust, not you individually, owns the property, it often passes outside probate.
For example, a couple with a house in Jacksonville and a lake cottage in Michigan might retitle the cottage into their trust so their successor trustee can handle both properties in a single plan. In some states, a transfer-on-death deed can serve a similar purpose by passing real estate directly to a named beneficiary at death.
Snowbirds also juggle more paperwork. Wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives are not always treated the same way from one state to another. A Florida health care surrogate form may work smoothly in a Jacksonville hospital, but it may create confusion if you are hospitalized in Ohio for the summer.
Because probate rules, tax treatment, and homestead protections vary from state to state, snowbirds often benefit from advice from lawyers who understand multistate planning.
At Schnauss Naugle Law, we regularly work with clients who divide their lives between Florida and another state. We help establish domicile, reduce the chances of ancillary probate, and coordinate your documents so your plan works in the places you live. If you split time between states and want your estate plan to keep up with you, call us at 904-643-6342 to get started.
