Wills and Trusts Lawyers in Naples, FL | Kelleher + Holland Law Firm
At Kelleher + Holland, our Naples estate planning attorneys help both seasonal and full-time residents across Collier County and beyond build wills and trusts that work the way they were intended: protecting assets, honoring wishes, and keeping families out of court.
Wills and Trusts in Florida: What You Actually Need
A Will is the foundation of any estate plan. Without one, Florida’s intestacy laws determine how your assets are distributed, and the result may bear no resemblance to what you would have chosen. However, a Will alone is rarely enough. In Florida, a Will must pass through probate before any assets can transfer to your heirs. That process can take six months to a year or more, is a matter of public record, and can be expensive. For many
Naples residents, particularly those with real property, significant accounts, or family members in other states, a revocable living trust is not just a useful tool. It is the smarter, more protective option.
Our Naples estate planning attorneys help clients understand their options, create a plan that reflects their actual circumstances, and ensure every document is properly executed under Florida law.
Why Choose Kelleher + Holland for Drafting Wills and Trusts?
A complete estate plan involves more than signing a document. We work with Naples clients to build coordinated, comprehensive plans that hold up under real-world conditions. Depending on your situation, your plan may include:
Last Will and Testament. A Florida-compliant Will that clearly designates beneficiaries, names a personal representative, establishes guardianship for minor children, and provides a legally enforceable record of your final wishes.
Revocable Living Trust. The cornerstone of most Naples estate plans. A revocable trust holds your assets during your lifetime, allows you to retain full control, and transfers everything to your named beneficiaries at death. There is no probate, no court involvement, and no public disclosure. For snowbirds and multi-state property owners, a properly funded revocable living trust is often the single most important estate planning tool available.
Irrevocable Trusts. For clients with estate tax exposure, Medicaid planning concerns, or specific asset protection goals, irrevocable trust structures can provide protections a revocable trust cannot. Our estate planning attorneys in Naples counsel clients on irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), Special Needs Trusts, and Charitable Trusts where they serve a defined planning purpose.
Durable Power of Attorney. A legally effective power of attorney designates someone to manage your financial and legal affairs if you become incapacitated. Without one, your family may face a costly guardianship proceeding in Florida court.
Healthcare Surrogate Designation and Living Will. These documents govern medical decision-making when you cannot speak for yourself. Florida law has specific requirements for both, and documents executed in another state may not be sufficient.
Lady Bird Deed (Enhanced Life Estate Deed). A uniquely Florida tool that allows real property to transfer to a named beneficiary at death while you retain full control during your lifetime, without triggering Medicaid look-back rules and without requiring the property to pass through probate.
Every plan we build as experienced Wills and Trusts attorneys is coordinated. Wills, trusts, deeds, beneficiary designations, and powers of Attorney must work together. When they do, your estate plan actually performs as intended.
Why Snowbirds Need a Naples Wills and Trusts Attorney
This is one of the most consequential mistakes seasonal residents make: assuming the estate plan they established in Ohio, Michigan, New York, or Illinois is sufficient for their Florida property. It is not.
If you own real estate in Naples and your estate plan was drafted in another state, Florida probate will almost certainly be required for that property when you pass, even if everything else in your estate transfers cleanly under your home-state plan. That means your family faces two parallel probate proceedings: one in your home state and one in Florida.
A revocable living trust, properly funded with your Florida property, eliminates that problem entirely. We specialize in reviewing out-of-state estate plans and identifying the gaps that Florida property ownership creates. We also help clients that have permanently relocated to Naples update plans that still reflect a prior state’s law, a situation that creates more legal risk than most people realize.
Florida does not impose a state income tax and has no state estate tax, which makes it an especially attractive domicile for retirement. Establishing Florida as your legal domicile requires more than spending six months here. It requires updating your estate plan to reflect Florida as your primary state, updating your homestead exemption filing, and in many cases revisiting your trust and beneficiary structures entirely.
Our Naples wills and trusts attorneys guide clients through every step of that transition.
Full-Time Naples Residents: Building an Estate Plan That Lasts
For permanent Florida Collier County residents, an estate plan is not a one-time event. Life changes. Laws change. What was the right plan five years ago may leave real gaps today.
Florida’s 2025 legislative updates have introduced changes that affect many existing estate plans directly. The spousal elective share has increased to 30% of the augmented estate, strengthening protections for surviving spouses and requiring careful review of any plan that attempts to limit spousal inheritance. The Florida Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act (FUFIPA), effective January 1, 2025, updates the rules governing how fiduciaries allocate income and principal in trust administration, a change that may affect how existing trusts perform for your beneficiaries. And the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exemptions, set to sunset after 2025, may significantly reduce the federal estate tax threshold for high-net-worth families unless proactive planning is in place.
These are not abstract legal developments. For Naples families with significant real estate holdings, investment accounts, or business interests, they represent real planning urgency.
Our wills and trusts lawyers in Naples work with full-time residents to review and update existing plans, build new plans from the ground up, and coordinate across every dimension of the estate, including tax strategy, elder law, and asset protection.
Trust Administration After a Loved One Passes
Creating a trust is half the job. When a loved one passes and you are named as successor trustee, the responsibilities that follow can be substantial, and the legal exposure for errors is real.
As trust administration attorneys in Naples, we guide successor trustees through every step of their obligations: notifying beneficiaries, inventorying trust assets, managing and distributing property in accordance with trust terms, handling tax filings, and closing the trust properly. Many successor trustees are family members with no legal background who are stepping into a fiduciary role for the first time, often while grieving. We make that process as clear and manageable as possible.
If you are a beneficiary with questions about how a trust is being administered, or concerns that it is not being administered correctly, we represent beneficiaries in trust disputes as well.
Why Naples Families Choose Kelleher + Holland for Wills and Trusts
We are not a transactional estate planning shop. We are a full-service firm with deep roots in estate planning, elder law, tax strategy, business succession, and litigation. Our Naples wills and trusts attorneys draw on every one of those disciplines when building a plan for you. That depth matters. A will drafted without regard for a client’s real estate holdings, business interests, or Medicaid exposure is a plan built on an incomplete picture. Our attorneys take the time to understand the full landscape of a client’s life before recommending a single document.
We also work with clients across more than a dozen states, which gives us a meaningful advantage for the large percentage of our Naples client base that maintains ties to another state. Whether you need a revocable living trust attorney in Naples to manage your Florida assets, a comprehensive multi-state estate plan, or a first-time will drafted properly under Florida law, our team is equipped to handle it.
Frequently Asked Questions About our Kelleher + Holland Wills & Trusts Legal Services
Q: Do I need a will if I already have a trust in Florida?
A: Yes. Even clients with a revocable living trust should have a pour-over will as a safety net. A pour-over will captures any assets not transferred into the trust during your lifetime and directs them into the trust at death, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Q: What is the difference between a will and a revocable living trust in Florida?
A: A will takes effect at death and must pass through probate before assets can transfer to heirs. A revocable living trust takes effect immediately, holds assets during your lifetime, and transfers them to beneficiaries at death without probate, without court involvement, and without becoming a matter of public record.
Q: I live in another state but own a home in Naples. Do I need a Florida wills and trusts attorney?
A: Yes. Florida real property is governed by Florida law regardless of where you live. An out-of-state will or trust may not be sufficient to transfer your Naples property without going through Florida probate. A Naples estate planning wills and trusts attorney can review your existing plan and ensure your Florida assets are properly covered.
Q: How do I avoid probate in Florida?
A: The most effective way to avoid probate on Florida assets is to hold them in a properly funded revocable living trust. Assets held in trust pass directly to beneficiaries at death without court involvement. Other tools include beneficiary designations, joint ownership with right of survivorship, and Lady Bird deeds for real property.
Q: What is a Lady Bird deed and do I need one in Naples?
A: A Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate deed) allows you to transfer Florida real property to a named beneficiary at death while retaining full ownership and control during your lifetime. It avoids probate, does not trigger Medicaid look-back rules, and is a useful tool for Naples homeowners who want a simple, cost-effective way to pass property to heirs.
Q: How often should I update my will or trust in Florida?
A: Estate plans should be reviewed after any major life change: marriage, divorce, the birth of a child or grandchild, the death of a named beneficiary or trustee, significant changes in assets, or relocation to Florida from another state. We also recommend a review whenever Florida or federal tax law changes meaningfully, as both 2025 Florida updates and the pending federal estate tax exemption sunset affect many existing plans.
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