Free Guide · Florida Estate Planning
The Florida Heir Tax Audit
Which tax will your family actually pay?
Many Florida families plan around a tax they will never pay. Florida imposes no estate or inheritance tax, and the federal exemption is $15 million per person in 2026.
For most families below that line, the bill still arrives — as income tax. On retirement accounts their heirs must empty, and on gains that a lifetime gift preserved instead of erasing. The same title that protects a married couple from one spouse's creditors can also limit the basis reset at the first death.
A plan built to shrink the estate can solve a tax your family will never owe, and create one they will.
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Get The Florida Heir Tax Audit
Fifteen questions and a three-title comparison that tell you, in about ten minutes, where your family's tax exposure actually sits and what it would cost to move it. Enter your details and the audit is sent straight to your inbox.
One appreciated asset, three titles
Title one
Tenancy by the entirety
The strongest creditor position for a married couple — and generally only half the basis resets at the first death.
Title two
Community property trust
Aimed at both halves resetting. A Florida elective trust with a statutory form, and an open question the guide names plainly.
Title three
One spouse's separate name or revocable trust
Generally a full reset at the owner's death — whenever that happens. The order of death matters.
What is inside the audit
- A 15-question scored diagnostic. Two sections, each question tied to the Internal Revenue Code section or Florida statute that governs it.
- The three-title comparison. Five questions read across all three columns, including what happens at a divorce and what each one takes to put in place.
- Your Exposure Rating. Three bands, with exactly what to bring to a review in each one.
- A plain-English glossary. Basis, step-up and carryover, the one-year rule, income in respect of a decedent, the 10-year rule, the annual exclusion, and the Florida community property trust statutes.
Three of the fifteen questions
- Are you planning mainly around estate tax without knowing where your estate sits against the $15 million federal exemption?
- Is most of what you plan to leave your children held in traditional IRAs or 401(k)s?
- Do you know your current basis in your three most appreciated assets?
The other twelve cover lifetime gifts of appreciated property, how each major asset is titled today, beneficiary designations nobody has read in three years, the income tax your heirs would pay across the 10-year window, partial Roth conversions, qualified charitable distributions, the survivor's shift from joint to single filing, valuation discounts and the basis they cost, and out-of-state property that brings another state's rules with it. Download the audit to work through all fifteen.
Who this is for
Florida couples holding appreciated assets as tenants by the entirety; owners of older rentals or a low-basis business interest; anyone with substantial money in a traditional IRA or 401(k); parents thinking about giving property to their children now; Floridians who own real estate in another state; and anyone who has heard about a community property trust.
Frequently asked questions
Florida has no estate tax. So why would my family owe anything?
Florida imposes no estate or inheritance tax, and the federal exemption is $15 million per person in 2026. For most families below that line the bill arrives as income tax instead: on retirement accounts their heirs must empty, and on gains that a lifetime gift preserved rather than erased. The audit covers where that exposure actually sits.
Isn't it better to give property to my children while I am alive?
It depends on the basis numbers, and they should be run before the transfer rather than after. A lifetime gift generally carries your basis to the recipient under IRC § 1015, while the same asset passing at death generally takes a date-of-death basis under IRC § 1014. Those are different outcomes for the same asset.
We hold our assets as tenants by the entirety. Does that affect taxes?
Yes, and in a direction many couples never price. Under IRC § 2040(b), one-half of a qualified joint interest is included in the first spouse's estate, so generally only half the basis resets at the first death. Entireties title may still be the right trade for its creditor protection, but it should be a choice rather than an accident.
Free Download
The Florida Heir Tax Audit
Fifteen questions, the three-title comparison, and an Exposure Rating — so you find out which tax your plan is actually built to address.
Download the AuditComplimentary Discovery Call
Not Sure Where to Get Started?
Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call with our Legal Solutions Coordinators. Prefer the phone? Call 844-842-2774.
Book a Free Discovery CallThis page and the guide it offers are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal or tax advice. Reading or downloading it does not create an attorney-client relationship; no such relationship exists until a written engagement agreement is signed by both you and the firm. Joseph E. Seagle is licensed to practice law in Florida only, and nothing here is offered as, or should be relied on as, legal advice in or about the law of any other jurisdiction. If you live or hold property outside Florida, consult counsel licensed where it sits. The state-law authority discussed here is Florida law, specifically Art. VII, Sec. 5 of the Florida Constitution, Fla. Stat. § 222.21 and §§ 736.1501-736.1512. Federal tax points, including IRC § 1014, § 1015 and § 2040(b), are stated generally, may change, and are not advice on your return; review them with your CPA. The IRS has not expressly approved the Florida community property trust. Other states, including states where you own property, may tax estates or inheritances at much lower thresholds, and nothing here describes their law. Your actual basis, title, liability exposure, beneficiaries' brackets, and whether a transfer has creditor or tax consequences are fact questions this guide cannot evaluate. Medicaid planning, fraudulent-transfer analysis and other states' taxes are outside this guide. Nothing here is a prediction about any particular matter, and no client names, matters or facts appear anywhere in it. A diagnostic checklist is not a substitute for having counsel and a tax adviser review your actual deeds, account records and documents. Consult a licensed Florida attorney and your CPA about your specific situation.