South Florida is home to thousands of mixed-status households — families where one spouse is a U.S. citizen, another holds a green card, and children may be citizens by birth while a parent’s case is still pending. For these families, an estate plan is not a luxury reserved for the wealthy. It is the document that decides who raises your children, who manages your affairs if you travel for a consular interview, and how much of your estate reaches your loved ones rather than the tax collector. The catch is that immigration status quietly changes how Florida estate law applies to you, and most generic plans never account for it.
Our firm handles the estate-planning side. We do not practice immigration law, so for the immigration questions raised below we routinely refer clients to a Miami immigration attorney and coordinate the two plans so they do not work against each other.
The non-citizen spouse problem: marital deduction and QDOTs
Under federal law, a U.S. citizen can leave an unlimited amount to a surviving spouse free of federal estate tax through the unlimited marital deduction. That deduction generally does not apply when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. The concern is that a non-citizen spouse could inherit and then leave the country before the tax is ever assessed.
The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT. Property passing to a non-citizen spouse is directed into a QDOT that meets specific federal requirements, including a U.S. trustee with authority to withhold estate tax on distributions. A QDOT lets a couple defer the tax that would otherwise come due, and it can be drafted into a Florida revocable trust under Chapter 736. If your surviving spouse later naturalizes, the analysis changes again — another reason to revisit the plan whenever an immigration milestone is reached.
Non-resident aliens and U.S. situs assets
Status matters even more for clients who are non-resident aliens for estate-tax purposes. A non-resident alien is generally taxed only on U.S.-situs assets, but the exemption available to them is dramatically smaller than the one available to citizens and domiciliaries. A snowbird who owns a Florida condo, a brokerage account, or shares in a U.S. company can be exposed to federal estate tax on those assets even if they never intended to become a U.S. resident. The fix is usually structural — holding title carefully and coordinating with counsel before assets are acquired, not after.
Homestead, wills, and how status reaches your heirs
Florida’s homestead protections and intestacy rules apply regardless of citizenship, which is good news: your immigration status does not, by itself, disqualify you or your heirs from inheriting Florida property. A will executed in Florida must still meet the formalities of section 732.502 — signed by the testator and witnessed by two people — to be valid, and a non-citizen can serve as a beneficiary and, in most cases, as a personal representative if they are a close relative.
What status does affect is the practical side: a beneficiary living abroad, an heir with a pending case, or a relative the family hopes to sponsor. Inheritance can intersect with public-benefits and admissibility questions, so when a beneficiary’s immigration situation is unsettled, we coordinate the estate plan with their immigration counsel. Clients pursuing family-based immigration for a spouse, parent, or child should make sure the estate plan and the immigration petition tell a consistent story.
Guardianship designations for children of immigrants
For parents in mixed-status households, the most urgent document is often the guardianship designation for minor children. If a parent is detained, deported, or simply unable to act, a Florida estate plan can name a guardian and a standby guardian so your children are cared for by someone you chose rather than someone a court selects. Pairing this with a written caregiver authorization gives a trusted adult the ability to make day-to-day and medical decisions without delay.
Powers of attorney when you travel for visa matters
Immigration cases frequently require travel abroad — a consular interview, document gathering, or an extended stay while a case processes. A durable power of attorney and a designation of health care surrogate ensure that someone in Florida can pay your mortgage, manage your accounts, and make medical decisions while you are out of the country. Without them, your family may face a costly guardianship proceeding precisely when you are least able to step in.
Why newcomers to Florida need both plans
An immigration case secures your right to be here. An estate plan secures what happens to your family and your property once you are. The two are deeply connected — a QDOT, a guardianship designation, or a beneficiary’s pending case can each turn on the other. We prepare the Florida estate documents and work alongside your immigration counsel so the plans reinforce each other. If you are new to South Florida and have only addressed one side, it is worth a conversation to make sure the other is not leaving your family exposed.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of probate and estate administration in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles New York probate and estate administration.
