Robert and Linda keep a co-op on the Upper East Side and a condo near Naples, Florida, splitting the year roughly in half. They like the lifestyle, but they’re fuzzy on a critical question: which state is their legal home? For snowbirds, that one answer drives estate taxes, probate, and how their plan must be built.
Domicile Is the Whole Ballgame
You can have many residences but only one domicile — your true, permanent home. If Robert and Linda remain New York-domiciled, New York taxes their entire estate, worldwide, under its estate tax. If they successfully establish Florida domicile, Florida has no state estate tax. New York scrutinizes this closely: where you vote, your driver’s license, where you spend more than 183 days, and where your “center of life” sits all matter. Keeping the Manhattan co-op as your primary base usually keeps you a New York domiciliary.
The New York Estate Tax Cliff Still Applies
If New York remains home, the 2026 exclusion is $7,350,000 — but watch the cliff. Once an estate exceeds about $7,717,500 (105% of the exclusion), the exclusion disappears and the full estate is taxed. Between a NYC co-op, a Florida condo, and investments, many snowbirds sit closer to that edge than they realize. And even a Florida domiciliary still owes New York estate tax on New York real property they leave behind.
Two Properties, Two Probate Risks
Here’s a trap I see often. If Robert dies owning the Florida condo in his own name while domiciled in New York, his estate may face primary probate in New York’s Surrogate’s Court under the SCPA and a separate “ancillary” probate in Florida for the out-of-state real estate. Two court processes, two sets of fees, double the delay.
How a Revocable Trust Solves It
Titling both the NYC co-op and the Florida condo in a revocable trust under EPTL Article 7 lets the assets pass without probate in either state — no New York Surrogate’s Court, no Florida ancillary proceeding. A successor trustee simply takes over. As always, a revocable trust avoids probate but provides no estate tax savings; it’s a logistics solution, not a tax one.
Make Your Incapacity Documents Travel
A durable power of attorney valid under New York’s GOL §5-1513 and a health care proxy under PHL Article 29-C should be in place, but if the couple shifts toward Florida, they often execute Florida-compliant versions too, so doctors and banks in both states honor them without a fight. Documents that work in a Manhattan hospital don’t always satisfy a Naples one.
If Estate Tax Is a Concern
Couples comfortably over the cliff sometimes use irrevocable trusts to shift assets out of the New York taxable estate. Those transfers are generally permanent and, where Medicaid planning is involved, subject to the five-year look-back — so they require careful, advance modeling.
Talk to a New York Attorney
Dual-state living creates dual-state tax and probate exposure, and a clean domicile strategy takes planning, not just a tan. A licensed New York estate planning attorney can coordinate your NYC and out-of-state assets so your plan holds up wherever you are.
Have a question about your estate?
Talk it through with Russel Morgan — free 30-minute consult.
