Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up: 6 Things Floridians Should Check

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up is more than a summer chore list—it’s a proactive sweep that can save taxes, avert litigation, and keep your wealth-transfer goals on track for the back half of 2025. Grab a cool drink, pull up your documents, and work through these six checkpoints before Labor Day.

1. Re-tool fiduciary powers under the new UFIPA

Florida adopted the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act (UFIPA) on January 1, 2025. The law modernizes how trustees allocate income vs. principal, expands the power to convert a trust to a unitrust, and demands tighter record-keeping from personal representatives. If your trust or will still references the old Uniform Principal and Income Act, amend it now so fiduciaries can use UFIPA’s flexible rules without court approval. thekapfirm.com

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: have your attorney add explicit language allowing fiduciaries to adjust allocations and elect unitrust status when that benefits heirs.

2. Refresh your digital-asset instruction letter

Florida’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740) lets a personal representative or trustee step into your online life—but only if you grant written permission and list the accounts. Outdated passwords or missing two-factor codes can strand photos, crypto, and airline miles. flsenate.gov

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: Export a current password manager report, note whether each account holds content or metadata only, and sign an updated authorization attached to your will or revocable trust.

3. Validate homestead savings and portability figures

Inflation pushed the core Florida homestead exemption to $50,722 for 2025, and August TRIM notices often show small math errors. Also confirm that any “Save Our Homes” portability you carried over from a prior residence is still credited—you have just three tax years to port the cap. sjcpa.govfloridarevenue.com

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: Circle the exemption amount and capped value on your TRIM notice when it arrives; flag discrepancies for the county appraiser before September hearings.

4. Make sure electronic wills are execution-ready

Florida permits remote witnessing and notarization of wills under the Electronic Wills Act. The convenience is unbeatable for snowbirds, but strict video-recording and “qualified custodian” rules apply. If you signed electronically before 2023, confirm that the storage provider still meets statutory standards and that your revocable trust cross-references the digital will. karplaw.com

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: Request a certified PDF and the associated signing video from the custodian; store both in two redundant cloud vaults.

5. Prepare family LLCs for Corporate Transparency Act filings

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) requires most LLCs—including those that merely hold rental houses or investment accounts—to disclose their beneficial owners to FinCEN. Mandatory reporting begins December 31, 2024, and real-estate entities face an additional all-cash-purchase rule effective December 1, 2025. reuters.com

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: Compile a spreadsheet of entity names, EINs, formation dates, and every owner who holds 25 % or “substantial control.” Missing the filing can trigger $500-per-day penalties that eat into trust income.

6. Scan the 70-plus laws that took effect on July 1

From property-appraiser staffing changes to new criminal-penalty multipliers, more than 70 statutes kicked in on July 1, 2025. While few target estate planning directly, they can ripple into insurance costs, homestead classifications, and even trustee liability for rental properties. fox13news.com

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Task: Ask your counsel for a one-page summary of any July laws that affect your homestead exemption, vacation-home LLC, or special-needs trust.

Quick-Hit Checklist

Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up Item	Deadline	Who Should Act
Update trust language for UFIPA	Aug 15	Estate attorney
Export password manager & sign digital-asset addendum	Aug 31	You
Compare TRIM notice to last year’s values	Sept 10	Homeowner
Retrieve e-will video & vault copy	Sept 30	Custodian + you
Gather CTA beneficial-owner data	Oct 15	LLC manager
Review July 1 statutes with counsel	Oct 31	Legal team

Final Takeaway

A Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up turns summertime downtime into serious financial defense. By realigning documents with UFIPA, safeguarding digital legacies, auditing homestead math, future-proofing electronic wills, nailing CTA compliance, and tracking fresh legislation, Floridians can cruise into Q4 knowing their plans are hurricane-strong against taxes, creditors, and courtroom surprises.

Need help completing any of these Mid-Year Estate Plan Tune-Up tasks? The Absolute Law Group team is just a phone call away.

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