Boca Raton draws property owners from around the world. Canadians wintering in Palm Beach County, families relocating from Latin America and Europe, and professionals on work or investor visas all hold Florida real estate, bank accounts, and businesses here. If you are not a U.S. citizen, the standard estate planning advice you may have heard does not fully apply to you. The intersection of Florida estate law and federal tax and immigration rules creates traps that catch foreign owners off guard — and a well-drafted plan can avoid every one of them.
The Non-Citizen Spouse Problem: Why a Plain Will Is Not Enough
U.S. citizens can leave an unlimited amount to a surviving spouse free of federal estate tax under the unlimited marital deduction. That deduction does not apply when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. Congress was concerned a non-citizen spouse might inherit assets and then leave the country before any estate tax could be collected.
The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT). Property passing 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 spouse dies. A QDOT must meet strict federal requirements, including a U.S. trustee and, in larger estates, a U.S. bank as trustee or a bond. For a Boca Raton couple where one spouse is a green-card holder or visa holder, building a QDOT (or QDOT provisions) into a revocable trust under Florida Chapter 736 is often essential. This is not a clause your online will form contains.
Estate Tax Exposure for Non-Resident Aliens
If you own Florida property but live abroad and are classified as a non-resident alien for estate tax purposes, the rules are harsher still. Non-resident aliens are taxed on U.S.-situated assets — which includes Florida real estate and shares of U.S. corporations — but receive only a tiny exemption compared to the generous exemption available to citizens and domiciliaries. A condo on the Intracoastal or a single-family home west of Boca can easily exceed that small threshold. Planning techniques such as holding U.S. real estate through properly structured entities, life insurance, and careful titling can reduce or eliminate this exposure, but they must be put in place while you are alive and well.
Florida Homestead, Wills, and Trusts Still Govern Your Property
Citizenship does not change the fact that Florida law controls real property located here. Florida’s constitutional homestead protection shields your primary residence from most creditors and restricts how it can be devised if you have a spouse or minor children — rules that apply regardless of immigration status. A Florida will must be executed with the formalities of §732.502: signed by the testator and two witnesses, all present together. A foreign will may be admissible, but relying on it invites delay and ancillary probate. A revocable trust under Chapter 736 lets foreign owners avoid Florida probate entirely, keep arrangements private, and name a trustee who can act across borders.
Guardianship, Powers of Attorney, and Cross-Border Realities
Immigrant families with minor children should name a guardian in their estate plan, and should think carefully about whether the preferred guardian lives in the U.S. or abroad — a guardianship spanning two countries requires planning the courts and the family can actually execute. Equally important is a durable power of attorney and a health care surrogate designation. Foreign owners frequently travel abroad for consular interviews, biometrics, or to maintain ties to their home country. If you are out of the U.S. for a visa matter and a real estate closing, tax filing, or medical decision arises, a Florida durable power of attorney lets a trusted agent act in your absence.
Coordinating Your Estate Plan With a Pending Immigration Case
Your estate plan and your immigration case are deeply connected, even though they are handled by different attorneys. Whether a beneficiary can inherit, and the tax consequences when they do, can turn on their immigration status. A pending green-card or naturalization application can change your tax classification — and once a non-citizen spouse naturalizes, a QDOT may no longer be necessary. Because our firm focuses on Florida estate planning and does not handle immigration matters, we coordinate with dedicated immigration counsel. For clients who need to align their plan with a green-card or citizenship timeline, we recommend working with a Florida immigration attorney on USCIS case strategy so the two plans move in step.
This is especially true for newly married couples. If your path to permanent residence runs through your spouse, the same relationship drives both your immigration and your estate planning, and the attorneys handling marriage-based green cards should be talking to whoever drafts your trust. Newcomers to Boca Raton genuinely need both: an estate plan that respects Florida and federal tax law, and immigration counsel guiding their status. Get them working together, and you protect your family, your property, and your future in Florida.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of estate planning in Palm Beach. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Article 81 guardianship in New York.
