Set Up a Revocable Living Trust in Florida, Step by Step

Maybe you’re planning your own estate. Maybe you’re helping a parent who now needs a plan for the house and the accounts. Either way, you want a straight answer to a practical question: how do I set up a revocable living trust in Florida?

Here is the short answer. You sign a written trust document that names a trustee, a successor trustee and the people who will benefit. Then you move your property into the trust. That second step, called funding, is easy to put off, and it decides whether the trust actually controls your property. The steps below follow the order they happen in.

What Is a Revocable Living Trust and How Does It Work in Florida?

A revocable living trust is a trust you create while you’re alive, and you can change or cancel it later. Three roles matter. The settlor creates the trust. The trustee manages the trust property. The beneficiary is the person who benefits from it. The CFPB guide on revocable living trusts is a general consumer resource on revocable living trusts.

Under § 736.0602, unless the trust says it is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend it. That power to change the trust is what makes it “revocable.”

The trust holds your property during your life, and its terms then say who gets what. A will works differently. Under § 733.103, a will cannot prove title to property until it is admitted to probate. That delay is one reason people look at trusts in the first place.

Trust Counsel serves clients in Florida from its Coral Gables office. Leslie V. Marenco is the lawyer responsible for this page.

Step 1: Decide What the Trust Should Do

Step 1 is deciding what goes in the trust, who receives it, and when. Make these choices before anyone drafts a document.

Write down which assets should go in. Decide whether beneficiaries receive everything at once or in stages. Decide what happens if a beneficiary is a minor or has special needs. These answers drive the drafting more than any template does.

Family facts change the questions. A second marriage, children from different relationships, a family business, or property in more than one state or country each adds decisions. A family with a condo in Florida and a bank account abroad faces different questions than a family with one home.

A clear written list of goals keeps the drafting conversation focused. Starting from a generic template skips these questions, and the document then answers them by default, often in ways the family never discussed.

Step 2: Choose a Trustee and a Successor Trustee

Step 2 is naming the person who will manage the trust and the person who takes over if that person cannot serve.

The trustee manages trust property and follows the trust’s terms for the beneficiaries. Florida law requires a trustee to keep clear, distinct and accurate records of the trust’s administration. The trustee must also keep trust property separate from the trustee’s own property (§ 736.0810).

A successor trustee matters because a trust with no one to act can stall. Under § 736.0704, a vacancy that must be filled is filled first by the person the trust names as successor. Where a vacancy in a noncharitable trusteeship must be filled, the statute’s order of priority is first a person named in the trust to act as successor trustee, then a person appointed by unanimous agreement of the qualified beneficiaries, and then a person appointed by the court.

Trust Counsel’s attorneys can serve individually as trustee or personal representative. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries. A trustee can also be a family member, a trusted friend or another professional. Which choice fits your family turns on the facts.

Step 3: Sign the Trust Document Correctly

Step 3 is putting your plan into a written trust document that meets Florida’s requirements.

Under § 736.0402, a trust is created only if the settlor has capacity, the settlor shows an intent to create the trust, the trust has a definite beneficiary or falls within a listed exception, and the trustee has duties to perform. The same person cannot be both the sole trustee and the sole beneficiary.

Capacity follows a familiar standard. Under § 736.0601, the capacity needed to create, amend or revoke a revocable trust is the same as the capacity needed to make a will.

A trust can also be created in other ways. Under § 736.0401, an owner may declare that he or she holds identifiable property as trustee. Most people, though, sign a formal trust agreement.

A typical trust agreement names the parties, explains how property is funded, sets distribution terms, lists the trustee’s powers and names a successor trustee. A generic form may not reflect your assets, your family or property in other states or countries. Draft around your actual facts, not a copy of someone else’s plan.

Step 4: Fund the Trust by Retitling Your Assets

Step 4 is moving property into the trust, a process called funding. A trust works on the property that has been moved into it.

Bank and brokerage accounts are usually retitled in the trustee’s name. Some accounts also allow a beneficiary designation. Tangible personal property, such as furniture and jewelry, can be moved with a written assignment. Business interests need transfer documents that match how the business is owned.

Picture a parent who signs a trust but keeps the bank accounts and the house in their own name. The trust exists on paper, yet most of the family’s property is still outside it. Funding deserves the same attention as signing.

Retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s need separate review. They are often handled through beneficiary designations. Some assets should not or cannot be placed in a trust, so each asset type needs its own review before it moves.

How Do You Put a House in a Trust in Florida?

You put a house in a trust by signing and recording a deed that moves title from you to the trustee.

Florida requires a deed transferring an interest in land to be in writing and signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, under § 689.01. Fla. Stat. § 689.01(1) provides: “No estate or interest of freehold, or for a term of more than 1 year, or any uncertain interest of, in, or out of any messuages, lands, tenements, or hereditaments shall be created, made, granted, transferred, or released in any manner other than by instrument in writing, signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the party creating, making, granting, conveying, transferring, or releasing such estate, interest, or term of more than 1 year, or by the party’s lawfully authorized agent, unless by will and testament, or other testamentary appointment, duly made according to law.” The same statute allows witnesses to be present through audio-video communication technology. The deed should match the trust’s name and the property’s legal description.

Homestead rules add another layer. Under § 732.4017, a lifetime transfer of homestead property, including a transfer in trust, is not treated as a devise if the transferor fails to retain a power, held in any capacity, to revoke or revest that interest in the transferor. A revocable trust keeps that power, so the house needs its own careful review. Your mortgage lender and title company should be part of the process.

Florida’s constitution also limits how a homestead passes at death. The homestead is not subject to devise if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child.

Pour-Over Wills and Other Documents to Pair With Your Trust

A pour-over will sends any property left outside the trust at death into the trust.

It works as a backup, not the main plan. Under § 733.103, a will cannot prove title until it is admitted to probate. Property covered by a pour-over will still goes through probate.

Other documents usually go with a trust. Papers to gather can include a medical power of attorney, living will provisions, a financial durable power of attorney, wills and trusts, and beneficiary forms.

A trust handles property. It does not handle every decision. If you cannot manage your own affairs, a durable power of attorney and health care documents may cover situations the trust does not reach.

Can a Husband and Wife Have a Joint Revocable Trust?

The right choice turns on your assets, your family and your goals.

A joint trust raises a question about who can make changes. Under § 736.0602, when a revocable trust has more than one settlor, the rules depend on what the trust holds. For community property, either spouse may revoke alone, but only both spouses together may amend. For other property, each settlor may revoke or amend the part that came from his or her own contribution. If fewer than all settlors revoke or amend, the trustee must promptly notify the others.

Because of those rules, the document should state who can amend or revoke the trust while both spouses are living. It should also explain how the trust divides after the first spouse dies, including whether it splits into separate shares.

Common Mistakes When Setting Up a Revocable Trust

Four mistakes can undo much of the work of setting up a revocable trust.

• Signing the trust but never retitling accounts or deeds, so assets stay outside it.
• Naming a trustee without a successor, so no one is ready to act if that trustee cannot serve.
• Relying on a generic form that misses family assets or out-of-state and foreign property.
• Forgetting beneficiary designations, which may not match the overall plan.

Each mistake is easier to fix while you’re living than after a death or incapacity. A gap that goes unnoticed for years can become a real problem for the people left to sort things out.

Changing or Revoking a Revocable Trust While You Are Living

You can change or revoke a revocable trust while you’re living by using the method the trust describes.

Under § 736.0602, a settlor may revoke or amend a revocable trust by substantially complying with a method stated in the trust terms. If the trust names no method, a later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust, or specifically devises property that would otherwise have passed according to the terms of the trust, can do it. So can any other method that shows clear and convincing evidence of the settlor’s intent.

When a revocable trust is revoked, the trustee must deliver the trust property as the settlor directs. A trustee who does not know the trust has been changed is not liable for actions taken on the assumption that it had not been changed.

After any change, review the funding. Property bought after you signed may sit outside the trust. Keep changes in writing so the record is clear.

What Shapes the Cost of a Florida Revocable Trust?

Cost turns on how much drafting the trust needs, how many assets must be funded, and how many documents must be prepared. For a closer look at those cost factors, read the separate cost guide on this website about setting up a trust in Florida.

The firm offers a free first discovery call, which is confidential and carries no obligation to continue.

Talk Through Your Situation With Trust Counsel, PL

If you’re setting this up for a parent who is aging or ill, or for a spouse, the decision may not have been yours alone to make. You may be moving a parent’s house into a trust while also managing their care.

If you’re helping someone get a house, accounts and papers organized under a trust, a discovery call with Trust Counsel, PL gives you a confidential place to talk through the facts. Call (305) 707-7126 or schedule online.