USA – FLORIDA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Jennifer Jordan McCall, Jennifer Altman, Christine Tsai and Maria Williams, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
A recent case illustrates that how one frames an amount to be recovered from an estate is important. In Palm Garden of Winter Haven , LLC v Est . of Demps , 402 So. 3d 1156 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2025) the estate of a decedent who resided in Palm Garden sued that residential organisation, alleging wrongful death, neg - ligence and other claims. Palm Garden prevailed and, accordingly, was awarded its fees and costs in the amount of over USD193,000 pursuant to its arbitration agreement with the decedent. However, when Palm Garden later filed a motion to prohibit distribution of the estate assets and a “statement of claim” for USD193,176.11, the pro - bate creditor claims period had expired years before the “statement of claim” was presented to the court. Accordingly, the Probate Court barred the claim. One should take note of the short time period to file a claim in Florida and consider how to present the claim – for example, as an arbitration award, as opposed to a creditor claim. Creditor claims generally apply to Many taxpayers wish to move from states with higher income and/or estate tax, such as New York or Cali - fornia, to Florida, as Florida has no state income tax and no state tax. The usual factors continue to be important, including: the relative value of the residence in each location, the amount of time spent in each location, ties to one’s business, ties to social activities, including clubs and places of worship, ties to family, location of doctors and veterinarians, schools for the children, and other ties. None of these is dominant, but all are relevant. In a recent case, In the Matter of the Petition of John J . Hoff & Kathleen Ocorr - Hoff , No DTA 850209, 2025 WL 3006414 (9 Oct. 2025), the New York State Tax Appeal Tribunal affirmed the determination of the Divi - sion of Taxation and the Administrative Law Judge who had previously ruled that the taxpayers had not succeeded in changing their domicile for purposes of New York State income tax in the years in question. A strong factor was the source of business income, as the husband continued to have ties to his New debts that are due prior to death. Relocation to Florida – recent cases
York business. The wife asserted that she had started businesses in Florida, but could not establish that by evidence. Note that the standard to prove a change in domicile is “clear and convincing evidence”, and the court will presume that the determination by the Division of Taxation as to whether the taxpayers have changed their domicile is correct unless proven by the taxpayers to be incorrect. In a similar case, Acklie v Nebraska Department of Revenue , 313 Neb. 28, 982 N.W.2d 228 (2022), a cou - ple thought they had successfully changed their domi - cile to Florida when they bought a Florida residence, changed their voter registrations and drivers’ licences to Florida and relocated their belongings to Florida. However, as in Hoff , Nebraska had a presumption against change of domicile. The Nebraska Supreme Court disagreed with the taxpayers, noting their con - tinuing ties to Nebraska, including family, enduring business activities, contributions to political par - ties, and even an award naming one of the taxpay - ers a “Nebraskan of the Year”. Because of the ruling, the couple was still held to owe state income tax in Nebraska for many years, retroactively. Also note that, while “formal declarations of domicile”, such as voter registration and driver’s licences, can impact a taxpayer negatively when not done correctly, the Tribunal stated that these will be given less weight, as they are self-serving in nature. Instead, the actions taken by the taxpayer, such as ties to business, will be given “greater recognition in resolving the question of domicile”. As discussed above, many states, including New York, focus on five important factors – the residence, busi - ness activities, time spent in each state, and ties in the category of that which is “near and dear”, such as the doctor, veterinarian, school and family and social ties. However, as the foregoing cases demonstrate, the conduct of the parties is paramount – if a person spends more than 183 days in the state from which they seek to have moved, that can attract taxation as a resident in the original state.
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