Boca Raton is home to a growing community of young immigrant families building careers, buying first homes, and raising children. If you and your spouse arrived in the United States within the last several years, you may still be sorting through green cards, work authorization, or a pending naturalization case. Estate planning often feels like something to deal with “later.” But for non-citizen families, the intersection of estate law and immigration status creates real risks that a standard online will simply does not address. Here is what newcomers to Florida need to understand, and why you genuinely need both an estate plan and immigration counsel.
The non-citizen spouse problem: the marital deduction and QDOT trusts
Most married couples assume that anything they leave to a surviving spouse passes free of federal estate tax under the unlimited marital deduction. That assumption breaks down when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. Federal law restricts the unlimited marital deduction for property passing to a non-citizen spouse, because the government worries that a non-citizen could leave the country with inherited assets beyond the reach of U.S. estate tax.
The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT. Property passing into a properly structured QDOT can qualify for the marital deduction, deferring estate tax while the surviving spouse is living. A QDOT carries specific requirements, including a U.S. trustee and rules on distributions. For a young Boca Raton couple where one or both spouses hold green cards rather than citizenship, this is not an academic concern. It is a planning step worth discussing with a Florida estate attorney before a will or trust is signed.
Estate tax exposure for non-resident aliens
Immigration status also changes how the federal estate tax reaches your assets. A non-resident alien who is not domiciled in the United States is generally taxed only on U.S.-situated property, such as real estate located in Florida, and receives a far smaller exemption than a citizen or domiciliary. If you own a Boca Raton condo but are not yet domiciled here, your exposure may be very different from your neighbor’s. Because domicile is a fact-specific question that overlaps with your immigration intentions, coordination between your estate plan and your immigration case matters.
Guardianship for children of immigrant parents
One of the most important reasons young families plan at all is to name a guardian for minor children. For immigrant parents, this is doubly important. If both parents travel abroad, face a medical emergency, or encounter an immigration complication, who cares for your children, and under what authority? Florida law lets you nominate a preneed guardian, and a thoughtful plan can name guardians who are lawfully present and able to act without delay. We always encourage parents to think carefully about whether their chosen guardian’s own status allows them to step in smoothly.
Powers of attorney while you travel for visa matters
Immigration cases frequently require travel, sometimes a consular interview abroad or an extended trip to a home country. A durable power of attorney and a designation of health care surrogate ensure that someone you trust can manage finances, sign documents, and make medical decisions if you are unreachable or detained overseas. For families navigating consular processing, having these documents in place before departure is simple insurance against a complicated situation.
Wills, trusts, and Florida homestead
Your immigration status does not change the formalities for a valid Florida will. Under section 732.502, a will must be signed by the testator and two witnesses in each other’s presence. Trusts are governed by Florida’s Chapter 736, the Florida Trust Code, and a revocable trust can help your family avoid probate and keep matters private. Florida’s homestead protections also apply to your primary residence, but homestead carries strict rules on how it may be devised, especially when a spouse or minor children are involved. These provisions interact with QDOT planning in ways that reward careful drafting rather than a one-size-fits-all template.
Why you need both estate and immigration counsel
An estate plan built without regard to your immigration timeline can undercut a pending case, and an immigration strategy that ignores asset and guardianship planning leaves your family exposed. Our firm focuses on Florida estate planning; we do not handle immigration matters. For the immigration side, including family-based immigration petitions that affect who your beneficiaries are and how your household is structured, we routinely recommend the immigration attorneys at Fitenko Law. When a client is working toward U.S. citizenship and naturalization, coordinating the timing of that case with QDOT and marital-deduction planning can meaningfully change the outcome.
If you are a young immigrant family putting down roots in Boca Raton, the right time to plan is now, while your goals and your green-card or naturalization case are still taking shape. We are glad to build the Florida estate plan and work alongside your immigration counsel so both pieces fit together.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of Florida probate administration. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles New York probate and estate administration.
