How DoI Prepare a Will in Florida?

Full question:

My Uncle recently ask that I be the executor of his estate which includes property and various retirement accounts 9he lives in Tampa). It also includes items in a deposit box. What form should I use to prepare this? Also, will the information provided from US Legal Forms instruct me on what to do after the form(s) are complete? Will getting this completed require a visit to a lawyer?

• Category: Wills and Estates
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Florida

Answer:

An executor is responsible for handling the affairs of the deceased and is appointed in a will. Our forms contain instructions for properly completing the will and we also offer a completion service and completed samples for purchase. Once completed. it is possible the local probate court may accept it for filing, although this is optional. I suggest calling the clerk of courts at the probate cour tin the county where the uncle resides to inquire if this option is available. A will may be prepred without the asistance of an attorney.

Please see the following FL statutes:

732.502 Execution of wills.--Every will must be in writing and executed as follows:

(1)(a) Testator's signature.--

1. The testator must sign the will at the end; or

2. The testator's name must be subscribed at the end of the will by some other person in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction.

(b) Witnesses.--The testator's:

1. Signing, or

2. Acknowledgment:

a. That he or she has previously signed the will, or

b. That another person has subscribed the testator's name to it,

must be in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses.

(c) Witnesses' signatures.--The attesting witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other.

(2) Any will, other than a holographic or nuncupative will, executed by a nonresident of Florida, either before or after this law takes effect, is valid as a will in this state if valid under the laws of the state or country where the will was executed. A will in the testator's handwriting that has been executed in accordance with subsection (1) shall not be considered a holographic will.

(3) Any will executed as a military testamentary instrument in accordance with 10 U.S.C. s. 1044d, Chapter 53, by a person who is eligible for military legal assistance is valid as a will in this state.

(4) No particular form of words is necessary to the validity of a will if it is executed with the formalities required by law.

(5) A codicil shall be executed with the same formalities as a will.

732.503 Self-proof of will.--

(1) A will or codicil executed in conformity with s. 732.502 may be made self-proved at the time of its execution or at any subsequent date by the acknowledgment of it by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, made before an officer authorized to administer oaths and evidenced by the officer's certificate attached to or following the will, in substantially the following form:

STATE OF FLORIDA

COUNTY OF _____

I,_______________, declare to the officer taking my acknowledgment of this instrument, and to the subscribing witnesses, that I signed this instrument as my will.

 

______________________________

Testator

We,__________and__________, 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

 

______________________________

Witness

Acknowledged and subscribed before me by the testator, (type or print testator's name), who is personally known to me or who has produced (state type of identification--see s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) as identification, and sworn to and subscribed before me by the witnesses, (type or print name of first witness) who is personally known to me or who has produced (state type of identification--see s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) as identification and (type or print name of second witness) who is personally known to me or who has produced (state type of identification--see s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) as identification, and subscribed by me in the presence of the testator and the subscribing witnesses, all on (date).

 

(Signature of Officer)

 

(Print, type, or stamp commissioned name and affix official seal)

(2) A will or codicil made self-proved under former law, or executed in another state and made self-proved under the laws of that state, shall be considered as self-proved under this section.

732.504 Who may witness.--

(1) Any person competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will.

(2) A will or codicil, or any part of either, is not invalid because the will or codicil is signed by an interested witness.