Florida Probate Information

Florida's most common probate misstep is opening a court file before the family knows what the estate holds, how it is titled, and whether Florida homestead or other exempt property is involved. The path that fits, whether disposition of personal property without administration, summary administration, or formal administration, turns on the value of the estate subject to administration after exempt property is set aside, and on whether any Florida real property must be administered. Homestead real property and exempt property are excluded from the summary administration value limit, so a house can pass to the family while the estate subject to administration stays small.

Before filing anything with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, identify every asset (bank and credit-union accounts, brokerage and retirement accounts, life insurance, real estate, vehicles, business interests, and unclaimed property) and every debt. Identify how each asset is titled, because property held with rights of survivorship or as tenancy by the entirety, and accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiaries, pass outside probate. Only then is it possible to choose the correct path and estimate the fees. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

Florida has no separate probate court and no surrogate or register of wills. Probate is a division of the Circuit Court, Florida's court of general jurisdiction. The courts are organized into 20 judicial circuits that together cover all 67 counties, and the filing office is the Clerk of the Circuit Court, usually titled Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. Each county has its own elected Clerk, its own courthouse, its own case-search system, and its own published fee total within the statutory ceilings, so each county has its own page in this knowledge base.

Venue is set by F.S. 733.101. Administration is proper, in order of priority, in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death; if the decedent had no Florida domicile, in any 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 the county where the decedent lived. The large metropolitan circuits, including Miami-Dade (Eleventh), Broward (Seventeenth), Palm Beach (Fifteenth), Hillsborough (Thirteenth), Orange (Ninth), Pinellas (Sixth), Duval (Fourth), and Lee (Twentieth), run dedicated probate divisions, while rural counties hear probate on the general circuit-court docket at a single courthouse.

Homestead. Homestead real property is exempt from most claims of the decedent's creditors and is subject to constitutional restrictions on devise when the decedent is survived by a spouse or minor child (Art. X, s. 4, Fla. Const.; F.S. 732.401 to 732.4017). Homestead frequently passes outside the probate estate and is not counted toward the summary administration value limit, so a house can pass to the family while the estate subject to administration stays small. This is the single biggest practical wrinkle in Florida estates.

Exempt property. The surviving spouse or children take, free of most creditor claims, household furniture, furnishings, and appliances in the decedent's usual residence up to a net value of $20,000 as of the date of death, two motor vehicles held in the decedent's name and regularly used by the decedent or the immediate family, qualified tuition program funds, and certain teacher and administrator death benefits (F.S. 732.402). Exempt property is excluded from the assets used for the summary administration threshold.

Family allowance. The surviving spouse and the lineal heirs the decedent was supporting are entitled to a reasonable allowance for maintenance during administration, not to exceed a total of $18,000, payable as a lump sum or in installments (F.S. 732.403).

Elective share. A surviving spouse may elect to take 30% of the elective estate instead of what the will provides (F.S. 732.2065). The election is a Florida distinctive that can reshape distribution and should be evaluated early.

Attorney requirement. 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; an attorney personal representative may self-represent, and disposition of personal property without administration is self-service. Because most estates have more than one interested person, formal and summary administration almost always involve counsel.

No separate probate court. Probate is a division of the Circuit Court, not a standalone court, filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in one of the 20 judicial circuits. The estate representative is the personal representative (F.S. 731.201), and the authority document is Letters of Administration in every formal administration, testate or intestate.

No state death tax. Florida imposes no inheritance tax and no estate tax. The only Florida estate tax, the F.S. chapter 198 pick-up tax, is tied to a former federal credit for state death taxes that was phased out to zero for deaths after December 31, 2004, so no Florida estate-tax return is due.

Federal estate tax. Florida has no state estate tax. The federal estate tax applies only to estates above the federal exemption, which is $15 million per individual for deaths in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025, and indexed annually thereafter).

A Florida attorney is required for most probate administrations. 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, and a personal representative who is a Florida attorney may self-represent. Because most estates have more than one interested person, formal and summary administration almost always involve counsel. Disposition of personal property without administration (F.S. 735.301) is self-service and does not require an attorney. An attorney is especially important when the estate holds real property that must be sold, when homestead status must be determined, when a will contest or creditor dispute arises, when the estate is insolvent, or when ancillary administration (F.S. chapter 734) is needed for a nonresident decedent who owned Florida property. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Florida probate attorney when the situation requires counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. During estate settlement, Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and Florida public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Florida real estate, vehicles, business interests, and unclaimed property, and flags how each asset is titled and whether Florida homestead or other exempt property is involved, so the family can tell what passes outside probate and what counts toward the summary administration limit.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the filing packet for the path that fits, whether disposition of personal property without administration under F.S. 735.301, summary administration under F.S. 735.201, or formal administration under chapter 733, filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court and, for attorneys, through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.

Find a local probate attorney. Because Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 requires an attorney in most administrations, Sunset connects families to a vetted Florida probate attorney serving the county where the decedent lived.

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