Florida Statute 732.6005
“Rules of construction and intention”
What it means
This is the master rule for reading Florida wills: the intention of the testator as expressed in the will controls the legal effect of its dispositions. Every statutory rule of construction is a default, applying only when the will itself doesn't indicate a contrary intention.
Subsection (2) adds a timing rule: a will is construed to pass all property the testator owns at death, including property acquired after the will was signed. A will doesn't go stale because the assets changed — but it distributes only what its own clauses actually reach.
- The intention that controls is the one expressed in the will — §732.6005(1).
- Statutory rules of construction are defaults, displaced by a contrary indication in the will.
- A will passes all property owned at death, including after-acquired property — §732.6005(2).
- Property no clause of the will disposes of still passes by intestacy, after-acquired or not.
How it plays out
Both subsections get argued in real estates. Subsection (2) means no one can claim a devise fails merely because the testator bought the asset after signing. But we also see its limit, drawn by a well-known Florida Supreme Court decision about a form will with no residuary clause: the statute passes after-acquired property through the will's clauses, not around them, so assets no clause reaches go intestate. The lesson we repeat: a will needs a residuary clause more than it needs anything else.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.6005 does real work:
Questions people ask
