Revocable Trust Attorney in Coral Gables, FL
Your Family Shouldn't Have to Go to Probate Court to Inherit What You Left Them
When you pass away, your home, your accounts, and your assets don’t automatically go to the people you chose. In Florida, they go to probate court first—a public, court-supervised process that can take a year or longer before your family sees a single dollar.
A revocable living trust is the most effective way to prevent that entirely. It keeps your estate out of court, transfers your assets directly and privately to the people you love, and gives you complete control over everything while you’re alive.
At Family Life Law, we’ve helped families throughout Coral Gables, Pinecrest, Coconut Grove, and Miami-Dade set up revocable living trusts that protect their estates and keep their families out of probate court entirely.
What Happens Without a Revocable Living Trust
Your family waits (sometimes for over a year) before inheriting anything. When assets go through probate in Miami-Dade’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit, nothing moves until the court says so. That means your home, your bank accounts, and your investments are frozen while the legal process runs its course. The mortgage still needs to be paid. The bills still come in. Your family is responsible for an estate they can’t legally touch yet.
Your estate becomes public record. Everything that goes through probate—what you owned, what you owed, who you left it to—becomes public record. Anyone can look it up.
The process costs money before it pays anything out. Probate administration in Florida isn’t free. Attorney fees, court costs, and administrative expenses come directly out of your estate before a single beneficiary receives anything. See how our probate attorneys handle this process when it can’t be avoided.
A revocable living trust avoids all of it.
What a Revocable Living Trust Does for You
A revocable living trust is an estate planning tool that holds your assets during your lifetime and transfers them directly to your chosen beneficiaries when you pass—without probate, without court involvement, and without delay. Under Florida Statute § 736.0103, a revocable trust can be amended or revoked by the settlor at any time during their lifetime.
Here’s what makes it work for Florida families:
You stay in complete control while you’re alive. You are the trustee of your own trust. You manage your accounts, your property, and your assets exactly as you do now. You can change beneficiaries, add or remove assets, or revoke the trust entirely whenever you want. Nothing about your day-to-day financial life changes.
Your home transfers immediately and privately. Real estate held in a trust doesn’t go through probate. When you pass, your successor trustee transfers the title directly to whoever you named — no judge required, no waiting, no public filing. For Coral Gables homeowners, this is one of the most consequential estate planning decisions you can make. Real estate that isn’t in a trust goes through probate. Real estate that is in a trust doesn’t. If your goal is specifically to protect your home, a Lady Bird Deed is another Florida-specific tool worth understanding.
Your beneficiaries receive assets quickly—sometimes within weeks. Instead of waiting for Miami-Dade’s probate court to supervise every step of the distribution, your successor trustee follows your instructions directly. Accounts transfer. Property transfers. Your family moves forward.
If you become incapacitated, someone you trust steps in immediately. A revocable living trust names a successor trustee who takes over management of your assets if you’re ever unable to manage them yourself—without a court having to appoint anyone. This is one of the most overlooked benefits of a trust, and one of the most important. A durable power of attorney works alongside your trust to cover financial and legal matters outside of it—both documents belong in every complete estate plan.
What Working With a Revocable Trust Attorney at Family Life Law Looks Like
Every estate plan is unique to our client’s situation and goals, but there are core documents involved:
Tell Us Everything
Your first conversation is a judgment-free deep dive into your situation—what you own, how it's titled, who you want to provide for, and what you want to avoid. You leave knowing exactly where you stand and what needs to happen next.
Get a Clear Path Forward
We draft a revocable living trust tailored to your family's specific circumstances. That includes funding the trust correctly—making sure your accounts and real estate are actually transferred into it—because a trust that isn't properly funded doesn't protect anything. We also make sure your trust works together with your other estate planning documents, including your pour-over will, power of attorney, and healthcare directive.
Get Back to Your Life
Once everything is in place, your estate is protected. We keep you informed of anything that needs to be updated as your life changes — and when the time comes, your family won't have to figure out probate court on one of the hardest days of their lives.
What our customers say
Answering Frequently Asked Questions
Does Florida's homestead exemption still apply if my home is in a revocable trust?
It can—but only if the trust is set up correctly. Many homeowners assume the Save Our Homes cap and creditor protections under § 196.031 follow the property automatically. They don’t. If the trust isn’t drafted to meet Florida’s homestead requirements, you could lose those protections without realizing it. We see this constantly with out-of-state trusts that clients bring to us after moving to Coral Gables. It’s an easy fix when you catch it early.
Can a revocable trust protect my assets from Medicaid recovery?
No—and this is an important distinction. Because you retain control of everything inside a revocable living trust, Florida’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program under § 409.9101 treats those assets as yours and can make a claim against them after you pass. If Medicaid planning is a concern for your family, an irrevocable trust may be the better tool. We can walk you through both options and help you understand which one fits your situation.
I already have a will. Do I still need a trust?
A will and a revocable living trust serve different purposes. A last will and testament still goes through probate—it just gives the court clear instructions to follow. A trust bypasses probate entirely. If you own real estate in Coral Gables, have meaningful accounts, or want your family to avoid the time and cost of Miami-Dade’s probate process, a trust is almost always the better choice. Most clients we work with end up with both—a trust to handle the bulk of the estate, and a pour-over will to capture anything that wasn’t transferred into the trust during your lifetime.
What happens to my trust if I get divorced in Florida?
Under § 736.1105, divorce automatically revokes the provisions in your trust that benefit your former spouse. But the rest of the trust remains exactly as it was, which can create unintended outcomes depending on how it was structured. If you’re going through a divorce in Miami-Dade, your trust needs to be reviewed before things are finalized. Because we handle both family law and estate planning, we look at both sides of that at the same time.
I moved to Florida from another state. Does my existing trust still work here?
It might, but Florida has specific requirements—governed by the Florida Trust Code, Chapter 736—for how trusts interact with homestead property, Medicaid eligibility, and creditor protections that other states don’t have. Trusts drafted in New York, New Jersey, or elsewhere often don’t account for Florida’s rules. We review out-of-state trusts regularly for clients who’ve relocated to Coral Gables, and we’ll tell you honestly whether what you have holds up—and what needs to change if it doesn’t.
Protect Your Family. Keep Them Out of Court.
A revocable living trust is one of the most important decisions you can make for your family’s future. The families who have one in place don’t leave their loved ones guessing, waiting, or navigating probate court at an already painful time.
Contact Family Life Law today. We’ll review your situation, tell you exactly what a trust would do for your family, and build one that actually works when it’s needed most.
Martha Mendez
Martha Mendez, Esq. is a highly dedicated attorney with seven years of experience specializing in elder and estate planning, real estate, and family law. Her unique professional journey—rising from a legal secretary and paralegal to an attorney—reflects a deep commitment to the field, culminating in a Juris Doctor earned cum laude from St. Thomas University. A member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Martha is passionate about protecting her clients' assets and navigating complex life transitions with expertise. When she isn't advocating for her clients, the Florida International University alumna enjoys boating, kayaking, and traveling with her husband and three children.