Florida Probate Guide
The Florida Probate Guide explains how probate works in Florida—from filing the original will and choosing the correct type of administration to creditors, homestead, surviving-spouse rights, distributions, fees, and closing the estate.
Educational information based on the 2026 Florida Probate Code and Florida Probate Rules · Updated August 25, 2026 · Not legal advice
Florida Probate at a Glance
This Florida Probate Guide explains the court-supervised process for identifying and gathering a deceased person’s probate assets, addressing valid debts and expenses, and distributing the remaining property to the people entitled to receive it. The Florida Probate Code is primarily in Chapters 731–735 of the Florida Statutes, while procedure is governed by the Florida Probate Rules.
Formal administration, summary administration, and—in narrow cases—disposition without administration.
Subject to statutory exclusions and requirements; the alternative eligibility route is death more than two years ago.
The custodian must deposit the will with the proper clerk within 10 days after learning of the testator’s death.
How to Start a Florida Probate Case
A strong Florida Probate Guide starts with the threshold questions: Did the decedent leave a will? Where was the decedent domiciled? What property actually requires probate? Is there protected homestead? Who has priority to serve? Are there creditors? And does the estate qualify for a simplified procedure?
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Obtain certified death certificates. Banks, title companies, insurers, courts, and other institutions may require them.
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Locate the original will and codicils. Florida law requires the custodian to deposit the will with the clerk having venue within 10 days after receiving information of the death.
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Identify assets by title and beneficiary designation. Probate applies to probate assets—not automatically to everything the decedent owned or benefited from.
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Determine venue. For a Florida domiciliary, probate generally belongs in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
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Choose the correct administration. Formal administration is not automatically required in every estate.
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Identify the proposed personal representative. The will and Florida’s statutory priority rules matter.
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Address homestead immediately. Florida homestead can affect devise, descent, creditor protection, possession, sale, and who ultimately receives the property.
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Identify creditors and urgent expenses. Do not distribute assets before understanding claims, taxes, statutory entitlements, and liquidity needs.
What Types of Probate Administration Exist in Florida?
| Procedure | General purpose | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Formal administration | Full estate administration with a court-appointed personal representative. | Common for estates requiring ongoing fiduciary administration, creditor work, sales, disputes, or other formal authority. |
| Summary administration | Streamlined court procedure that can result in an order assigning assets directly to those entitled. | In 2026, generally available when the Florida estate subject to administration, less exempt property, does not exceed $150,000, or the decedent has been dead more than two years, subject to the statute. |
| Disposition without administration | Very limited procedure for qualifying personal property. | Applies only when the statutory conditions concerning exempt property and limited nonexempt personal property tied to specified funeral and last-illness expenses are met. |
Formal Administration in Florida
The Florida Probate Guide distinguishes formal administration from Florida’s streamlined procedures because formal administration creates an ongoing court estate with a court-appointed personal representative.
Formal administration begins with a petition for administration. If the court appoints a personal representative, it issues Letters of Administration, which evidence the fiduciary’s authority. The personal representative then administers the estate under the will, Florida law, and court orders.
Florida law directs a personal representative to settle and distribute the estate as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the estate’s best interests. Except where the Probate Code or a court order requires otherwise, the personal representative generally proceeds without obtaining an order for every administrative act.
Typical formal-estate work
- Probating the will
- Appointment and letters
- Notice of administration
- Creditor notice and claims
- Inventory and valuation
- Asset management and sales
- Taxes and expenses
- Distributions and closing
Why formal administration may be needed
- Assets require fiduciary authority
- Estate remains within creditor period
- Real estate or business interests need administration
- Beneficiary or creditor disputes exist
- The estate does not qualify for a simpler procedure
Florida Summary Administration
This Florida Probate Guide uses the current 2026 summary-administration threshold and should not be confused with older online resources that still cite the former $75,000 amount.
Summary administration is a court procedure under Chapter 735. Under the 2026 statute, it may be available when the value of the entire estate subject to administration in Florida, less property exempt from creditor claims, does not exceed $150,000, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. In a testate estate, the will also must not direct administration as required by Chapter 733.
A beneficiary or a person nominated as personal representative in the will offered for probate may file the petition. Florida law contains signature, joinder, notice, creditor-search, and distribution requirements that should be reviewed for the particular estate.
Disposition Without Administration and Other Florida Small-Estate Procedures
Florida has several narrow procedures that can transfer limited property without a full formal or summary administration. They are not interchangeable, and each has its own statutory conditions.
Section 735.301: disposition without administration
This procedure can apply when the decedent leaves only qualifying exempt personal property, constitutionally exempt personal property, and nonexempt personal property whose value does not exceed specified preferred funeral expenses plus reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the final illness.
Section 735.304: intestate small estate
For 2026, this procedure can apply to an intestate decedent who has been dead for more than one year, has no Florida administration pending, and leaves only qualifying exempt personal property plus nonexempt personal property not exceeding $20,000 plus the specified funeral and last-illness expenses. Creditor-search, service, signature, and distribution requirements apply.
Section 735.303: certain bank funds without court proceedings
In qualifying circumstances, a Florida financial institution may pay certain solely owned deposit accounts or certificates of deposit to a statutorily defined family member without a court proceeding when the statutory aggregate does not exceed $2,000, at least six months have passed since death, and the affidavit and other statutory conditions are satisfied.
Summary administration is different
Summary administration remains a court proceeding. In 2026, its general value threshold is $150,000 after subtracting property exempt from creditor claims, or the decedent may qualify because more than two years have elapsed since death, subject to section 735.201.
What Happens to the Will in Florida?
The custodian of a will must deposit it with the clerk of the court having venue within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead. An original will submitted with a probate petition is treated as deposited. The clerk must preserve the original in accordance with section 732.901.
A will does not itself transfer probate assets simply because the testator died. The will must be admitted to probate when administration is required, and its provisions operate subject to Florida law—including rules concerning homestead, surviving-spouse rights, creditors, exempt property, allowances, and administration expenses.
Where Is Florida Probate Filed?
For a decedent domiciled in Florida, venue for probate of the will and granting letters is generally in the Florida county where the decedent was domiciled. If the decedent was not domiciled in Florida, Chapter 733 provides additional venue rules based on Florida property and, in limited circumstances, debtors.
The relevant court is the circuit court for the county of proper venue. Local clerks and judicial circuits may have administrative practices in addition to statewide statutes and probate rules.
Who Can Serve as Personal Representative?
Florida uses the term personal representative for the fiduciary commonly called an executor or administrator elsewhere. Appointment depends on qualification and priority.
Testate estate priority
Florida law generally gives first preference to the person nominated by the will or under a power in the will, followed by the person selected by a majority in interest of those entitled to the estate, then a devisee, subject to qualification.
Intestate estate priority
The surviving spouse generally has first preference, followed by the person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs, then the heir nearest in degree, subject to qualification.
Florida has special rules concerning nonresident personal representatives. A person should not assume that being named in a will automatically guarantees appointment.
Does a Florida Personal Representative Need a Lawyer?
Florida Probate Rule 5.030 generally requires a personal representative to be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person. A personal representative who is a Florida lawyer may represent himself or herself. The rule contains its own terms and exceptions.
What Assets Go Through Florida Probate?
Probate generally concerns property owned by the decedent that does not pass automatically through another valid transfer mechanism. Title and contract rights matter more than labels.
Often probate assets
- Solely owned bank or brokerage accounts without an effective beneficiary designation
- Solely owned real estate without survivorship or another effective nonprobate transfer
- Personal property owned individually
- Business interests owned by the decedent, subject to governing agreements
Often nonprobate assets
- Property passing by valid beneficiary designation
- Property held with survivorship rights
- Assets properly titled in a trust
- Certain contractual death benefits
Even a nonprobate asset can matter to taxes, elective-share calculations, creditor issues, or family rights. “Avoids probate” does not necessarily mean “irrelevant to the estate.”
Florida Homestead in Probate
A complete Florida Probate Guide must treat homestead as a separate issue because Florida’s constitutional and statutory protections can change how the residence passes at death.
Florida homestead is one of the most important—and most easily misunderstood—parts of Florida probate. Protected homestead is treated differently from ordinary probate property. Florida law restricts devise when the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child, subject to the constitutional and statutory rules. If homestead is not validly devised, section 732.401 governs descent.
When a decedent is survived by a spouse and descendants and protected homestead is not validly devised, the statute generally gives the spouse a life estate with vested remainder to the descendants, while allowing the spouse to elect an undivided one-half tenancy-in-common interest instead, subject to the statute’s requirements and deadline.
Surviving-Spouse Rights in Florida Probate
A surviving spouse may have rights that are not limited to what the will says. Depending on the facts, these can include an intestate share, elective share, protected-homestead rights, exempt property, family allowance, pretermitted-spouse rights, and other statutory protections.
Florida’s elective share is 30% of the elective estate—not necessarily 30% of the probate estate.
For a Florida domiciliary, the statute authorizes a reasonable family allowance during administration up to a total of $18,000 for qualifying persons.
Florida exempt-property law includes qualifying household furniture, furnishings, and appliances up to $20,000 net value, plus other specified categories.
These rights have definitions, elections, procedures, and deadlines. They should be evaluated early rather than after distributions have begun.
What Happens if Someone Dies Without a Will in Florida?
Dying without a valid will is called dying intestate. Florida’s intestacy statutes determine who inherits the intestate probate estate. The surviving spouse’s share depends on whether the decedent had descendants, whether those descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and whether the surviving spouse has other descendants.
For example, the surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate when there is no surviving descendant. The spouse also receives the entire intestate estate when all of the decedent’s descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other descendant. In specified blended-family situations, the spouse receives one-half, with the remainder passing under Florida’s intestacy rules.
Florida Probate Creditor Claims
The creditor section of this Florida Probate Guide is designed to separate Florida’s ordinary claim-filing deadlines from the distinct two-year limitation in section 733.710.
Creditor administration is not simply a matter of paying bills as they arrive. The personal representative generally must publish and, when required, serve notice to creditors. Under section 733.702, a covered claim generally must be filed by the later of three months after first publication or, for a creditor required to be served, 30 days after service, subject to the statute and section 733.710.
Section 733.710 also creates an important two-year limitation. Subject to statutory exceptions, two years after death the estate, personal representative, and beneficiaries are not liable for claims or causes of action against the decedent. Recorded mortgages and certain security interests receive separate treatment.
What Are a Florida Personal Representative’s Duties?
A Florida personal representative is a fiduciary and must observe standards of care applicable to trustees. The representative’s job is to administer the estate for the best interests of interested persons, including creditors, consistent with the will, Probate Code, and court orders.
- Take control of estate assets as authorized.
- Protect and preserve property.
- Identify interested persons and provide required notices.
- Prepare required inventories and accountings.
- Address valid creditor claims and statutory priorities.
- Manage, retain, sell, or distribute assets within fiduciary authority.
- Handle tax and reporting obligations.
- Avoid improper conflicts and self-dealing.
- Distribute property correctly and close the estate.
Inventory, Valuation, and Estate Records
Formal administration generally requires an inventory under Florida law and the Probate Rules. Accurate date-of-death values can affect administration, fiduciary decisions, tax basis, fees, distributions, and disputes. Some assets—closely held businesses, real estate, collectibles, private investments, mineral interests, or intellectual property—may require professional appraisal.
The personal representative should maintain a fiduciary accounting system that separates estate funds from personal funds and documents receipts, disbursements, sales, income, distributions, and professional expenses.
Under the 2026 version of section 733.604, estate inventories and accountings filed with the clerk are confidential and are available to specified persons, including the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney, interested persons, and others by court order for good cause. The statute also gives specified beneficiaries rights, upon written request, to an explanation of how certain inventory values were determined or a copy of an appraisal when one was obtained.
Taxes in Florida Probate
Florida probate can involve the decedent’s final federal income-tax return, fiduciary income-tax returns for the estate, beneficiary tax reporting, and—when applicable—federal estate-tax filings. Taxable income, probate property, the federal gross estate, and Florida’s elective estate are different concepts.
According to the Florida Department of Revenue, the federal-law change eliminated Florida estate tax for people who died after December 31, 2004. Effective July 1, 2023, personal representatives of those estates also are no longer required to file Florida Forms DR-312 or DR-313 to establish that no Florida estate tax is due. Historic estates with earlier dates of death can be subject to different rules.
How Much Does Florida Probate Cost?
Costs vary by county, estate size, assets, creditor issues, tax work, real-estate activity, disputes, and professional services. Florida statutes separately address compensation of the personal representative and compensation of the personal representative’s attorney.
For a personal representative in formal administration, section 733.617 provides a schedule presumed reasonable for ordinary services: 3% of the first $1 million of compensable value, 2.5% above $1 million through $5 million, 2% above $5 million through $10 million, and 1.5% above $10 million. Different compensation can apply under the statute and circumstances.
Attorney fees are not a mandatory statutory percentage. Section 733.6171 permits different compensation arrangements and requires disclosures when counsel intends to use the statutory presumed-reasonable schedule. Extraordinary services can support additional reasonable compensation.
Florida Probate and Real Estate
Real estate often drives probate strategy. The first question is not simply “Can the personal representative sell the house?” It is whether the property is a probate asset, protected homestead, jointly owned, trust-owned, subject to a mortgage, or otherwise governed by special rights.
Florida law gives personal representatives substantial statutory powers, but protected homestead is specifically distinguished from ordinary estate property. Title, beneficiary rights, sale authority, creditor exposure, and distribution should be analyzed before signing a contract or deed.
Florida Ancillary Probate for Out-of-State Decedents
Florida frequently sees estates where the decedent lived elsewhere but owned Florida real estate or other Florida property. Chapter 734 addresses foreign personal representatives and ancillary administration. The correct procedure depends on domicile, the nature and value of Florida property, the domiciliary proceeding, creditor issues, and whether a specialized statutory procedure applies.
Owning a Florida condominium, vacation home, vacant land, or other individually titled Florida real estate can create a Florida probate issue even when the primary estate is administered in another state.
Florida Probate Litigation and Contested Estates
Probate disputes can concern will validity, undue influence, capacity, fraud, personal-representative qualification or removal, creditor claims, homestead, elective share, beneficiary identity, fiduciary accounting, asset ownership, fees, distributions, and interpretation of estate-planning documents.
Deadlines can be short. Florida statutes and Probate Rules impose specific objection and election periods after required notices. Anyone considering a challenge should identify the applicable deadline rather than relying on a general statute of limitations.
How Is a Florida Probate Estate Closed?
An estate should not close merely because the major assets have been distributed. Before closing, the personal representative should determine that administration duties are complete, creditor and tax issues are addressed, required accountings or waivers are handled, distributions are correct, and the estate can seek discharge under the applicable procedure.
- Resolve or provide for expenses, claims, and taxes.
- Complete required distributions and reserves.
- Prepare final accounting or obtain permitted waivers when appropriate.
- Address compensation and professional fees.
- File the appropriate closing documents.
- Obtain discharge when required.
- Preserve estate records after closing.
How Long Does Florida Probate Take?
This Florida Probate Guide does not promise a fixed probate timeline because the correct duration depends on the procedure, assets, creditors, homestead, taxes, disputes, and court scheduling.
There is no honest one-size-fits-all Florida probate timeline. Summary administration can be substantially different from formal administration. In a formal estate, creditor notice, asset collection, real-estate sales, tax filings, beneficiary issues, litigation, and court schedules can affect duration.
| Stage | Typical work | What can slow it down |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Will, petition, appointment, letters, notices. | Missing original will, qualification dispute, defective documents. |
| Asset phase | Inventory, values, account control, property protection. | Businesses, hard-to-value assets, title problems, homestead. |
| Creditor phase | Publication, service, claims, objections, payment priorities. | Contested or late claims, insufficient assets. |
| Distribution | Taxes, reserves, sales, beneficiary distributions. | Elective share, disputes, tax uncertainty, illiquid property. |
| Closing | Accounting, final distributions, discharge. | Objections, unresolved taxes or litigation. |
Florida Probate Checklist
Use this Florida Probate Guide checklist as a practical roadmap, while confirming the current statute, rule, court practice, and facts of the particular estate before acting.
- Obtain death certificates.
- Locate and deposit the original will.
- Identify domicile and proper county.
- Identify probate and nonprobate assets.
- Determine whether property is protected homestead.
- Identify surviving spouse, descendants, heirs, and devisees.
- Determine formal, summary, or another applicable procedure.
- Identify qualified personal-representative candidates.
- Address attorney-representation requirements.
- Secure and insure estate property.
- Publish and serve creditor notices as required.
- Prepare inventory and values.
- Review exempt property, family allowance, and elective-share issues.
- Handle taxes, expenses, and valid claims.
- Make authorized distributions with appropriate reserves.
- Complete closing and discharge procedures.
Florida Probate Guide: Frequently Asked Questions
What is probate in Florida?
What are the main types of Florida probate?
What is the Florida summary administration limit in 2026?
Was the Florida summary administration limit previously $75,000?
How quickly must a will be deposited in Florida?
Where is a Florida probate filed?
Does a Florida personal representative need a lawyer?
What are Letters of Administration?
Does every Florida estate require formal administration?
Does a will avoid probate in Florida?
What happens if there is no will?
What is Florida’s elective share?
What is the Florida family allowance?
Is Florida homestead part of the probate estate?
How long do creditors have to file claims?
What is Florida’s two-year creditor rule?
How much can a Florida personal representative be paid?
Are Florida probate attorney fees automatically 3%?
What is ancillary probate in Florida?
How long does Florida probate take?
Can probate be contested?
What is the section 735.304 Florida intestate small-estate limit in 2026?
Can certain Florida bank accounts be paid without a probate court proceeding?
Does Florida impose an estate tax for a person dying in 2026?
How should I use this Florida Probate Guide?
Primary Florida Authorities Used for This Guide
- Florida Legislature — Title XLII, Estates and Trusts
- Florida Statutes — Chapter 732
- Florida Statutes — Chapter 733
- Florida Statutes — Chapter 734
- Florida Statutes — Chapter 735
- Florida Probate Rules — current through July 16, 2026
- Florida Courts — Probate Resources
- Florida Department of Revenue — Estate Tax
Accuracy note: This guide was audited against the 2026 Florida Statutes, the Florida Probate Rules current through July 16, 2026, Florida Courts resources, and Florida Department of Revenue guidance on August 25, 2026. Florida’s 2026 legislation increased the summary-administration threshold to $150,000 and the section 735.304 intestate-small-estate amount to $20,000. Statutes, court rules, local procedures, and tax law can change.