Moved to Florida from Illinois? What happens to your estate plan
Zacharia Frey PLLC. Updated November 2026.
Illinois has its own estate tax. If Illinois still treats you as domiciled there when you die, it can tax your estate as a resident's estate, reaching your bank and investment accounts wherever they are held. Even after a complete move, it can reach real estate and tangible property you still own in Illinois. Your documents need a Florida review either way.
What Illinois can still reach
Illinois taxes estates over $4,000,000. The amount is not indexed for inflation and is not portable between spouses, and no bill to raise it had been enacted as of November 2026.
Applies to 2026.
For a nonresident, Illinois computes the tax on the whole estate and then apportions it by the share made up of Illinois real estate and tangible personal property located in Illinois.
Applies to 2026.
For comparison: The federal basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person for 2026, and a surviving spouse may use the unused exclusion of the first spouse to die (portability). Florida has no estate tax and no inheritance tax.
Proving you left
Every state with an income or estate tax has a reason to question a move to Florida. Your estate planning documents are part of the record: a will that recites your Illinois address and Illinois law points the wrong way. How domicile is decided and the Florida domicile checklist.
Your Illinois documents in Florida
Sources
Tax figures change. We confirm the current figures for the year of your review before advising on them.
General information about Florida law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.