Will Reformation Statute in Florida

The Florida Legislature revised its Probate Code in 2011 to allow any interested person to revise the terms of a deceased person’s will, even if the terms of the will are unambiguous. This statute could easily be abused by disgruntled persons left out of the will entirely or by persons who want a larger portion of the estate. The new statute is also in opposition to Florida’s strict requirements for creating a will. The statute reads as follows:  

732.615 Reformation to correct mistakes.—Upon application of any interested person, the court may reform the terms of a will, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the testator’s intent if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the accomplishment of the testator’s intent and the terms of the will were affected by a mistake of fact or law, whether in expression or inducement. In determining the testator’s original intent, the court may consider evidence relevant to the testator’s intent even though the evidence contradicts an apparent plain meaning of the will.

Under the new statute, any interested person can intervene in the probate process and file for the reformation of a will. Success on the merits could be achieved by testimony of the drafter of the will, a letter written by the testator before or after the execution of a will, or any variation of he said/she said testimony.

Additionally, if will is probated with a provision that the corpus of a trust was only to be distributed upon the trust beneficiary’s death and then the trust beneficiary dies after the reformation statute has taken effect, the distribution of the trust corpus can give rise to a will reformation lawsuit over a will that was probated years ago. 

See Florida’s Will Reformation Statute Turns Estate Planning Upside Down, Avoid Probate.