Florida Statute 732.4015
“Devise of homestead”
What it means
Florida homestead can't be given away by will like other property. Under §732.4015, if the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, the homestead can't be devised at all — with one exception: it may be devised to the spouse if there is no minor child. Try to leave it to anyone else and the devise fails; the house descends under §732.401 instead.
The section reaches through trusts: the grantor of a revocable trust is treated as the owner, and a trust disposition of what would be homestead counts as a devise. This is the constitutional homestead protection (Art. X, § 4) enforced inside the probate code.
- If survived by a spouse or minor child, the homestead is not subject to devise by will.
- Only exception: it may be devised to the spouse — but only if there is no minor child.
- A devise that violates the rule fails, and the homestead descends under §732.401 instead.
- The rule reaches trusts: the grantor of a revocable trust is treated as the owner of trust-held homestead.
- Enforces the Florida Constitution's homestead protection (Art. X, § 4) inside the probate code.
How it plays out
This is the single most common way a Florida will 'fails' on the house. A parent with a minor child signs a will leaving the homestead to a partner, a sibling, or a trust — and none of it works, because a minor child can't be cut out. We check for a spouse and minor children before we let anyone plan around the homestead, and when there's a minor child we explain that the constitution, not the will, decides the house.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.4015 does real work: