Taylor County, FL Probate Information

Before you file anything in Taylor County, know exactly what is in the estate. Which Florida path fits depends on whether there is a will and on the value and type of the assets: formal administration under F.S. Chapter 733, summary administration under F.S. 735.201 for a smaller estate, or disposition of personal property without administration under F.S. 735.301 for a limited class of estates with no real property. The dollar thresholds that separate these paths are statewide and are explained on the Florida state page; identify the estate first so you and your attorney file the right petition once.

Identify every bank and credit-union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life-insurance policy, vehicle, boat, and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you go to the Clerk. Whether the decedent's Perry, Steinhatchee, or rural Taylor County home was homestead property matters, because Florida homestead often passes outside the probate estate and is not counted toward the summary-administration limit. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Circuit Court of the Third Judicial Circuit serves Taylor County along with Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, and Suwannee counties. Within Taylor, the court covers the whole county, including Perry (the county seat), the coastal communities of Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach, and the surrounding rural communities such as Salem and Shady Grove. Taylor probate matters are filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court at the courthouse at 108 North Jefferson Street in Perry and are heard there. The Third Judicial Circuit publishes judicial assignments for Taylor County listing two judges, and probate and guardianship matters appear among the published assignments of Circuit Judge Gregory S. Parker, whose chambers are in Perry.

Venue for a decedent's estate is governed by F.S. 733.101. Administration is proper first in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death, then, if the decedent had no Florida domicile, in a county where the decedent's property is located, and, if the decedent had neither domicile nor property in Florida, in the county where any debtor of the decedent resides. In practice, file in Taylor County for a decedent who lived here. There is no separate probate department at the Clerk's counter; probate is part of the Circuit Court's docket, with a Probate and Guardianship Department reached through the Clerk's main line.

Taylor has a published probate judge. Unlike most rural Florida counties, Taylor's judicial assignments include probate by name: the Third Judicial Circuit lists two judges for Taylor County, and probate and guardianship matters appear among the published assignments of Circuit Judge Gregory S. Parker, a circuit judge since 2009 and the circuit's former chief judge, whose chambers are in Perry at (850) 838-3520. Judge Bill Blue, the Taylor County Judge, handles the county-court docket. Judge Parker's office posts its own communication, scheduling, and remote-appearance procedures on the circuit's website, so read them before setting a probate hearing.

There is no online court-case search, so case questions go by phone. Taylor County is not on the statewide CiviTek court-records search used by neighboring counties, and the record-search links on the Clerk's site (including pubrecords.taylorclerk.com) are the official records index for deeds, liens, and other recorded documents, not a court docket. For the status of a probate case, call the Clerk's Probate and Guardianship Department at (850) 838-3506, Ext. 110; the Clerk's published fee schedule prices a records search at $2.00 per name per year (verified July 2026). In person, the Clerk provides a designated public-access computer at the courthouse for public and court records searches. The Clerk also links Florida's E-Notify service (enotify.flcourts.org), which sends court-date reminders by text or email.

Court-case contact is phone-first, with mail to a post office box. The Clerk's contact page asks that anything regarding a court case be handled by phone rather than email or the website form, and no fax number is published. The counter is at 108 North Jefferson Street, Suite 102, Perry, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and mail goes to P.O. Box 620, Perry, FL 32348. Attorneys e-file through the statewide portal; a self-represented filer may e-file, mail the papers to the box, or file in person at the counter.

Florida makes counsel the norm in probate. Under Fla. Prob. R. 5.030, the personal representative must be represented by a Florida-licensed attorney unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person, or is the only beneficiary with no other interested persons, or is a Florida-licensed attorney. Because most Taylor estates have more than one interested person, most formal and summary administrations here are handled through counsel, who also e-files through the statewide portal. Consider an attorney early when the estate holds real property that must be sold, when a will contest or heir dispute is likely, when the estate is insolvent or creditors are pressing, or when the estate includes a business interest or out-of-state property. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Florida probate attorney serving Taylor County and the Third Judicial Circuit.

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, Taylor County real estate, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Florida estate settlement path fits before you file.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the petition and supporting paperwork for your path, ready to file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Perry through the statewide e-filing portal or on paper.

Find a local probate attorney. Because Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 requires a Florida-licensed attorney in most administrations, Sunset connects families to a vetted Florida probate attorney serving Taylor County and the Third Judicial Circuit.

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).