Florida Surviving Spouse Inheritance Rights: If a Foreign Law Allows Two People to Inherit From Each Other as Surviving Spouses, Despite Not Being Married, Will They Have Surviving Spouse Inheritance Rights in Florida?

If foreign law allows a couple to inherit from each other as surviving spouses, despite not being married, will they be able to inherit as a surviving spouse in Florida? No! According to Cohen v. Shushan, a recent Second DCA opinion, section 732.102 of the Florida Statutes provides an intestate share of a Florida estate to a surviving spouse. The opinion then defines a spouse as ” a person who has entered into a marital relationship with another.” Therefore, in order to be a surviving spouse for purposes of inheritance in Florida, you must have been MARRIED to the decedent at the time of his death. The court explains, ” Were we to hold otherwise and approximate a reputed spouse relationship as ” close enough” for purposes of marriage, our court would simultaneously diminish, of only imperceptibly, the uniqueness of the marital status in affairs of society and so offense to a sovereign nation’s authority to define, for itself, the precise boundaries of marriage within its own jurisdiction.”

With that being said, West Palm Beach probate lawyers know that if a marriage is valid under foreign law, it is treated as valid by the Florida probate courts. However, if the purported marital relationship in a foreign jurisdiction would be deemed invalid in that jurisdiction, it must be deemed invalid in Florida. If the foreign relationship between you and the decedent  is NOT recognized as a valid marriage, Florida will NOT recognize you as the surviving spouse for purposes of inheritance.

For a more in depth discussion regarding these surviving spouse issues in Florida, click here to read Cohen v. Shushan in its entirety.