Florida Statute 732.603
“Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts”
What it means
When a will leaves property to someone who dies before the testator, the gift normally fails. Section 732.603 rescues it for close family: if the devisee was a grandparent of the testator, or a descendant of a grandparent — children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews — a substitute gift is created in the devisee's own surviving descendants, who take per stirpes.
The rescue has limits. Words of survivorship in the will — “if he survives me,” “to my surviving children” — count as contrary intent and switch the statute off. And it reaches only outright devises; devises in trust are governed by a separate statute, §736.1106.
- Covers a devisee who was dead when the will was signed, who fails to survive the testator, or who is treated by the will or by law as having predeceased.
- Protected class: the testator's grandparents and their descendants. A lapsed gift to a friend, caregiver, or in-law gets no rescue.
- The substitute takers are the deceased devisee's surviving descendants, per stirpes.
- Words of survivorship — “if she survives me” — are a sufficient indication of contrary intent and defeat the substitute gift.
- Applies only to outright devises and appointments; devises and appointments in trust fall under §736.1106.
How it plays out
Antilapse surprises people in both directions. Families assume a predeceased child's share vanished — the statute quietly reroutes it to the grandchildren. Testators assume a gift to a friend will pass to the friend's children — it won't, because friends sit outside the protected class, and the gift falls into the residue under §732.604 instead. When we administer an estate with a predeceased beneficiary, applying this section is one of the first determinations, because it changes who must be noticed and who signs waivers.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.603 does real work:
Questions people ask
