Palm Beach has long drawn families from across the world, and many of our clients hold passports from two countries, married a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, or are still working through a green-card or naturalization case. For these families, a Florida estate plan cannot be drafted in a vacuum. Citizenship and immigration status quietly change how your assets pass, how they are taxed, and who can act for you if something goes wrong. Below are the points where estate planning and immigration law genuinely intersect, and why newcomers to Florida usually need counsel on both sides.
The non-citizen spouse and the marital deduction trap
For couples who are both U.S. citizens, the federal estate tax allows an unlimited marital deduction, meaning one spouse can leave any amount to the other free of estate tax. That deduction does not apply when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. Congress was concerned that a non-citizen surviving spouse might leave the country with inherited assets that the IRS could no longer reach.
The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT. Property left to a non-citizen spouse through a properly structured QDOT can still qualify for the marital deduction, deferring estate tax until distributions of principal are made or the surviving spouse dies. QDOTs carry strict requirements, including a U.S. trustee and, for larger trusts, a U.S. bank acting as trustee or a bond. If you are a green-card holder married to a U.S. citizen, or vice versa, this provision deserves a careful look while both spouses are living. Florida revocable and irrevocable trusts are governed by Chapter 736 of the Florida Statutes, and a QDOT provision can be built into that framework with the right drafting.
Estate tax exposure for non-resident aliens
Citizenship and residency also change the size of the estate tax exemption itself. U.S. citizens and domiciliaries receive the full federal exemption. A non-resident alien who owns U.S.-situated assets, such as Florida real estate or shares in U.S. companies, is generally entitled to only a very small exemption against the federal estate tax on those U.S. assets. A foreign national who buys a Palm Beach condo as a second home can therefore face significant estate tax exposure that a U.S. citizen owner would never see. Treaties and entity structuring sometimes help, but the planning must happen before death, not after.
How immigration status affects beneficiaries and inheritance
Florida law does not require a beneficiary to be a citizen or even a legal resident in order to inherit. A non-citizen can receive property under a Florida will or trust. What changes is the tax and logistics: distributions to beneficiaries abroad, foreign account reporting, and the marital deduction issue above. If your intended heirs live overseas or hold pending immigration cases, your plan should anticipate cross-border transfers rather than discover the problem at probate.
Florida homestead, wills, and the formalities that still apply
Immigrants who become Florida residents gain access to one of the state’s most powerful protections: the homestead. Florida’s constitutional homestead shields your primary residence from most creditors and restricts how it can be devised when you have a surviving spouse or minor children, regardless of anyone’s immigration status. Your will must still satisfy Florida’s execution formalities under Section 732.502, signed at the end and witnessed by two witnesses in the proper manner. A will valid in another country is not automatically valid here, so families who arrive with foreign documents should have them reviewed and, in most cases, replaced with Florida instruments.
Guardianship, powers of attorney, and travel for visa matters
Parents who are immigrants should name guardians for minor children in their estate plan, and should think carefully about backup guardians who are lawfully present and able to serve. Equally important are durable powers of attorney and health care designations. Clients frequently travel abroad for consular interviews, visa stamping, or to handle a family matter, and a properly drafted Florida durable power of attorney lets a trusted agent manage finances and sign documents while you are out of the country. We have seen pending real estate closings and business decisions stall simply because the client was overseas for an immigration appointment with no agent in place.
Coordinating your estate plan with a pending immigration case
Because this firm focuses on Florida estate planning and probate and does not handle immigration matters, we routinely coordinate with outside immigration counsel. If you are mid-process on a green card or naturalization, we recommend working with a Florida immigration attorney so the two plans align rather than collide. Timing matters: becoming a citizen can unlock the unlimited marital deduction, while remaining a non-resident may call for a QDOT or different ownership structure. Investors who came to Florida on E-2 and EB-5 investor visas have an added layer, because the business interest tied to their immigration status is often their largest asset and needs both estate and succession planning around it.
For dual-citizen and expatriate families settling in Palm Beach, the takeaway is simple: you need both an estate plan and immigration counsel, working together. Get the structure right while everyone is healthy and the case is still open, and you spare your family avoidable tax and uncertainty later.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of Florida probate administration. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Medicaid asset protection trusts.
