Orange County, FL Probate Information

The most common Orange County 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 an Orlando 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 Orange 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 Ninth Judicial Circuit serves Orange and Osceola counties. Within Orange County the court covers Orlando, Apopka, Winter Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Maitland, Windermere, and the county's other cities and unincorporated communities. Every Orange County probate is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Probate Division, at the Orange County Courthouse, 425 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801; the division office is Suite 335, and the Clerk directs mailed filings to Suite 350. 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 an Orange County resident, or one holding Orange County real property, is filed here.

Orange County runs a dedicated Probate Division of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, with several circuit judges assigned to estate, guardianship, and mental health matters. Each judicial division publishes its own guidelines and procedures, including its hearing location and video platform, and the circuit publishes local probate checklists and forms for filers to follow.

A dedicated Probate Division of the Ninth Circuit. Orange County runs a dedicated Probate Division of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, with several circuit judges assigned to estate, guardianship, and mental health matters; the Clerk's Probate Division filing office is at the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando. Each judicial division publishes its own guidelines and procedures, including its hearing location, so check the assigned judge's requirements when a matter is filed or a hearing is set.

Local checklists are part of the filing. The Ninth Circuit publishes its own probate checklists and forms, including an affidavit of heirs, a summary administration checklist, formal administration opening and closing checklists, and a homestead status determination checklist. Each line of a checklist must be answered Yes, No, or not applicable, and proposed agreed and unopposed orders are emailed to the assigned probate division under its published guidelines. These are local to Orange and Osceola counties and supplement the petitions prepared under the Florida Probate Rules.

File online, in person, or by mail. Attorneys must e-file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (myflcourtaccess.com); a self-represented filer may e-file, file in person at any Orange County Clerk location, or mail the filing to the Probate Division at 425 North Orange Avenue, Suite 350, Orlando, FL 32801. The original will is not e-filed: the custodian must deposit it with the Clerk within 10 days of learning of the death (F.S. 732.901), and it is delivered on paper.

Many hearings are heard by video. Each Orange County probate division publishes its own procedures, including its video platform: some divisions publish a Cisco WebEx link, others use Microsoft Teams. Non-evidentiary probate hearings are commonly heard by video, while evidentiary hearings are held in person unless the court approves a remote appearance. Follow the assigned judge's published guidelines for the format, location, date, and time.

Look up a case online. The Clerk's Online Case Search at myeclerk.myorangeclerk.com is free and searchable by name or case number, and it covers probate. For guidance on probate case searches, the Clerk's Probate Division can be reached at (407) 836-2057.

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 Orange County formal and summary administrations involve counsel. Beyond the rule, counsel makes practical sense when the estate is contested, when Orange County 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 Orange County 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, Orange County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value during estate settlement and can pick the right Florida probate path before you file.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Orange County 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 for the Ninth Circuit's local probate checklists.

Find a local probate attorney. Because Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires counsel in most administrations, Sunset connects families to a vetted Orange County 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).