Hollywood, Florida draws a remarkable mix of newcomers: families pursuing citizenship, investors building a life in South Florida, and retirees who chose the Gulfstream sunshine after decades abroad. If you fall into any of these groups, your estate plan needs to account for something most plans ignore — immigration status. A will or trust that works perfectly for a lifelong U.S. citizen can fail badly for a non-citizen spouse or a beneficiary whose green card is still pending. Below are the places where estate planning and immigration law genuinely intersect, and why naturalizing residents and immigrant retirees in Broward County benefit from coordinating both.
The Non-Citizen Spouse Problem: Why QDOT Trusts Exist
One of the most overlooked traps involves married couples where one spouse is not a U.S. citizen. Under federal estate tax law, a citizen spouse can leave an unlimited amount to a surviving citizen spouse tax-free through the unlimited marital deduction. That deduction does not apply when the surviving spouse is a non-citizen — the government worries that a non-citizen could inherit assets and then leave the country before any estate tax is ever collected.
The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT. Property passing into a properly structured QDOT preserves the marital deferral, with at least one U.S. trustee and specific distribution rules. For a couple in Hollywood where one spouse holds a green card but has not naturalized, building a QDOT (or QDOT-ready provisions) into the plan can be the difference between a smooth transfer and an unexpected federal estate tax bill. If naturalization is on the horizon, the plan should be drafted to adapt once citizenship is granted.
Estate Tax Exposure for Non-Resident Aliens
Retirees who own a Hollywood condo or other Florida real estate but remain non-resident aliens for tax purposes face a very different estate tax picture than U.S. citizens and domiciliaries. Non-resident aliens are taxed on their U.S.-situated assets — including Florida real property — and the estate tax exemption available to them is dramatically smaller than the exemption U.S. domiciliaries enjoy. Whether you are treated as a domiciliary turns on intent and facts, not just where you spend winters. This is exactly the kind of issue that demands coordination between an estate planning attorney and immigration counsel, because your immigration trajectory directly shapes your tax exposure.
How Immigration Status Affects Beneficiaries and Inheritance
Florida law does not bar a non-citizen from inheriting. A beneficiary’s immigration status does not disqualify them from receiving assets under a valid Florida will executed per §732.502 or from a trust under Chapter 736 of the Florida Statutes. What changes is the planning around how they receive it. Distributions to a beneficiary living abroad, or one whose status is unsettled, may be better held in trust until circumstances stabilize. For larger estates, leaving assets outright to a non-citizen can also surrender tax planning opportunities that a trust would preserve.
Guardianship Designations for Children of Immigrants
Immigrant parents often have their closest relatives living in another country. Florida lets you nominate a guardian for minor children, but a guardian who lives abroad — or who lacks lawful status — can create real practical and legal complications if they ever need to act. Many families name a U.S.-based standby guardian to serve immediately, alongside their preferred relative. If your guardianship plan depends on a family member who still needs to immigrate, that is a coordinated estate-and-immigration question worth raising early. We recommend consulting a Miami immigration attorney for the immigration side, as our firm handles estate planning only.
Powers of Attorney for Clients Traveling Abroad
Visa interviews, consular processing, and naturalization steps frequently require time outside the United States. A durable power of attorney and a health care surrogate ensure that if you are abroad — or briefly unreachable during a consular appointment — someone you trust can manage your Florida property, sign documents, and make decisions. For investors building businesses here through E-2 and EB-5 investor visas, a robust power of attorney keeps a U.S. enterprise running smoothly while you handle immigration matters overseas.
Don’t Forget Florida Homestead
Florida’s constitutional homestead protection shields your primary residence from most creditors and restricts how it can pass at death, regardless of citizenship. Homestead’s devise-and-descent rules can override your will if you have a spouse or minor children, so any plan involving a Hollywood home must be built around them.
Why Newcomers Need Both
An estate plan and an immigration case are two halves of the same life transition. Our Hollywood firm drafts the wills, trusts, QDOTs, and powers of attorney — and we coordinate with qualified immigration counsel so the two plans reinforce, rather than contradict, each other. If you are naturalizing, sponsoring family, or retiring to Florida from abroad, contact us to align your estate plan with where your immigration journey is headed.
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 special needs planning in New York.
