Florida Statute 732.604
“Failure of testamentary provision”
What it means
Section 732.604 answers where property goes when a devise fails — the beneficiary died, disclaimed, or was disqualified — and the antilapse statute doesn't save it. A failed devise other than a residuary devise simply becomes part of the residue of the estate. A failed share of the residue itself passes to the other residuary beneficiaries, in proportion to their interests.
If every residuary devise fails and nothing else catches the property, it leaves the will altogether and passes by intestacy.
- A failed non-residuary devise becomes part of the residue — it does not pass to the dead beneficiary's estate.
- A failed residuary share passes to the other residuary devisees, in proportion to their interests in the remaining residue.
- Both rules apply except as provided in §732.603 — antilapse substitutes the deceased devisee's descendants first when it applies.
- The order of operations in a Florida estate: antilapse, then this section, then intestacy if the whole residue fails.
How it plays out
This section decides real money whenever a will names beneficiaries without backups. We run the same sequence every time a named beneficiary is out: does §732.603 substitute their descendants; if not, the gift joins the residue; if the failed gift was a share of the residue, the surviving residuary beneficiaries absorb it. The risky wills are the ones leaving the residue to a single person with no alternate — one death can turn a complete estate plan into a partial intestacy.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.604 does real work:
Questions people ask
