Broward County, FL Probate Information

The most common Broward misstep is filing before you know what the estate holds and which administration path fits. Florida has three routes: formal administration (F.S. Chapter 733), summary administration (F.S. 735.201), and disposition of personal property without administration (F.S. 735.301). Which one applies depends on the value and type of the assets, whether the decedent left Florida real property, and how long ago the death occurred; the thresholds are statewide and are covered on the Florida state page. Homestead real property often passes outside the probate estate, so a Fort Lauderdale home can transfer to the family while the estate subject to administration stays small.

Before you file, identify every bank, credit-union, brokerage, and retirement account, life-insurance policy, vehicle, business interest, and parcel of Broward County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each heir and beneficiary by name. Only then can you pick the right path, calculate the correct filing fee, and decide whether counsel is needed. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit serves all of Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, and the county's other cities and unincorporated communities. Every Broward probate is filed with the Broward County Clerk of Courts, Probate Division, at the Central Courthouse, West Building, 3rd Floor, Room 03150, 201 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. Under Florida's venue rule (F.S. 733.101), administration is proper in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death; if the decedent had no Florida domicile, in any county where the decedent owned property; and otherwise in the county where a debtor of the decedent resides. In practice, the estate of a Broward resident, or one holding Broward real property, is filed here.

Broward runs a dedicated Probate Division. Its circuit judges hear the division's estate, guardianship, mental health, and related matters, and the division and the Clerk's probate counter sit at the Central Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Clerk's North, South, and West Regional Courthouses, in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation, also accept probate filings at their counters. The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit publishes its own local procedures for the Probate Division, along with Probate and Guardianship Smart Forms, mandatory checklists, and a Personal Representative's Handbook.

A dedicated Probate Division at the Central Courthouse. Broward runs a distinct Probate Division whose circuit judges hear the county's estate, guardianship, and mental health matters. The division and the Clerk's probate counter sit at the Central Courthouse, West Building, 3rd Floor, Room 03150, 201 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, and the Clerk's North, South, and West Regional Courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation also accept probate filings. The Probate Division direct line is (954) 831-7154.

The Clerk's counter closes at 3:30 p.m. The Broward Clerk keeps an unusual early close: the office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., earlier than most Florida clerks. Plan any in-person filing or same-day counter business around the 3:30 p.m. cutoff.

Smart Forms and mandatory checklists. The Seventeenth Circuit publishes Probate and Guardianship Smart Forms; it recommends filing the associated Smart Form with each covered document and states that the Clerk's office may reject a filing if the form is not attached. The division also publishes mandatory checklists for disposition without administration, homestead determination, sale of real property, formal and summary administration, ancillary administration, and discharge, plus local procedures (updated October 2023).

E-filing for attorneys, a choice for pro se filers. Attorneys must e-file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (myflcourtaccess.com), and the Clerk requires attorney e-filing for a formal administration. A self-represented filer may e-file or file in person at the Probate Division for a summary administration or a disposition without administration. The original will is deposited on paper, and the custodian must deposit it within 10 days of learning of the death (F.S. 732.901).

Most uncontested matters are decided without a hearing. Under the division's local procedures, uncontested probate matters, formerly heard on an uncontested motion calendar, are submitted through the circuit's online proposed and agreed order portals and ruled on in chambers without a hearing. When a matter does require a hearing, it is scheduled through the court's online system; each Broward probate judge publishes a Zoom meeting link, and a party unable to appear by video may appear by telephone under the division procedures.

Look up a case online. The Broward Clerk's public Case Search at browardclerk.org/web2 is free and anonymous, searchable by party or business name or case number, and it covers probate cases. Results are limited to the first 200 records, and the online docket is not the official court record.

Florida is an attorney-forward probate state. Under Florida Probate Rule 5.030, the personal representative must be represented by a Florida-licensed attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested person or is a licensed attorney, so most Broward formal and summary administrations involve counsel. Beyond the rule, counsel makes practical sense when the estate is contested, when Broward real property must be sold, when the estate is insolvent or its solvency is in doubt, when a business interest or an out-of-state asset complicates administration, or when heirs are in conflict. Disposition of personal property without administration and sole-interested-person matters can proceed without a lawyer. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Broward probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Broward County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value for estate settlement and can pick the right Florida probate path before you file.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Broward filing: the petition for administration, the notice of administration and notice to creditors, the inventory, and the supporting documents, formatted for e-filing through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal and the Seventeenth Circuit's Probate and Guardianship Smart Forms.

Find a local probate attorney. Because Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires counsel in most administrations, Sunset connects families to a vetted Broward probate attorney to file and appear.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).