Florida does not recognize common-law marriage, and an unmarried partner has no automatic inheritance rights, no elective share, and no homestead spousal protection. For unmarried couples in Palm Beach, that means everything depends on the documents you create. If you do nothing, the law treats your partner as a legal stranger. Here is how the main planning options compare for couples who are committed but not married.
The Default: Your Partner Gets Nothing
If you die without a plan, Florida intestacy (§732.101 and following) sends your estate to blood relatives, parents, siblings, or their descendants, not to your partner. A surviving partner could even be asked to leave a shared home titled solely in the deceased’s name. This is the single biggest risk unmarried Palm Beach couples face, and it is entirely avoidable.
Option One: Reciprocal Wills
The most basic fix is a pair of wills (§732.502) in which each partner leaves assets to the other and names the other as personal representative. Wills are straightforward and let you direct assets to someone the law would otherwise ignore. The limitation is probate: a will must be administered in Palm Beach County court, which is public and can be slow, and a will does not help with incapacity.
Option Two: A Revocable Living Trust
A revocable trust (Chapter 736) is often the strongest tool for unmarried couples. You can hold shared property in the trust, name your partner as successor trustee and beneficiary, and provide for a smooth transfer with no probate and no public record. Because you lack the automatic rights spouses enjoy, the trust manufactures those protections privately and on your terms, including provisions for the surviving partner to stay in the home before assets eventually pass to children or other heirs.
Option Three: Titling, Deeds, and Beneficiary Designations
How you hold property matters enormously. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship lets a co-owned Palm Beach home pass directly to the surviving partner outside probate. A Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed can pass real estate to a partner automatically at death while you keep full control during life. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and pay-on-death accounts go to whoever is named, so listing your partner as beneficiary is one of the simplest protections available. Keep these current, because they override your will.
Florida Homestead: A Special Caution
Florida homestead rules (Art. X, §4) protect spouses and certain heirs, but an unmarried partner is neither. If you have minor children, restrictions may even prevent leaving the home to your partner outright. This makes deliberate planning, often through a trust or carefully structured deed, essential for couples who want the survivor to keep the residence.
Incapacity Documents Are Non-Negotiable
Without a durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) and a health care surrogate designation, your partner may have no legal authority to make financial or medical decisions for you, and could be excluded by family members. Naming your partner in these documents ensures the person closest to you can act in a crisis.
Building the Right Combination
Most unmarried Palm Beach couples need a layered plan: a revocable trust or properly titled property to transfer assets without probate, beneficiary designations naming each other, and durable powers of attorney plus health care surrogate forms for incapacity. Reciprocal wills can anchor the plan but should not stand alone.
This is general information, not legal advice. Because Florida gives unmarried partners no automatic rights, consult a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to make sure your partner is protected exactly as you intend.
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For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of powers of attorney in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
