Florida Statute 732.603 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLII
ESTATES AND TRUSTS

Chapter 732
PROBATE CODE: INTESTATE SUCCESSION AND WILLS

View Entire Chapter

F.S. 732.603

732.603 Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts.—

(1) Unless a contrary intent appears in the will, if a devisee who is a grandparent, or a descendant of a grandparent, of the testator:

(a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the will;

(b) Fails to survive the testator; or

a substitute gift is created in the devisee’s surviving descendants who take per stirpes the property to which the devisee would have been entitled had the devisee survived the testator.

(2) When a power of appointment is exercised by will, unless a contrary intent appears in the document creating the power of appointment or in the testator’s will, if an appointee who is a grandparent, or a descendant of a grandparent, of the donor of the power:

(a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the will or the creation of the power;

(b) Fails to survive the testator; or

(c) Is required by the will, the document creating the power, or by operation of law to be treated as having predeceased the testator,

a substitute gift is created in the appointee’s surviving descendants who take per stirpes the property to which the appointee would have been entitled had the appointee survived the testator. Unless the language creating a power of appointment expressly excludes the substitution of the descendants of an object of a power for the object, a surviving descendant of a deceased object of a power of appointment may be substituted for the object whether or not the descendant is an object of the power.

(3) In the application of this section:

(a) Words of survivorship in a devise or appointment to an individual, such as “if he survives me,” “if she survives me,” or to “my surviving children,” are a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of subsections (1) and (2). Words of survivorship used by the donor of the power in a power to appoint to an individual, such as the term “if he survives the donee” or “if she survives the donee,” or in a power to appoint to the donee’s “then surviving children,” are a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of subsection (2).

(b) The term:

1. “Appointment” includes an alternative appointment and an appointment in the form of a class gift.

2. “Appointee” includes:

a. A class member if the appointment is in the form of a class gift.

b. An individual or class member who was deceased at the time the testator executed his or her will as well as an individual or class member who was then living but who failed to survive the testator.

3. “Devise” also includes an alternative devise and a devise in the form of a class gift.

4. “Devisee” also includes:

a. A class member if the devise is in the form of a class gift.

(4) This section applies only to outright devises and appointments. Devises and appointments in trust, including to a testamentary trust, are subject to s. 736.1106.

History.—s. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 36, ch. 75-220; s. 967, ch. 97-102; s. 51, ch. 2001-226; s. 6, ch. 2003-154; s. 33, ch. 2006-217; s. 159, ch. 2020-2.

Note.—Created from former s. 731.20.

F.S. 732.603 on Google Scholar

F.S. 732.603 on CourtListener

Amendments to 732.603

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 732.603

Total Results: 17

Hulsh v. Hulsh

431 So. 2d 658

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 3, 1983 | Docket: 1512017

Cited 20 times | Published

Sheldon prevents the lapse from occurring. See § 732.603(2), Fla. Stat. (1979). Had we been unable to reach

In Re Estate of Benson

548 So. 2d 775, 1989 WL 100491

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 1, 1989 | Docket: 1333978

Cited 5 times | Published

share under the will of Margaret Benson under section 732.603, Florida Statutes (1985), nor from inheriting

In Re Estate of Wagner

423 So. 2d 400

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 3, 1982 | Docket: 1528795

Cited 4 times | Published

apply, whether the lapse statute applies. Section 732.603, Florida Statutes (1979), the antilapse statute

In Re Estate of Skinner

397 So. 2d 1193, 1981 Fla. App. LEXIS 19703

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 6, 1981 | Docket: 1357482

Cited 1 times | Published

732.611, Florida Statutes (1979), supersede Section 732.603, the anti-lapse statute; b) the finding is

Tubbs v. Teeple

388 So. 2d 239, 1980 Fla. App. LEXIS 16964

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 15, 1980 | Docket: 64578162

Cited 1 times | Published

the descendants of the legatee take the gift. § 732.603, Fla.Stat. Obviously, a stepdaughter is not a

Shannon D. Christie v. David G. Qualls, as the personal representative of the Estate of Ollie Mae Dean Qualls

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 12, 2024 | Docket: 68506234

Published

interest identified in the probated will. See § 732.603(1), Fla. Stat. (the Florida Anti-Lapse statute)

STEVEN CHAUNCY vs DENNIS LEE GORDEN AND THE ESTATE OF ADDISON WOOLLEN MCNAIRY

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 3, 2023 | Docket: 68034017

Published

does have an “antilapse” statute—codified at section 732.603, Florida Statutes—that, to some extent, ameliorates

Basile v. Aldrich

70 So. 3d 682, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 13243, 2011 WL 3696309

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 23, 2011 | Docket: 2352242

Published

section 732.601 (“Simultaneous *691Death Law”), section 732.603 (“Antilapse”), section 732.604 (“Failure of

Lorenzo v. Medina

47 So. 3d 927, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 17164, 2010 WL 4483470

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 10, 2010 | Docket: 2396271

Published

The niece and nephew argued that pursuant to section 732.603(1), Florida Statutes (2008), the anti-lapse

Faskowitz v. Department of Legal Affairs

941 So. 2d 390, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 4671, 2006 WL 824566

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 31, 2006 | Docket: 64847716

Published

will did not name an alternate beneficiary. See § 732.603(2). The principle articulated in Estate of Russell

Griffis v. Scott

659 So. 2d 361, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 7104

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 20, 1995 | Docket: 64758329

Published

Florida’s antilapse statute. Florida Statutes section 732.603 (1993) provides in pertinent part as follows:

In Re Estate of Scott

659 So. 2d 361, 1995 WL 363251

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 20, 1995 | Docket: 1462998

Published

Florida's antilapse statute. Florida Statutes section 732.603 (1993) provides in pertinent part as follows:

Tellia v. Bovee

626 So. 2d 1096, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 11794, 1993 WL 474122

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 19, 1993 | Docket: 64744088

Published

the attempted devise and bequest lapsed. Section 732.603, Florida Statutes, the anti-lapse statute,

Swan v. Florida National Bank of Miami

445 So. 2d 622, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 11732

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 7, 1984 | Docket: 64603009

Published

could not have been incorporated by reference. Section 732.603(2) Florida Statutes (1981) provides: Antilapse;

Lyman v. Folan

423 So. 2d 400, 1982 Fla. App. LEXIS 21507

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 3, 1982 | Docket: 64593918

Published

apply, whether the lapse statute applies. Section 732.603, Florida Statutes (1979), the antilapse statute

In Re Estate of Russell

387 So. 2d 487, 1980 Fla. App. LEXIS 16990

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 20, 1980 | Docket: 1355819

Published

for the benefit of the State School Fund. [2] § 732.603, Fla. Stat. (1977).

Turner v. Weeks

384 So. 2d 193, 1980 Fla. App. LEXIS 16151

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 16, 1980 | Docket: 64576450

Published

statutes. The first was the antilapse statute, Section 732.603, Florida Statutes (1979), which reads as follows: