Florida Probate Rules: What Families Need to Know About the Probate Code

Florida's probate system was designed by lawyers, for lawyers. The rules are dense, the deadlines are real, and the clerks at the courthouse will accept your filing without telling you it is about to be struck by the judge. Understanding how the system is structured — before you file anything — is the difference between a process that takes four months and one that takes two years.

Florida Probate Code Overview

Florida probate is governed by two overlapping bodies of law.

The Florida Statutes, Chapters 731 through 735, define the substantive rights and obligations involved in estate administration — who inherits, what creditors can claim, how the personal representative is appointed and removed, what property is exempt, and how assets are distributed. These are the laws passed by the Florida Legislature.

The Florida Probate Rules, formally titled the Florida Rules of Probate Procedure, are procedural rules adopted by the Florida Supreme Court. They govern how cases actually move through the court system: what forms to use, when filings are due, how notice must be served, and what the judge expects to see in each petition. These rules have their own numbering system (Rule 5.010, Rule 5.030, etc.) separate from the statutes.

When a family member calls a probate court clerk and asks "what do I need to file?" the clerk will describe the Probate Rules. When an attorney researches whether a creditor claim is timely, they look to the Statutes. Both layers apply simultaneously.

The Attorney Requirement: Florida Probate Rule 5.030

This is the rule most families learn the hard way.

Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires that a personal representative be represented by an attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested party in the proceeding. In plain terms: if anyone else inherits from the estate — any other beneficiary, any creditor — the personal representative must have a lawyer.

The practical consequence is unforgiving. A family member who tries to file the initial petition for formal administration pro se (representing themselves) may get the paperwork accepted by the clerk's office. The clerk takes the $400 filing fee and dockets the case. Then the judge reviews the petition, finds that Rule 5.030 has not been satisfied, and strikes the petition. The family is back at the beginning, minus the filing fee and whatever weeks elapsed.

The one exception — the "sole interested party" carve-out — applies in narrow circumstances. If the personal representative is the only beneficiary and there are no creditors with valid claims, no minor beneficiaries, and no one else with a legal interest in the outcome, they may proceed without counsel. A small estate passing entirely to a surviving spouse who is also the personal representative might qualify. Most estates do not.

Summary Administration and Disposition Without Administration have no personal representative, so the attorney requirement does not apply in the same way — though having an attorney review the petition before filing is still advisable.

If the probate process feels like more than you want to navigate alone, the Florida Estate Settlement Guide is a practical walkthrough covering every major step — built for the family member who has been handed the role of executor and needs to understand what comes next.

Which Court Handles Florida Probate?

Probate is filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the decedent was domiciled at the time of death. Each circuit has a probate division. The Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller receives filings, assigns case numbers, and manages the docket.

Florida's sixty-seven counties each have their own probate division, and each has developed its own administrative quirks:

Palm Beach County uses an online scheduling system for hearings. Petitions filed without a scheduled hearing date are often held in the queue until counsel books one.

Broward County has developed Smart Forms — fillable PDF petitions available on the Clerk's website. Using non-conforming forms generates a notice to refile.

Miami-Dade County processes high volume and has correspondingly detailed local administrative orders governing how petitions must be formatted, tabbed, and submitted.

Hillsborough and Orange Counties have their own local variations on fee schedules and preferred notice methods.

These county-level differences matter because a petition that would sail through in Polk County might be rejected on technical grounds in Miami-Dade. If the decedent owned real property in multiple counties, ancillary proceedings may be required in each county where real property is located — even if the primary probate is elsewhere.

Ancillary probate is a separate proceeding. When an out-of-state decedent owns Florida real property (a condo in Naples, a vacation home on the Gulf), the heirs must open an ancillary probate proceeding in the Florida county where the property is located, in addition to whatever probate is pending in the decedent's home state.

The Three Probate Tracks

Florida offers three procedural tracks depending on estate size and composition.

Disposition Without Administration is available only when the estate contains nothing but exempt property plus non-exempt personal property whose total value does not exceed the sum of preferred funeral expenses (up to $6,000) and the last sixty days of medical expenses. It functions as a reimbursement mechanism — a family member who paid funeral costs can petition the court to authorize the release of estate funds to cover those costs. Filing fee is approximately $231 to $232.

Summary Administration bypasses the personal representative entirely. The court issues an Order of Summary Administration directly distributing assets to beneficiaries. It is available when the value subject to administration does not exceed the applicable threshold — $75,000 for deaths occurring before July 1, 2026, or $150,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2026 (the new limit enacted by CS/SB 1500). Filing fee is approximately $345 to $346 for estates valued at $1,000 or more.

Formal Administration is the full probate process: appointment of personal representative, publication of Notice to Creditors, creditor claim period, inventory, and final accounting. Required for all estates above the Summary Administration threshold and for any estate where formal appointment of a personal representative is necessary for other reasons (managing ongoing business interests, pursuing wrongful death claims, etc.). Filing fee is approximately $400 to $401.

Key Deadlines Under the Florida Probate Rules

Deadlines in Florida probate are enforced. Missing them does not necessarily void the proceeding, but it can expose the personal representative to personal liability or allow claims that should have been barred.

Will deposit with clerk. Any person in possession of a decedent's will must deposit it with the clerk of the circuit court in the county of domicile within ten days of learning of the death. Failure to do so can result in personal liability for damages.

Notice of Trust. A trustee of a revocable trust must file a Notice of Trust with the probate court within thirty days of the decedent's death. The filing fee is $40 to $42. This creates a public record allowing creditors to make claims against trust assets.

Inventory. After Letters of Administration are issued, the personal representative must file an inventory of all probate assets within sixty days. Florida Probate Rule 5.340 governs this deadline. The inventory must list each asset and its fair market value as of the date of death.

Notice to Creditors and the creditor window. The personal representative must publish a Notice to Creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for two consecutive weeks. Newspaper publication costs typically range from $150 to $300. From the date of first publication, creditors with known claims have thirty days to file; the overall creditor window is three months from the date of first publication. Unknown creditors have two years from the date of death regardless of publication.

Elective share election. A surviving spouse who wishes to claim the elective share must file the election within six months of receiving the Notice of Administration, or within two years of the decedent's death, whichever is earlier.

Understanding these deadlines before the proceeding begins — not after the first missed filing — is what separates a clean administration from a contested one.

The Florida Probate Rules create a structured process, but working through it requires knowing which track applies, which county's local rules govern, and which deadlines cannot be missed. The Florida Estate Settlement Guide is built for the family member managing this process — a step-by-step reference covering every form, every filing, and every decision point.

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