Bonita Springs Wills Lawyer

What It Takes for Your Will to Actually Hold Up in Florida

The people you choose, a spouse, a child, a longtime friend, matter to you for reasons no form could capture. You want them taken care of the way you intend, once you are gone, without a fight over it. Maybe you have never written anything down, or an old will from another state may not hold up the way you think it does here.

James R. Nici is a Bonita Springs wills lawyer and a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates, one of fewer than 250 attorneys in Florida to hold that certification. For more than 30 years, he has made sure wills meet every signing requirement Florida law demands for families in Bonita Springs and Southwest Florida.

Once your will is signed the way Florida requires, your family already knows what they will receive, and no Lee County court is left guessing.

Your first consultation is free and lasts 30 minutes. Tell us about the people who matter to you and what you want to leave behind, and we will build a will that holds up.

The Documents Our Wills Attorney Drafts for Bonita Springs Families

A will rarely stands alone. Most Bonita Springs clients need a few connected documents working together so nothing is left open to a guess, whether they are drafting a first will or replacing one written decades ago in a different state.

A wills attorney looks at how each document works with the others, so nothing contradicts or overrides anything else.

• Last Will and Testament: names who inherits your assets and who serves as your personal representative.
• Testamentary Trust Provisions: protect an inheritance for a minor child or a beneficiary who needs extra structure.
• Durable General Power of Attorney: lets someone you trust manage your finances if you no longer can.
• Health Care Surrogate Designation: names who makes medical decisions on your behalf if you are unable to.
• Living Will: puts your wishes about life-prolonging treatment in writing, ahead of time.
• Pour-Over Will: catches any assets left outside a trust and directs them into it.

What Happens to a Bonita Springs Estate Without a Valid Will

If you die without a will in Florida, the state decides who inherits, not you. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.103, your estate passes to relatives in a fixed order set by the legislature.

If you are married, your spouse is usually first in line, either inheriting everything or splitting the estate with your children depending on your family situation.

If there is no surviving spouse, the estate goes to your children, then your parents, then your siblings, down a line you never chose.

A stepchild you raised gets nothing. A close friend gets nothing. A charity you supported for decades gets nothing. Even a longtime partner you never legally married can be left out entirely.

A Lee County probate judge, not your family, ends up making the calls you could have already made yourself, and the process usually takes longer and costs more than settling an estate with a valid will already in place.

This reflects Florida law as of September 2026.

How Our Wills Attorney Builds a Will That Meets Florida’s Signing Rules

Florida is strict about how a will is signed. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.502, a valid will must be in writing, signed by you at the end, and signed by two disinterested witnesses who watch you sign and then sign in your presence and in the presence of each other. Skip any one of those steps, and a court can throw out the whole document, even when your intentions were perfectly clear.

James R. Nici is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates with an LL.M. in Taxation, one of fewer than 250 attorneys in Florida to hold that certification. He built the Strategic Estate Planning System® to get every signing detail right the first time and to make sure each person you name receives what you intend, the way you intend it.

Part of that process is what we call the 3Ds of Beneficiary Protection: deciding who should receive an asset directly, who should receive it through a trust with conditions attached, and who should be delayed from receiving it until a later age or milestone.

A will that skips this step often ends up handing a large sum to an eighteen-year-old all at once, or to a beneficiary going through a divorce or a lawsuit, with no protection built in.

Most Bonita Springs wills are probated in Lee County, so we prepare your will and self-proving affidavit to meet the Lee County Clerk of Court’s filing requirements.

What Our Bonita Springs Clients Say

Bonita Springs Wills Attorney Questions We Hear Most

Is the first consultation free?

Yes. Your first consultation with our wills attorney is free and lasts 30 minutes. We talk through your family, your assets, and who you want to receive what.

What happens during the consultation?

We learn about your family and goals, explain what Florida law requires, and outline the documents you need. If you move forward, our attorney drafts documents that match Florida’s signing requirements and your actual goals.

Do I need a new will if I already have one from another state?

Often, yes. An out-of-state will can be valid in Florida, but it may not address Florida-specific issues like homestead property or elective share rights. We review it and tell you what needs to change.

What court handles probate for Bonita Springs residents?

Most of Bonita Springs sits in Lee County, so probate is filed with the Lee County Clerk of Court probate division at the Justice Center in Fort Myers. If you live in the small Collier County corner of the city, probate is filed in Naples instead.

Can my will include a trust for my minor children?

Yes. We routinely add testamentary trust provisions inside a will so a trustee you name manages an inheritance for a child until an age you choose.

What does it cost to have a will drafted?

Cost depends on how many documents you need and how complex your estate might be. After your free consultation, we give you a clear, upfront number before any work begins, so there are no surprises later.

How often should I update my will?

Review it after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, or a move, and otherwise every few years. Florida’s core signing rules have stayed consistent for years, but your family and assets change.

Does my will need to be notarized in Florida?

Notarization is not required to make a will valid, but Florida allows you to make it self-proved with a notarized affidavit signed by you and your witnesses. A self-proved will speeds up probate because the court does not need to track down your witnesses later.

What happens to jointly owned property or accounts with a named beneficiary?

Those pass outside your will, directly to the joint owner or named beneficiary, regardless of what your will says. We check those designations against your will so the two do not contradict each other.

If your question is not listed here, we would rather answer it directly than have you guess at it.

Estate Planning Designed Around Your Life

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Start Your Bonita Springs Will With a Free Consultation

Request your free 30-minute consultation with a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates serving Naples and Southwest Florida, and our team will reach out to schedule it.