Florida Will Deposit 10 Days: What the Custodian Must Do After a Death

You found the will in a filing cabinet three days after the funeral. Or the attorney called to say they have the original in their safe. Either way, a clock started the moment you received that information — and most people handling a Florida estate don't know it's running.

Florida Statute §732.901 imposes a mandatory obligation on whoever holds the original will: deposit it with the Clerk of the Circuit Court within 10 days of learning of the death. This is not a best practice. It is a legal requirement with criminal and civil consequences for failure.

What the Statute Actually Requires

The "custodian" — whoever physically possesses the original will — must deposit it with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent resided. Not a copy. The original document, with whatever watermarks or attorney stamps it carries.

The 10-day clock begins when the custodian "receives information" that the testator has died. In practice, courts interpret this broadly: if you knew the person died and you had the will, you had 10 days. The death certificate itself is not the trigger — knowledge of the death is.

What to bring when you deposit:

• The original physical will (not a photocopy or scanned version)
• Either the official death certificate OR the decedent's Social Security number

The clerk uses the Social Security number or death certificate to create a record. If you have the death certificate in hand, bring it. If not, the SSN is an acceptable substitute for the deposit itself.

What Happens If You Don't

Failing to deposit the will within 10 days is a criminal offense under Florida law — specifically a misdemeanor. Beyond the criminal exposure, the custodian can be held personally liable for damages and attorneys' fees that result from the delay. If estate administration is complicated, delayed, or harmed because the will wasn't timely filed, the person who sat on it can face a civil damages claim from the beneficiaries.

This matters because people often think they need to "decide" whether to open probate before dealing with the will. That decision is irrelevant to the deposit obligation. The deposit requirement is mandatory and independent of any probate proceeding.

Depositing Does Not Open Probate

This point causes significant confusion. Depositing the will with the clerk simply preserves it in the public record. It does not initiate probate, trigger creditor notice periods, or create any estate proceeding. Probate is a completely separate process that someone — typically a beneficiary or the personal representative named in the will — must independently petition the court to open.

You can deposit a will and never open probate. You can deposit a will and wait six months before deciding whether a formal administration is necessary. The deposit is a preservation measure, not a legal action that starts the estate process.

Which County Court?

The deposit goes to the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled — their permanent legal residence. Florida residency for this purpose means their primary home, not a vacation property or seasonal address. If the decedent split time between two Florida counties, use the county where they paid property taxes, registered to vote, or otherwise established legal domicile.

County-Specific Requirements

While the statutory requirement is uniform, the county clerks have their own procedural rules about how deposits are physically handled:

Miami-Dade County: The original will must be hand-delivered to the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building (the Osvaldo N. Soto Justice Center), 6th floor probate division. Miami-Dade does not accept e-filed original wills — the physical document must appear in person.

Hillsborough County (Tampa): The original must be physically mailed to the Clerk of the Circuit Court, P.O. Box 3360, Tampa, FL 33601. Call the clerk's probate division before mailing to confirm current procedures.

Duval County (Jacksonville): Deposit in Room 2338 of the Duval County Courthouse, 501 W. Adams Street. Walk-in service available during business hours.

Broward County: The will is deposited with the clerk as part of the initial probate checklist. Specific checklists are required alongside the deposit — download the current checklist from the Broward County Clerk's website before visiting.

If the decedent lived in a county not listed above, call the Clerk of the Circuit Court for that county directly and ask about their probate division intake procedures. Most county clerks have this information posted online.

What If the Will Is in a Safe Deposit Box?

If the original will is locked in a safe deposit box and the account holder has died, access becomes a procedural hurdle. Under Florida law, as amended by CS/HB 1337 effective July 1, 2026, financial institutions are required to grant the personal representative access to a safe deposit box upon presenting Letters of Administration.

Before Letters of Administration are issued — which is the common problem — many financial institutions will allow access for the limited purpose of retrieving a will or burial instructions, with a bank employee present. Call the bank's estate services department, not the branch, and ask specifically about will retrieval access. Different institutions handle this differently, and some are more cooperative than others.

If the bank refuses all access, a probate attorney can petition the court for an order directing access — but this creates its own delay, which is exactly the situation the 10-day rule is designed to prevent.

Original vs. Copy: The Hard Rule

Courts will not accept a photocopy as a substitute for the original in meeting the deposit requirement. If you have only a copy and cannot locate the original, consult a Florida probate attorney immediately. A lost original will creates a distinct legal problem — Florida courts can admit a lost will to probate under certain circumstances, but it requires a formal proceeding and evidence that the original was not revoked.

Do not attempt to file a photocopy as if it were the original. The clerk will reject it and the legal consequences of misrepresenting document status are serious.

The Practical Checklist

When you locate a will after a Florida death:

1. Note the date you received the information about the death — your 10-day window started then
2. Identify the county where the decedent was domiciled
3. Contact that county's Circuit Court Clerk (probate division) and confirm their specific deposit procedures
4. Gather the original will plus the death certificate or the decedent's SSN
5. Deposit within 10 days — do not wait for probate decisions, family agreements, or anything else

After the will is deposited, the question of whether to open a formal probate proceeding, pursue summary administration, or handle the estate through other means is a separate decision. If you're working through the full post-death process in Florida — including what comes after the will is filed, how survivor benefits interact with the estate, and what assets pass outside of probate entirely — the Florida Survivor Benefits Navigator covers the complete sequence from death certificate to final distribution.

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