Estate Planning for Florida Parents: How to Protect Your Children When Both Parents Cannot

Estate planning for Florida parents with minor children requires a specific set of legal documents that address two distinct concerns: who will raise your children, and how your assets will be managed for them until they are ready to handle those assets on their own. As an estate planning attorney serving Sarasota families, I find that parents who come in for estate planning are often motivated by a specific moment, the birth of a child, a family health scare, the start of a new school year, and when they arrive, most of them have thought carefully about who they want to raise their children but have given very little thought to the financial side. Both decisions are equally important, and Florida law requires specific documents to make either one enforceable.

What Florida Parents Need to Protect Their Children

What Happens Without a Plan: Florida Law Decides

When both parents of a minor child die without a will or guardian designation, Florida law governs what happens next. The circuit court opens a guardianship proceeding and determines, based on its assessment of the child’s best interests, who will serve as guardian. Relatives may petition the court, and the judge must weigh their competing claims without the benefit of any written guidance from the parents.

The outcome of that proceeding may or may not reflect what the parents would have wanted. A grandparent in poor health, an aunt the parents trusted less than a close friend, or a sibling the parents had a complicated relationship with may end up as guardian simply because they were willing to petition and no one else was better positioned to object. The court does not know your family. Only you do.

On the financial side, a minor child cannot legally own or manage significant assets in Florida. Florida does allow a natural guardian to receive and manage amounts totaling no more than $15,000 on a child’s behalf without a court-appointed guardianship, and assets left through a Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act custodianship can be held to age 21, or to age 25 if the transferor so provides. Above those limits, and absent a trust, an inherited estate goes into a court-supervised guardianship account that the child receives in full at age 18, not at 25, not in installments, not subject to any condition the parents might have preferred. The court manages those assets under strict rules and with court approval required for most expenditures until the child turns 18.

The Four Documents Every Florida Parent Needs

A complete estate plan for Sarasota parents with minor children addresses both the guardianship question and the financial management question through four specific documents that work together as a coordinated system.

• Last will and testament. A Florida will is where parents name a guardian for their minor children. This is the legally recognized mechanism for expressing a guardian preference, and while the court retains discretion to appoint a different guardian, a properly executed will naming a guardian carries significant weight in any proceeding. The will also names a personal representative to administer your probate estate and can direct assets into a trust for the benefit of your children.
• Revocable living trust. A trust is the most important financial protection a parent can put in place for a minor child. Rather than leaving assets outright to a child at 18, a trust allows parents to specify when and how distributions are made, whether for education expenses, for living costs, at specified ages, or under conditions the parents choose. A trustee manages the assets with a fiduciary obligation to use them in the child’s best interest, without court supervision and without the rigidity of a guardianship account.
• Designation of pre-need guardian. Separate from the will’s guardian nomination, a designation of pre-need guardian under Florida Statute Section 744.3045 is a document filed with the circuit court that tells the court specifically who the parents want appointed as guardian for their children. It creates a stronger legal record than a will alone and directly addresses the court proceeding that occurs when guardianship becomes necessary.
• Durable power of attorney and health care surrogate. These documents address incapacity rather than death. If both parents are injured or incapacitated simultaneously, without a durable power of attorney and a health care surrogate designation, no one has clear legal authority to manage finances or make medical decisions on the parents’ behalf during the period before a court can intervene.

Using a Trust to Control How Your Children Inherit

The financial structure of an inheritance matters as much as its size. A properly drafted revocable living trust for the benefit of minor children can address questions that a will alone, without trust provisions, does not:

Choosing the Right Guardian and Successor Trustee

The guardian and the trustee do not have to be the same person, and for many Sarasota families, they should not be. The guardian raises your child day to day. The trustee manages the assets set aside for your child’s benefit. Separating these roles creates a natural layer of accountability: the guardian can request distributions from the trustee, and the trustee has an independent fiduciary obligation to act in the child’s financial best interest.

The best guardian is the person who shares your values, has a genuine relationship with your child, and has the emotional and practical capacity to raise them. The best trustee is someone with the financial judgment and discipline to manage assets responsibly over time and to say no when a distribution request is not in the child’s long-term interest. Neither role is a consolation prize, and both conversations with the people you are considering are essential before you sign any documents.

For a detailed look at how a revocable living trust services page explains what these trusts include and how they work. For information on Florida’s guardianship designation process and how a pre-need designation affects a court proceeding, visit the pre-need guardian designation services page. The Florida estate planning services hub provides an overview of every document in a complete Florida family plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I name a guardian for my child in a Florida will?
Yes. A Florida will is the primary document used to nominate a guardian for minor children. The court is not bound by that nomination but is directed by Florida law to give it serious consideration. For the strongest possible legal expression of your guardian preference, a will nomination combined with a separately executed designation of pre-need guardian under Florida Statute Section 744.3045 is the most comprehensive approach; the designation creates a specific court record of your preference that carries independent weight in a guardianship proceeding.

What age does a child receive an inheritance in Florida without a trust?
Without a trust, a minor child cannot legally hold significant assets in Florida. The inheritance is managed in a court-supervised guardianship account until the child turns 18, at which point the full remaining balance is distributed outright. A revocable living trust allows parents to specify a different age or distribution schedule; for example, one-third at 25, one-third at 30, and the remainder at 35, and allows the trustee to make distributions for education, housing, and living expenses in the meantime without court approval.

Does life insurance pass directly to my children without a trust?
Life insurance with a named adult beneficiary passes directly to that person outside of probate. However, if you name a minor child as the direct beneficiary of a life insurance policy, the insurer cannot pay the proceeds directly to the child. The funds are instead held under court-supervised guardianship until the child turns 18. The more effective approach is to name the trust as beneficiary of life insurance policies, allowing the trustee to receive and manage the proceeds according to the trust’s distribution terms on the child’s behalf.

Should the guardian and trustee be the same person?
Not necessarily, and often they should not be. Separating the roles creates accountability; the person raising your child and the person managing the money for your child have independent obligations and can check each other’s decisions. A guardian who also controls the funds faces fewer constraints, and a trustee who has no relationship with the child has no personal incentive to make distributions that are not in the child’s best interest. Many Sarasota families choose a trusted family member as guardian and a financially disciplined friend, sibling, or professional trustee as the financial fiduciary.