Owners move to Florida for many reasons, and many assume their planning moves with them. A New Orleans tax attorney explains why documents drafted elsewhere, entities left behind and advisers who stayed put can leave a relocated family uncoordinated, using SmartAsset’s 2026 estimate of $956,449 for the Florida top 1% line and IRS figures.
By Dr. Tamara Patzer
A founder sells a house in the Northeast, buys one near the water and starts a new chapter. The moving truck carries furniture. It does not carry the estate documents’ assumptions, the company’s registration, the advisers’ licenses or the family’s understanding of who is responsible for what. Todd M. Villarrubia, a New Orleans attorney who focuses on tax and estate planning, wrote Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™ for owners who want the whole picture managed. A relocation is one of the clearest moments to ask whether it is.
Where does Florida sit on the top 1% map?
SmartAsset’s 2026 estimate, built from IRS data and counting filers and not households, puts the income needed to reach the top 1% in Florida at $956,4491. The figure is a projection and will be replaced as new data arrives. It does suggest that Florida attracts a good number of high earners, and that many of them arrive carrying complex arrangements made somewhere else.
What stays where it was?
More than people expect. A company formed in another state remains registered there until someone changes it. Property keeps its original location and its original rules. A trust created under another state’s law may continue to be governed by that law. Advisers licensed elsewhere may not be able to practice in Florida.
None of this is a problem in itself. It becomes one when nobody has listed what stayed. The book puts the root cause plainly: “Wealth preservation depends not on what you own, but on how you own it.” After a move, how you own it may be exactly what has changed without anyone noticing.
What should the relocating family list first?
Four things. The entities, with their states of formation and the people who manage them. The properties, with their locations and the names on title. The documents, with their dates and governing laws. The advisers, with their licenses and their willingness to coordinate with Florida counsel.
Put those four lists side by side. Gaps jump out: an operating agreement that names a manager who no longer lives nearby, a will that predates the move, a property held by an old entity that no one has looked at in years.
Why are old estate documents a particular risk?
Because they were written with a different set of facts. A will that works in one state may need updating to function smoothly in another. A power of attorney or health directive may not be recognized as readily. The IRS lists $15,000,000 per person as the federal basic exclusion amount for 20262, and that federal figure applies wherever the family lives. State rules, by contrast, differ, and a Florida attorney can say how they apply.
The book describes the cost of leaving the matter alone in an economical sentence: “Estate taxes are not solved by income planning; they are solved by ownership planning.” A move is the moment to look at ownership.
What about capital gains?
The federal rules do not change with a move. The IRS says long-term capital gains are taxed at 0, 15 or 20 percent and apply to assets held more than one year3. A relocating owner who plans to sell a company or a property should ask a tax professional how the timing of the sale, the move and the residency rules interact. This is a place where a mistake can be costly, and where a written plan is worth the fee.
The article cannot say how any state treats a given sale. It can say that the answer depends on facts that the owner and the advisers must lay out together.
Who should be on the Florida team?
At least a Florida attorney and a tax professional familiar with the owner’s situation, plus the existing advisers if they remain involved. The test is not where the advisers live. It is whether they work together. As the author writes, “The real power lies not in individual strategies, but in their coordinated application.”
If the owner’s longtime lawyer remains the lead, the Florida attorney can serve as local counsel. If the Florida attorney leads, the older advisers become resources. Either way, someone must have the job of keeping the lists current.
What about family who stay behind?
They are part of the plan. A child who remained in the old state, a business partner who did not move or a parent who needs care are all affected by the owner’s change of address. Their documents and agreements may need to be updated too. A family meeting that includes them, even by phone, is a sensible step.
What is a practical timetable?
Within thirty days of the move, make the four lists. Within ninety days, meet the new advisers and ask them to re-read all key documents. Within the first year, update what needs updating and set a yearly calendar. None of it is dramatic. All of it avoids surprises.
What mistakes recur?
Assuming that residence solves everything. Leaving entities and accounts in their original state without asking why. Failing to tell advisers about the move. Treating the move as separate from the estate plan. A family that avoids these has handled the main risks.
What do newcomers usually forget?
Digital and administrative loose ends. Account logins held by a former assistant, a registered agent in the old state who still receives company mail, insurance policies written for the old address and beneficiary forms that predate the move. None of it is dramatic, and all of it can delay a transaction or a claim. Ask each adviser for a short list of what changes with a new address, then fold the lists into one checklist with names and dates. Closing those small gaps early lets the larger planning conversations go faster and keeps the family from learning about them at the worst possible time.
Common questions
Do I need new estate documents after moving? Often a fresh read by counsel is wise. A licensed Florida attorney can say.
Should I move my company’s registration? That depends on the business and the tax picture. Ask your attorney and accountant together.
Does a move change my federal tax situation? The federal rules are the same, but their application can depend on facts that change with a move.
Sources
- SmartAsset, Income Needed to Be in the Top 1% in Every State (2026)
- Internal Revenue Service, What’s New: Estate and Gift Tax
- Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 409, Capital Gains and Losses
About the author. Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the source. Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124. Phone: 504-982-8207; email: todd@lawealthplan.com; website: https://lawealthplan.com/?utm_source=newsanchored&utm_medium=miami-wire&utm_campaign=family-office
Attorney advertising. Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
