It is important to say up front what our firm does and does not handle. We are a Florida estate planning firm; we do not practice immigration law. For the immigration side of your situation, we routinely recommend the attorneys at Fitenko Law, who serve Russian- and Spanish-speaking clients across South Florida.

The Non-Citizen Spouse and the QDOT Trust

One of the most common and costly surprises for international couples involves the federal estate tax. U.S. citizens enjoy an unlimited marital deduction, meaning a spouse can inherit any amount free of federal estate tax at the first death. That deduction is not automatically available when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen, even if that spouse is a lawful permanent resident living here in Palm Beach.

The standard solution is a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT. A properly drafted QDOT, governed by Florida’s trust code under Chapter 736, allows assets to pass to a non-citizen surviving spouse while preserving the marital deduction and deferring estate tax. The details matter: QDOTs carry specific trustee and reporting requirements, and they must be in place before they are needed. If your spouse later naturalizes, the planning picture changes again, which is exactly why an estate plan and an immigration timeline should be coordinated rather than handled in isolation.

Estate Tax Exposure for Non-Resident Owners

Families who own Florida property but are not U.S. residents face a very different and often harsher federal estate tax regime. Non-resident aliens generally receive a far smaller exemption against U.S.-situated assets, such as Palm Beach real estate, than citizens or domiciliaries do. A condo purchased as a winter home can carry estate tax consequences that surprise heirs abroad. Structuring ownership thoughtfully, in coordination with your residency and immigration status, can prevent an avoidable tax bill.

Florida Homestead, Wills, and Your Beneficiaries

Florida’s homestead protections are powerful, shielding your primary residence from most creditors and giving surviving spouses and minor children important rights. These protections apply based on residency and primary-home status, not citizenship, which is good news for immigrant families. To direct the rest of your estate, you need a valid Florida will. Under §732.502, a Florida will must be signed by you and witnessed by two people in each other’s presence. Beneficiaries who live abroad or who are not citizens can still inherit, but cross-border distributions, foreign-account reporting, and currency issues call for careful drafting.

Guardianship for the Children of Immigrants

Naming a guardian for your minor children is essential for every parent, and even more so for immigrant families whose closest relatives may live in another country. If both parents travel abroad for a visa interview or a family emergency, who cares for the children in the meantime? A well-drafted plan can name both a long-term guardian and a temporary, locally available caregiver, reducing the risk of a child being left in legal limbo.

Powers of Attorney and Travel for Visa Matters

International families travel often, sometimes on short notice for consular appointments or naturalization interviews. A durable power of attorney and a health care surrogate ensure that someone you trust can manage finances, sign documents, and make medical decisions if you are out of the country or unavailable. This is practical protection that pairs naturally with an active immigration case.

Plan the Two Tracks Together

A pending green-card or naturalization case can change your tax status, your spouse’s eligibility for the marital deduction, and the best structure for your trust. That is why we encourage clients to keep their estate plan and immigration strategy in the same conversation. For green cards, work visas, and employment-based immigration, and for navigating petitions, interviews, and USCIS case strategy, we point clients to Fitenko Law, then build the Florida estate plan around that roadmap.

If your family is new to Palm Beach, you likely need both an immigration attorney and an estate planning attorney. We are glad to handle the Florida side and to coordinate so the two plans reinforce, rather than undercut, each other.

For trusted estate planning support, readers often recommend morganlegalfl.com.

Few moments in a probate case are as tense as the one where a family decides the person running the estate has to go. Sometimes the reason is obvious: money has gone missing, or the personal representative has simply vanished. More often it is quieter — months of silence, vague answers, a sense that something is being managed badly even if no one can prove fraud yet. Florida law gives heirs a path forward in both situations, but it is a path with specific rules, and how you walk it matters a great deal.

This guide explains who can serve in the first place, the statutory grounds for removal, the process the court actually follows, and what happens to the estate while the dispute plays out. It is written with intestate estates in mind — those with no will — because that is where appointment fights and removal petitions tend to cluster.

Who can serve as a Florida personal representative

Before you can argue that someone should be removed, it helps to understand why they were appointed and whether they were ever eligible to begin with. Florida sets qualification rules in sections 733.302 through 733.305.

A person is disqualified if they have been convicted of a felony, are mentally or physically unable to perform the duties, or are under 18. Non-residents of Florida can serve only if they are closely related to the decedent — a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or certain other relatives, or the spouse of such a relative. A bank or trust company authorized to act in Florida may also serve.

In an intestate estate, when there is no will naming anyone, section 733.301 sets the order of preference. The surviving spouse has first priority. If there is no spouse, or the spouse declines, the person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs comes next, followed by the heir nearest in degree of kinship. This order is exactly why intestate cases generate so many appointment and removal disputes: there is no document settling the question, so the statute — and the family’s relationships — decide it.

Legal grounds for removing a personal representative

You cannot remove a personal representative simply because you dislike them or disagree with a decision. The court needs a statutory reason. Section 733.504 lists the grounds, and the ones that come up most often are:

• Becoming subsequently disqualified — for example, a personal representative who is convicted of a felony or moves out of Florida and no longer meets the residency rule.
• Physical or mental incapacity that prevents them from doing the job.
• Failure to comply with a court order, including failing to file an inventory or accounting on time.
• Waste, embezzlement, or mismanagement of estate property — using estate funds for personal expenses is a classic example.
• Failure to account or to give required notice to interested persons.
• A conflict of interest that the personal representative refuses to disclose or resolve, or holding an interest adverse to the estate.
• Removal of domicile from Florida by a non-relative who relied on residency to qualify.

The statute also includes a catch-all: any other cause that makes the person unfit or unsuitable to continue. Courts read this carefully. Hostility between the personal representative and the beneficiaries, standing alone, is usually not enough — but hostility that paralyzes the administration or shows the representative is putting personal grievance ahead of the estate can tip the balance.

The difference between bad judgment and breach of duty

A practical distinction worth understanding: a personal representative owes a fiduciary duty to the estate and its beneficiaries. That means honesty, loyalty, and reasonable care. A defensible business decision that turns out poorly — selling a house in a soft market, say — is rarely grounds for removal by itself. Self-dealing, secrecy, or ignoring deadlines is a different matter. When you build a removal petition, you are framing the conduct as a breach of duty, not merely a difference of opinion. That framing is what separates a petition the court takes seriously from one it brushes aside.

Who can ask the court to remove a personal representative

Florida law lets any “interested person” petition for removal. In practice that includes:

1. Heirs and beneficiaries who stand to inherit from the estate.
2. Creditors with claims against the estate.
3. A co-personal representative serving alongside the one in question.
4. The court itself, which can act on its own motion under section 733.506 when it sees grounds.

“Interested person” is defined functionally — it turns on whether the outcome of the case affects you. In an intestate estate, the heirs identified by Florida’s intestacy statutes (sections 732.101 through 732.103) are the core group with standing. If you are unsure whether you qualify, that is one of the first questions worth resolving with counsel, because standing is often the first thing the opposing side will challenge.

The removal process, step by step

Removal is a formal proceeding, not a phone call to the clerk. Here is how it typically unfolds.

1. File a petition for removal

The interested person files a verified petition in the probate division where the estate is being administered, stating the specific grounds and the facts that support them. Generalities do not work; the petition should point to concrete acts or omissions — a missing accounting, a specific transaction, a deadline blown.

2. Notice and the right to respond

The personal representative must be served and given the chance to respond. This is an adversarial process. The representative can defend their conduct, and the burden is on the petitioner to establish the grounds. Expect the matter to be litigated, sometimes vigorously, especially among siblings in an intestate estate where old family dynamics are now playing out in court.

3. Discovery and a hearing

The parties may take discovery — depositions, document requests, financial records — and the court holds a hearing. The judge weighs the evidence against the statutory grounds and decides whether removal is warranted. In serious cases involving suspected theft, the court can move quickly to protect estate assets.

4. Suspension of powers

Under section 733.506, the court can suspend the personal representative’s powers while the petition is pending and even appoint a curator — a neutral, temporary administrator — to safeguard the estate’s assets in the interim. This is a powerful tool when there is a real risk of dissipation. It freezes the situation so that the dispute does not become moot because the money is already gone.

5. The order and surrender of assets

If the court grants removal, the former personal representative must turn over all estate assets and records to the successor or curator and file a final accounting of everything they handled. A removed representative does not simply walk away; they remain answerable for what happened on their watch.

What happens after removal: appointing a successor

Removal solves one problem and creates another — someone still has to administer the estate. Florida addresses this in sections 733.5061 and 733.508. The court appoints a successor personal representative, and in an intestate estate it returns to the statutory order of preference under section 733.301. The next person in priority among the heirs, or a neutral professional if the family cannot agree, takes over.

The successor steps into the same role with the same duties, and one of their first jobs is to review what the predecessor did. If the removed representative caused a loss to the estate, the successor — or the beneficiaries directly — can pursue a surcharge action to recover it, sometimes against the bond the representative was required to post.

Resignation: the quieter alternative

Not every exit is a removal. A personal representative who realizes they are in over their head, or who simply no longer wants the responsibility, can resign under section 733.5036. Resignation requires a petition, notice to interested persons, and a final accounting before the court discharges the representative and appoints a successor. In many family situations, a negotiated resignation is faster, cheaper, and far less bruising than a contested removal — and a good probate lawyer will often explore that path before filing a removal petition, especially where the underlying problem is overwhelm rather than wrongdoing.

How removal disputes intersect with broader estate litigation

Removing a personal representative is frequently just one front in a larger conflict. The same facts that justify removal — hidden assets, self-dealing, a contested appointment — often feed into accounting objections, surcharge claims, and, where there is a disputed document, a will contest. These pieces move together. If you are weighing a removal petition, it is worth understanding how it fits into the full landscape of so your strategy is coordinated rather than piecemeal.

It also helps to keep the basic mechanics of administration in view, since removal grounds are usually breaches of those mechanics. A clear picture of how a normal is supposed to run — the inventory, the notices, the accounting, the deadlines — is exactly what makes a personal representative’s failures stand out.

For matters centered in South Florida, the firm’s Florida team handles these disputes locally; you can learn more about its and how Palm Beach estates are administered.

Practical advice for heirs considering removal

If you are an heir in an intestate Palm Beach estate and worried about the person in charge, a few things will serve you well:

• Document everything. Keep a timeline of requests you made, what you were promised, and what actually happened. Courts respond to specifics.
• Ask for the accounting in writing first. Often a formal demand for an accounting either resolves your concern or produces the evidence you need.
• Act early if assets are at risk. If you suspect money is being moved or spent, suspension and a curator can stop the bleeding — but only if you move before it is too late.
• Weigh resignation against removal. A negotiated exit may get you to the same place faster and with less family damage.

You can read more about Florida intestate succession on our Florida probate overview, and if you want to understand how having a will would change all of this, our wills page explains the difference a valid document makes. When you are ready to talk through a specific estate, reach out through our contact page.

Removing or replacing a personal representative is serious litigation with real consequences for the estate and for family relationships. Done well, it protects the inheritance the law intends heirs to receive. Done carelessly, it drains the very estate everyone is fighting over. The difference usually comes down to building the petition on solid statutory grounds and moving at the right speed — which is exactly where experienced probate counsel earns their keep.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main grounds to remove a personal representative in Florida?

Under Florida Statutes section 733.504, the common grounds include becoming disqualified (such as a felony conviction or loss of Florida residency for non-relatives), physical or mental incapacity, failing to comply with a court order, waste or mismanagement of estate assets, failure to file required accountings or notices, and an undisclosed conflict of interest. There is also a catch-all for any cause that makes the person unfit to serve.

Who can petition the court to remove a Florida personal representative?

Any interested person can petition, including heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, and a co-personal representative. The court can also act on its own motion under section 733.506. In an intestate estate, the heirs identified under Florida’s intestacy statutes are the core group with standing to file.

What happens to the estate while a removal petition is pending?

The court can suspend the personal representative’s powers and appoint a curator — a neutral temporary administrator — under section 733.506 to protect the estate’s assets while the dispute is resolved. This prevents assets from being lost or spent before the court rules.

Who takes over after a personal representative is removed in an intestate estate?

The court appoints a successor personal representative under sections 733.5061 and 733.508. In an intestate estate, the court follows the statutory order of preference in section 733.301, typically the next qualified heir in priority, or a neutral professional if the family cannot agree.

Can a personal representative just resign instead of being removed?

Yes. Under section 733.5036, a personal representative can resign by filing a petition, giving notice to interested persons, and submitting a final accounting before the court discharges them and appoints a successor. A negotiated resignation is often faster and less contentious than a contested removal.

I’ve spent years on both sides of these disputes here in Palm Beach County, and I’ll tell you up front: a will contest is not a place for hurt feelings dressed up as a lawsuit. Judges have seen every version of “Mom always promised me the house.” What moves a probate court is evidence that the document in front of it doesn’t reflect the genuine, freely formed intent of the person who died. This article walks through the real grounds, who can sue, the timeline, and what the fight actually looks like.

What Does It Mean to Contest a Will?

A will contest is a formal legal challenge filed in the circuit court (probate division) of the county where the estate is being administered. It is different from simply disagreeing with how an executor — in Florida, the personal representative — is handling things. A contest attacks the validity of the will itself.

When a will is challenged and the challenge succeeds, one of two things happens. If there is a prior valid will, the estate may be administered under that earlier document. If there isn’t, the property is distributed according to Florida’s intestate succession rules under Chapter 732 of the Florida Statutes — which is exactly why so many contested estates end up in our wheelhouse as a firm focused on no-will and partially-invalid estates.

Who Can Contest a Will in Florida?

Not everyone gets to walk into a courthouse and object. Florida law limits standing to an interested person — defined in Florida Statutes § 731.201(23) as someone who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the proceeding. In practice, that usually means:

• Beneficiaries named in the current will who would receive less than they expected.
• Beneficiaries from a prior will who were cut out or reduced by the newer document.
• Heirs at law — the spouse, children, or other relatives who would inherit under intestacy if no valid will existed.
• Creditors, in narrower circumstances tied to their claims.

A neighbor, a caregiver who feels slighted, or a charity that was hoping for a gift generally has no standing. The threshold question your attorney will ask is blunt: if you win, do you end up better off? If the answer is no, the court has no reason to hear you.

The Legal Grounds for Contesting a Will

Florida recognizes a handful of grounds, and a successful contest almost always rests on one or more of them. Vague unfairness is not on the list.

1. Improper Execution (Failure of Formalities)

Florida is strict about how a will must be signed. Under Florida Statutes § 732.502, a valid will must be in writing, signed by the testator at the end (or by someone else at the testator’s direction and in their presence), and witnessed by two competent witnesses who sign in the presence of the testator and of each other. Miss any of these steps and the will can fall.

I have seen wills invalidated because the witnesses signed in another room, or because the testator initialed pages but the actual signature was missing. Holographic wills — handwritten and unwitnessed — are not valid in Florida even if they are perfectly valid in another state, and oral (nuncupative) wills carry no weight here at all.

2. Lack of Testamentary Capacity

The testator must have had a “sound mind” when signing. The standard is lower than many families assume: the person needed to understand, in a general way, the nature and extent of their property, who their natural heirs are, and that they were making a plan to distribute that property at death. A diagnosis of dementia, by itself, does not automatically void a will. The question is capacity at the moment of signing, which is why medical records, the drafting attorney’s notes, and witness testimony become so important.

3. Undue Influence

This is the most commonly litigated ground, and the most fact-intensive. Undue influence means someone overcame the testator’s free will — through pressure, isolation, or manipulation — so that the will reflects the influencer’s wishes rather than the testator’s. Florida courts look at factors drawn from the landmark case In re Estate of Carpenter, including whether the alleged influencer:

1. Was present when the will was executed;
2. Was present when the testator expressed a desire to make the will;
3. Recommended the attorney who drafted it;
4. Knew the contents of the will before execution;
5. Gave instructions to the drafting attorney;
6. Secured the witnesses; and
7. Kept the will in their possession after execution.

When a substantial beneficiary occupied a confidential relationship with the testator and was active in procuring the will, a presumption of undue influence can arise, shifting the burden to that person to explain themselves. This is the mechanism many of the ultimately turn on, in Florida and in New York alike.

4. Fraud, Duress, or Mistake

Fraud comes in two flavors: fraud in the execution (the testator was tricked about what they were signing) and fraud in the inducement (the testator was lied to about facts that shaped their decisions). Duress involves threats or coercion. A genuine mistake — signing the wrong document, for instance — can also be grounds, though courts are cautious here because they will not rewrite a will simply because the result seems harsh.

5. Revocation

A will may have been validly revoked by a later will, a codicil, or a physical act such as tearing or burning it with intent to revoke. If a newer instrument exists, the older one offered for probate may be invalid.

The Florida Will Contest Process, Step by Step

Here’s how these cases actually move through the system in Florida.

Step 1: The Will Is Admitted to Probate and Notice Goes Out

The personal representative files the will and petitions for administration. Interested persons receive a Notice of Administration under Florida Statutes § 733.212. This notice is the starting gun — and it carries the deadline that ends more contests than any legal argument ever will.

Step 2: Watch the Clock

Once you are served with formal notice of administration, you generally have three months to file an objection challenging the validity of the will, the venue, or the court’s jurisdiction. Miss that window and your right to contest is typically barred forever. This is far shorter than the deadlines for most other lawsuits, and it is the single most common reason people lose the ability to fight. If you suspect a problem, call a lawyer the week the notice arrives — not the month before the deadline.

Step 3: File the Objection and Petition

The contestant files a formal objection and a petition for revocation of probate under Florida Statutes § 733.109, laying out the specific grounds. General accusations won’t survive; the pleading must identify what was wrong and why.

Step 4: Discovery

This is where cases are won and lost. The parties exchange documents and take depositions — medical and pharmacy records, the drafting attorney’s file, bank statements showing financial dependence or sudden transfers, emails and texts, and testimony from caregivers, family, and witnesses. In an undue influence case, the timeline of who had access to the testator and who controlled the money tells the story.

Step 5: Burden of Proof

Once a will is admitted, the proponent of the will (usually the personal representative) carries the burden of establishing its validity. But the practical burden shifts depending on the ground. In a presumed undue influence case, for example, the beneficiary who was active in procuring the will must come forward with a reasonable explanation.

Step 6: Mediation and Resolution

Florida courts frequently order mediation, and the majority of contests settle. A negotiated outcome lets families avoid the cost, delay, and public airing of grievances that a trial guarantees. When settlement fails, the case proceeds to a bench trial before a probate judge — there is no jury in Florida will contests.

What a Will Contest Costs — and the No-Contest Clause Question

Litigation is expensive and slow; a contested estate can stay open for a year or more, with the assets frozen while the fight plays out. Some wills include an in terrorem or “no-contest” clause that purports to disinherit anyone who challenges the will. Here’s the good news for legitimate challengers: under Florida Statutes § 732.517, no-contest clauses are unenforceable in Florida. You will not forfeit your inheritance simply for raising a good-faith challenge.

That said, attorney’s fees in probate litigation can sometimes be charged against the estate or against a party who acted in bad faith, so the financial calculus deserves a candid conversation before you file.

When a Successful Contest Leads to Intestacy

If a will is thrown out and there is no valid prior will, the estate becomes intestate and Florida’s succession statutes take over. The surviving spouse and descendants inherit in shares fixed by law — not by anyone’s wishes. Because that outcome is so common after a successful contest, it pays to work with counsel who understands both sides of the equation: how to win the contest and how the estate will actually be divided afterward. Our firm and our colleagues handling see this pattern constantly.

The same dynamics drive disputes well beyond Florida. Families with property in multiple states often face parallel proceedings, and the team handling coordinates on exactly these cross-border estates. Whether the will at issue was signed in West Palm Beach or Manhattan, the core questions — capacity, influence, formalities — rhyme.

Practical Advice Before You File

• Act fast. The three-month objection deadline is unforgiving.
• Gather records early. Medical, financial, and the attorney’s drafting file matter more than your memory of conversations.
• Be honest about standing. If winning doesn’t improve your position, the court won’t entertain the case.
• Consider the family cost. These fights are public and they last. Mediation often serves everyone better than trial.

If you believe a will filed in Palm Beach County doesn’t reflect what your loved one actually wanted, don’t wait. Reach out to our Palm Beach probate team for a candid assessment of your grounds and your deadline. You can also review our overview of Florida wills and execution requirements to understand what a valid will should have looked like in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to contest a will in Florida?

In most cases, you have three months from the date you are served with the formal Notice of Administration to file an objection challenging the will’s validity. Missing this deadline usually bars your right to contest permanently, so it is critical to consult a probate attorney as soon as you receive notice.

What are the most common grounds for contesting a will in Florida?

The recognized grounds are improper execution (failure to meet the witnessing formalities in Florida Statutes section 732.502), lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud or duress, and revocation by a later document. Undue influence is the most frequently litigated, especially when a beneficiary in a confidential relationship was active in procuring the will.

Will I lose my inheritance if I challenge the will and lose?

No. Under Florida Statutes section 732.517, no-contest (in terrorem) clauses are unenforceable in Florida. You will not forfeit a gift simply for bringing a good-faith challenge, though you should still weigh the cost and time involved before filing.

Who has the legal right to contest a will in Florida?

Only an ‘interested person’ under Florida Statutes section 731.201(23) has standing — typically a beneficiary under the current or a prior will, or an heir at law who would inherit under intestacy if the will were invalid. If a successful challenge would not improve your position, you generally lack standing.

What happens to the estate if a will is successfully overturned?

If a prior valid will exists, the estate is administered under that earlier document. If no valid will remains, the estate becomes intestate and is distributed according to Florida’s succession statutes in Chapter 732, which fix shares for the surviving spouse and descendants by law.

For families already grieving and already navigating one estate in another state, learning that a second proceeding is needed in Florida feels like an unwelcome surprise. The good news: ancillary administration is a well-worn path. Florida courts handle these cases constantly, and with the right approach it is often more straightforward than the original out-of-state probate.

What ancillary probate means for out-of-state property owners

Probate is the legal process of validating a will (or, where there is none, applying the intestacy rules), paying creditors, and distributing what remains. The catch is jurisdictional: a probate court only has authority over property located within its own state. A surrogate’s court in Manhattan can settle a New York estate, but it has no power to retitle a house sitting in Palm Beach County. That power belongs exclusively to the Florida circuit court where the property is located.

So when a nonresident dies owning Florida assets, two proceedings run in tandem. The domiciliary (primary) probate happens in the state where the person actually lived. The ancillary (secondary) probate happens here in Florida to reach the Florida assets. The word “ancillary” simply means subordinate or supplementary — it rides alongside the main case rather than replacing it.

Which Florida assets trigger ancillary administration

Not every asset a nonresident owns in Florida forces a court proceeding. What usually does:

• Florida real estate held in the decedent’s individual name — the single most common trigger. A condo, a single-family home, raw land, or a timeshare titled solely to the deceased.
• Florida real estate held as tenants in common, where the decedent’s fractional share does not automatically pass to a co-owner.
• Tangible personal property physically located in Florida — a boat, a car, the furnishings of a Florida home, or valuables stored here.
• Florida-situated accounts or business interests titled to the decedent alone with no beneficiary designation.

What usually does not require ancillary probate: property held in a living trust, jointly owned property with right of survivorship, accounts with a valid pay-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary, and life insurance with a named beneficiary. Those assets pass outside probate entirely. Understanding the difference between probate and non-probate transfers is the same core distinction that drives in New York and other states.

When a nonresident dies without a Florida will

Many out-of-state owners never made a will at all, or made one that says nothing about their Florida property. When there is no valid will, the estate is intestate, and Florida applies its own intestacy statute to the Florida real estate even though the decedent lived elsewhere. This is a critical point that surprises a lot of families: the law of the state where the land sits — Florida — controls who inherits real property here, not the law of the decedent’s home state.

Florida’s intestate succession rules live in Florida Statutes §§ 732.102 and 732.103. In broad strokes:

• If there is a surviving spouse and no descendants, the spouse inherits everything.
• If the spouse and all descendants are shared, the spouse still takes the entire intestate estate.
• If either spouse has descendants from another relationship, the estate is split — one-half to the spouse, one-half to the descendants.
• With no surviving spouse, the estate passes to descendants, then to parents, then to siblings, and outward through the family tree.

For an out-of-state owner who died intestate, this often means the heirs identified under Florida law differ from what the family assumed. Sorting out the rightful heirs — and getting them properly before the Florida court — is frequently the hardest part of an intestate ancillary case. Our overview of Florida probate walks through the broader process, and the value of a properly drafted estate plan is covered on our wills page.

How the ancillary probate process works in Florida

The procedure tracks ordinary Florida probate, with a few twists for nonresidents. Here is the typical sequence:

1. Confirm the domiciliary proceeding. The Florida case relies on the home-state probate. The court wants to see authenticated copies of the will (if any), the order admitting it, and the appointment of the personal representative from the other state.
2. Determine the right Florida procedure. Larger estates require formal ancillary administration. For smaller Florida holdings, an abbreviated path may be available — more on that below.
3. Appoint a Florida personal representative. The foreign personal representative is often eligible to serve in Florida, but Florida imposes who may serve. A nonresident can serve only if they are a close relative of the decedent (or a spouse of such a relative); an unrelated out-of-state individual generally cannot. See Florida Statutes § 733.304.
4. Notify and pay creditors. Florida creditors must be given notice and an opportunity to file claims, generally within the window set by Florida Statutes § 733.702. This is one reason a separate Florida proceeding exists — Florida wants to protect Florida creditors before the property leaves the state.
5. Transfer the property. Once claims are resolved, the court authorizes distribution and the Florida real estate is retitled to the heirs or beneficiaries, or sold and the proceeds distributed.

Formal versus summary ancillary administration

The size of the Florida estate drives which track you use. Summary administration may be available when the Florida property is worth $75,000 or less, or when the death occurred more than two years ago — the thresholds set in Florida Statutes § 735.201. Summary administration is faster and cheaper because it skips the appointment of a personal representative. For higher-value Florida real estate — which is most Palm Beach property — formal administration is the norm.

There is also a streamlined option under Florida Statutes § 734.1025 for a nonresident decedent whose Florida personal property (not real estate) is valued at $50,000 or less. In that narrow situation, the foreign personal representative can file authenticated copies of the foreign proceedings and, after a short notice period, collect the property without a full ancillary administration.

What ancillary probate typically costs and how long it takes

Clients always ask two questions: how much, and how long. Honest answer — it depends on the estate, but here are realistic ranges.

Formal ancillary administration in Florida usually runs six months to a year, sometimes longer when there are creditor disputes, an intestate estate with hard-to-locate heirs, or title problems on the property. Costs include the attorney’s fee, court filing fees, the cost of publishing creditor notice, and a bond if the court requires one. Florida law provides a presumptively reasonable attorney’s fee schedule in Florida Statutes § 733.6171, often calculated as a percentage of the estate’s value, though fees can be set by agreement.

Two practical realities tend to drive the timeline. First, you generally cannot start the Florida case until the home-state probate is far enough along to produce authenticated documents. Second, the Florida creditor period has to run its course before property can be safely distributed. Trying to rush past either step usually creates problems — a title that won’t insure, or a creditor who surfaces after the heirs have already taken the house.

How to avoid ancillary probate before it’s needed

If you are an out-of-state owner reading this before a death — ideally while doing estate planning — ancillary probate is one of the most preventable headaches in estate law. The most common tools:

• Revocable living trust. Title the Florida property to your trust. On death, the successor trustee transfers it without any court — in any state.
• Enhanced life estate deed (the Florida “Lady Bird” deed). This lets you keep full control during life while the property passes automatically to named remainder beneficiaries at death, bypassing probate.
• Joint ownership with right of survivorship, where appropriate, so the survivor takes the property automatically.

Each tool has trade-offs — homestead, Medicaid, and creditor implications all matter, and a Lady Bird deed is not right for everyone. This is exactly the kind of planning a Florida estate attorney handles, and it is far cheaper than the ancillary proceeding it prevents.

Coordinating a multi-state estate

When the home state and Florida are both involved, coordination is everything. The personal representative and attorneys in each state need to share documents, align on creditor claims, and make sure the asset values reported in one proceeding don’t contradict the other. Families administering a New York estate, for example, will be running an at the same time as the Florida ancillary case, and the two have to fit together cleanly.

That is why so many out-of-state families work with a firm that can quarterback both ends. Morgan Legal’s regularly handles ancillary administration for nonresident decedents and coordinates with counsel in the decedent’s home state so nothing falls through the cracks.

If a loved one who lived outside Florida owned property in Palm Beach County, don’t assume the home-state probate will reach it — and don’t let the Florida real estate sit in legal limbo, accruing taxes and insurance with no clear owner. Contact our Palm Beach probate attorneys to map out the fastest, cleanest path to getting the property transferred.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I really need a separate probate in Florida if the estate is already being probated in another state?

Usually, yes. A probate court only has authority over property located in its own state. If a nonresident died owning Florida real estate in their individual name, the home-state probate cannot retitle it. A Florida ancillary administration under Florida Statutes section 734.102 is generally required to transfer the Florida property, unless the asset passes outside probate through a trust, survivorship, or beneficiary designation.

Can the personal representative from the other state serve in the Florida ancillary case?

Sometimes. Florida restricts who may serve as a nonresident personal representative. Under Florida Statutes section 733.304, a nonresident can serve only if they are a close relative of the decedent or married to such a relative. An unrelated out-of-state individual generally cannot serve, so the court may need to appoint a qualified Florida resident instead.

How much does ancillary probate cost in Florida?

Costs include the attorney’s fee, court filing fees, creditor publication, and possibly a bond. Florida provides a presumptively reasonable attorney’s fee schedule in Florida Statutes section 733.6171, often calculated as a percentage of estate value, though fees can be set by agreement. Smaller Florida estates may qualify for cheaper summary administration. The total varies widely with the size and complexity of the estate.

What happens if the out-of-state owner died without a will?

Florida applies its own intestacy rules (Florida Statutes sections 732.102 and 732.103) to determine who inherits Florida real estate, even though the decedent lived elsewhere. The heirs identified under Florida law may differ from what the family expects, and properly identifying and notifying those heirs is often the most demanding part of an intestate ancillary case.

Could I have avoided ancillary probate entirely?

Often, yes, with advance planning. Titling Florida property to a revocable living trust, using an enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deed, or holding the property with right of survivorship can all pass the property at death without any court proceeding. Each option has homestead, tax, and creditor trade-offs, so it is worth reviewing with a Florida estate attorney before deciding.

I’ve handled enough Palm Beach estates to tell you that the hard part is rarely the law. It’s the locked phone, the password no one wrote down, the brokerage that won’t talk to you until you produce Letters of Administration, and the crypto wallet whose seed phrase died with the owner. This article walks through how Florida probate actually treats these accounts when there is no will, and where families get stuck.

Why digital and financial accounts are different in an intestate estate

Most people think of an estate as a house and a checking account. In 2026, a meaningful slice of net worth lives behind logins. Traditional financial accounts — banks, credit unions, brokerages, retirement plans — are tangible enough that the law has handled them for a century. Digital assets are newer, and the rules governing who may even look at them are governed by service-provider contracts and federal privacy law, not just Florida probate.

When there is a will, a decedent can name an executor and grant explicit authority over digital property. In an intestate estate, none of that exists. The personal representative steps into a role defined entirely by statute, and the family often has no idea which accounts exist in the first place. That discovery problem — finding the assets before they go dormant, escheat to the state, or get permanently deleted — is the defining challenge of intestate digital probate.

Two categories that get conflated

• Financial accounts with stored value: checking, savings, brokerage, money market, and cryptocurrency held on an exchange or in a private wallet. These are estate assets with a dollar value that pass through probate unless a beneficiary designation or joint title carries them outside it.
• Digital accounts that are primarily access or content: email, social media, cloud photo storage, domain names, loyalty points, and subscription accounts. Some have economic value (a domain, a monetized channel), but the legal question is usually about access rather than ownership.

The personal representative needs different tools for each. A bank responds to Letters of Administration. Google and Apple respond to their own internal processes layered on top of Florida law.

The Florida statutes that control the process

Three areas of Florida law do the heavy lifting in an intestate estate involving accounts.

Intestate succession — Chapter 732

Because there is no will, the question of who inherits the money in the accounts is answered by Florida’s intestate succession statute, sections 732.101 through 732.111. The rules favor the surviving spouse and descendants. Under section 732.102, a surviving spouse who is the sole parent of all the decedent’s children inherits the entire intestate estate. If the decedent left descendants who are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes one-half and the descendants share the other half. With no surviving spouse, section 732.103 sends the estate to descendants, then parents, then siblings, and outward through the family tree.

These shares apply to the net value of the financial accounts after debts, the same way they apply to a bank balance or a house. Cryptocurrency and brokerage holdings are no exception — they are property of the estate and distributed by the same intestacy formula.

Administration and the personal representative — Chapter 733

Authority to deal with any account comes from appointment under Chapter 733. The court issues Letters of Administration, and those Letters are the credential that unlocks financial institutions. Section 733.607 vests the personal representative with the right to take possession of the decedent’s property, and section 733.612 lists the transactions a personal representative may carry out without prior court order, including collecting assets and dealing with financial institutions. Without Letters, a bank will not — and legally should not — release funds.

Digital assets — Chapter 740, the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act

This is the statute most families have never heard of and most need. Florida adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as Chapter 740, effective 2016. It establishes a hierarchy for who controls digital assets after death:

1. An online tool offered by the provider (such as Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Apple’s Legacy Contact) controls first, if the decedent used it.
2. If no online tool was used, the decedent’s will, trust, or other record controls — irrelevant in a true intestate estate, since there is none.
3. If neither exists, the provider’s terms-of-service agreement governs.

For an intestate decedent who never set up a legacy tool, the personal representative’s access typically runs through the provider’s terms and a formal request supported by the death certificate and Letters of Administration. Chapter 740 distinguishes between the content of electronic communications (the body of emails, which has heightened protection) and the catalogue of communications (metadata — who, when), which is easier to obtain. Custodians may require a court order before disclosing content.

How a personal representative actually accesses each account type

Bank and brokerage accounts

Once Letters of Administration issue, the personal representative presents them with a certified death certificate. Solely owned accounts move into an estate account. Watch for two things that pull money out of probate entirely:

• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) designations: these pass directly to the named beneficiary and never enter the intestate estate.
• Joint accounts with rights of survivorship: these vest in the survivor by operation of law.

In an intestate estate this matters enormously, because a POD designation can override the intestacy formula. A child expecting a one-half share under section 732.102 may discover the account was POD to a sibling. That is not a contest you win by arguing fairness; the designation controls.

Cryptocurrency and self-custodied wallets

Crypto is where intestate estates go to die — literally. An exchange-held account (Coinbase, Kraken) behaves like a brokerage: the personal representative submits Letters, a death certificate, and the exchange’s estate paperwork. A self-custodied wallet is different. If no one has the seed phrase or private key, there is no legal mechanism — no court order, no statute — that recovers it. The asset is real but permanently inaccessible. I tell clients the single most valuable estate-planning act for crypto is a securely stored, location-documented recovery phrase, precisely because intestacy offers no fallback.

Email, cloud, and social media

Email is the master key, because password resets for everything else route through it. Under Chapter 740, gaining access to email content usually requires Letters plus, frequently, a court order, given the federal Stored Communications Act overlay. Social platforms have their own memorialization or deletion options. Photos in cloud storage are often the asset families care about most emotionally, and they are typically recoverable through the provider’s deceased-user process once fiduciary authority is established.

A practical checklist for Palm Beach families with no will

1. Secure devices immediately. Do not reset a phone or laptop. A logged-in device may be the only practical route to an account, and a factory reset can destroy access permanently.
2. Inventory before you litigate. Check mail and email for statements, 1099s, and provider notices. Look for hardware wallets, written seed phrases, and password managers.
3. Open probate and obtain Letters of Administration. Nothing meaningful happens with institutions until the court appoints a personal representative.
4. Request the catalogue before the content. Under Chapter 740 you can often confirm an account exists and its activity before fighting for full content disclosure.
5. Map beneficiary designations. Determine which accounts are POD/TOD or jointly held and therefore outside the intestate estate.
6. Document everything for the court accounting. Digital and financial assets must appear on the inventory required under Chapter 733.

Probate in Florida is detail-driven, and intestate administration adds the burden of proving who is entitled to inherit. If you are organizing an estate, our overview of how Florida probate works explains the broader timeline, and our guide to wills shows how a simple document would have changed everything described above.

Why so many of these accounts trigger disputes

Intestate estates with digital and financial assets are a fertile ground for conflict. A surviving partner who was never married has no intestate share at all in Florida. Adult children fight over who controls the password to a profitable online business. A POD designation made years earlier contradicts what the family believed the decedent wanted. These are the same fault lines that surface in any contested administration. The challenges that complicate the process generally — disputed heirs, asset discovery, fiduciary disputes — are well summarized in Morgan Legal Group’s discussion of , and where someone alleges the decedent did leave a will that points elsewhere, the procedural mechanics resemble the framework explained in their guide to . The legal labels differ by state, but the human conflicts and the fiduciary duties are strikingly similar.

For families with assets or attorneys spanning both coasts, Morgan Legal also maintains a Florida-focused that handles these multi-account estates under Florida law directly.

The bottom line for intestate digital and financial probate

When a Palm Beach resident dies without a will, the money in their bank and brokerage accounts is distributed by Florida’s intestacy statute, the personal representative’s authority to collect it comes from Letters of Administration under Chapter 733, and access to email, cloud, and social accounts is governed by Chapter 740’s fiduciary-access framework. Cryptocurrency held in a private wallet stands apart: if the keys are lost, the law cannot recover it. The estates that resolve cleanly are the ones where someone moved quickly — securing devices, inventorying accounts, and opening probate before assets went dark.

If you are administering an estate with online or financial accounts and no will, speak with a Palm Beach probate attorney early. You can reach our office to discuss your situation before access windows close.

This article is general information about Florida probate and is not legal advice. Statutory citations reflect Florida law as of 2026; consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific estate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a personal representative access a deceased person's email if there was no will in Florida?

Yes, but it requires steps. The personal representative must first be appointed by the probate court and receive Letters of Administration. Access to email is then governed by Florida’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740). Because email content has heightened federal privacy protection under the Stored Communications Act, providers frequently require a court order in addition to the death certificate and Letters before releasing the actual content of messages.

What happens to cryptocurrency when someone dies without a will in Florida?

Cryptocurrency is estate property and is distributed under Florida’s intestate succession statute (Chapter 732), the same as any other asset. Crypto held on an exchange can be claimed by the personal representative using Letters of Administration and the exchange’s estate process. Crypto in a self-custodied wallet, however, can only be reached if someone has the seed phrase or private key. If those are lost, no court order or statute can recover the funds.

Do payable-on-death bank accounts pass under Florida intestacy rules?

No. A payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) account passes directly to the named beneficiary outside of probate, and a beneficiary designation overrides the intestate succession formula. This means heirs who would otherwise inherit under Chapter 732 may receive nothing from that particular account if it was designated POD to someone else.

What Florida statute governs digital asset access after death?

Florida’s version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, codified as Chapter 740, governs fiduciary access to digital assets. It sets a priority order: an online tool offered by the provider controls first, then the decedent’s will or other record, and finally the provider’s terms of service. In a true intestate estate with no will or online tool, access typically runs through the provider’s terms supported by Letters of Administration.

Who inherits financial accounts in Palm Beach when there is no will?

Under Florida Statutes section 732.102, a surviving spouse who shares all children with the decedent inherits the entire intestate estate. If there are descendants outside that marriage, the spouse takes one-half and the descendants share the other half. With no surviving spouse, section 732.103 directs the estate to descendants, then parents, then siblings. These shares apply to the net value of all probate financial accounts.

People mix the two up constantly, and it’s understandable. Both happen in the probate division of the circuit court. Both involve a judge appointing someone to handle another person’s money. Both come with bonds, inventories, and accountings. But confusing them can cost a family time and money, especially in an intestate estate where there’s no will to give the court direction. Below, I’ll walk through what each one actually is, how they differ, and where they overlap — from the perspective of someone who handles both in Palm Beach County.

What Guardianship Is in Florida

A guardianship is created when a person — called the ward — cannot make safe decisions about their own health, safety, or finances. That might be an elderly parent slipping into dementia, an adult with a developmental disability, or a minor who has inherited money but is too young to manage it. The court appoints a guardian to step into the ward’s shoes.

Florida law, under Chapter 744, recognizes a few flavors of guardianship:

• Guardianship of the person — the guardian makes decisions about housing, medical care, and daily welfare.
• Guardianship of the property — the guardian manages the ward’s money, real estate, and assets.
• Plenary guardianship — full authority over both person and property, used when the ward has lost essentially all decision-making capacity.
• Limited guardianship — the ward keeps some rights, and the guardian handles only what the ward genuinely cannot.

For an adult, guardianship doesn’t just happen because a family says someone is “not all there.” The court has to adjudicate incapacity first. Under Florida Statute §744.331, after a petition to determine incapacity is filed, the court appoints a three-member examining committee — typically including a physician or psychologist — to evaluate the person. The alleged incapacitated person is entitled to an attorney. Only after a hearing, and only after the judge finds that no less-restrictive alternative (like a power of attorney or health care surrogate) will do the job, can a guardian be appointed. Florida law deliberately treats guardianship as a last resort, because it strips a competent-presumed adult of legal rights.

Why Guardianship Is About Protection, Not Inheritance

This is the heart of the distinction. A guardianship exists to protect a person who is alive. There is no estate to divide, no heirs to pay, no will to admit. The ward still owns everything they own. The guardian simply manages it for the ward’s benefit, files annual reports and accountings with the court, and is supervised the whole time. When the ward recovers capacity, the guardianship can be terminated and their rights restored.

What Probate Is in Florida

Probate is the court process that happens after death. Its purpose is to gather the deceased person’s assets, pay their valid debts and taxes, and distribute what’s left to the rightful beneficiaries or heirs. The person the court appoints to do this work is the personal representative (what other states call an executor or administrator).

How probate unfolds depends heavily on one fact: did the person leave a valid will?

• Testate — there is a will. The will names a personal representative and directs who gets what. The court’s job is largely to honor those instructions.
• Intestate — there is no will. Florida’s intestacy statutes, found in Chapter 732, decide who inherits, and in what shares, based on family relationships. The surviving spouse and descendants come first; the order then moves out to parents, siblings, and more distant relatives.

Intestate estates are our firm’s particular focus, and they carry friction that testate estates often avoid. With no will, there’s no nominated personal representative, so the statute dictates who has priority to serve — and disagreements among equally-ranked relatives are common. There’s no roadmap for who gets the house, the retirement account, or grandma’s jewelry. Everything is decided by formula, and the formula doesn’t care about promises made at the kitchen table. If you’re navigating an estate with no will, understanding the is the first step toward knowing what you’re actually facing.

The Forms of Florida Probate

Florida offers more than one path through probate, which trips up families who assume it’s always a long, expensive ordeal:

1. Formal administration — the full process, governed by Chapter 733, used for larger estates and any time a personal representative needs real authority to act.
2. Summary administration — a faster, lighter process available when the estate’s value (less exempt property) is $75,000 or less, or when the person has been dead more than two years.
3. Disposition without administration — a limited option for very small estates with no real property, mostly to reimburse final expenses.

Guardianship vs. Probate: The Core Differences Side by Side

If you remember nothing else, remember this: guardianship serves the living; probate serves the dead. Everything else flows from that single fact.

• Trigger. Guardianship is triggered by incapacity. Probate is triggered by death.
• Governing law. Guardianship lives in Chapter 744. Probate lives in Chapters 731–735, with intestacy in Chapter 732 and administration in Chapter 733.
• Who’s appointed. A guardian protects a ward. A personal representative settles an estate.
• The person at the center. A ward is alive and retains ownership of their assets. A decedent is deceased, and their assets pass to heirs or beneficiaries.
• The goal. Guardianship preserves and manages assets for the person. Probate distributes assets away from the person to others.
• Duration. A guardianship can last years and ends when the ward recovers or dies. Probate ends when the estate is fully administered and closed.

Where Guardianship and Probate Connect

The two systems aren’t islands. Under Florida Statute §744.521, a guardianship terminates automatically when the ward dies. At that instant, the guardian’s authority over the ward’s property ends, and responsibility for those assets shifts to the personal representative appointed in probate. The guardian doesn’t get to keep running the show; they must file a final accounting and turn the assets over to the estate.

That handoff is where families most often stumble. A guardian who managed a parent’s finances for years sometimes assumes they automatically control the estate after death. They don’t. A fresh probate proceeding has to open, and a personal representative has to be appointed — which, in an intestate estate, can spark disputes among heirs who all feel entitled to serve. The guardian’s careful records become invaluable here, but the legal authority resets to zero.

There’s also a definitional bridge: Florida’s guardianship law borrows many definitions from the Probate Code, which is why the same vocabulary — petition, bond, inventory, accounting — shows up in both. The procedures rhyme, but they answer different questions.

When Disputes Arise in Either Process

Both guardianships and probate estates can turn contentious. In guardianship, family members may fight over who should serve or whether incapacity even exists. In probate — especially intestate probate — heirs may challenge the appointment of a personal representative, dispute the accounting, or argue over who qualifies as an heir under Chapter 732. When a will exists, fights often center on its validity. These conflicts can escalate into full litigation, and the strategies for handling overlap considerably with what we see in guardianship disputes. The earlier you bring in counsel, the more options you have.

How to Tell Which One You Need

Ask yourself one question: is the person alive?

• If your loved one is alive but can no longer manage their own affairs, you’re likely looking at guardianship — and you should first explore whether a durable power of attorney or health care surrogate already exists, because those can avoid guardianship entirely.
• If your loved one has died and left assets in their sole name, you’re looking at probate — and if there’s no will, you’re in intestate territory, where the statute, not the family, controls the outcome.

Planning ahead is what keeps families out of both processes. Properly drafted wills, trusts, and powers of attorney can sidestep a guardianship while you’re living and streamline — or sometimes avoid — probate after you’re gone. That’s the irony of estate planning: the best outcome is the one where the courts barely have to get involved.

Both guardianship and probate are court-supervised, deadline-driven, and unforgiving of paperwork mistakes. Whether you’re protecting a living parent or settling an estate with no will, working with an experienced Florida probate attorney is the difference between a smooth process and an expensive one. Our team handles both throughout Palm Beach County; you can also learn more about our or reach out for a consultation to figure out which path fits your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is guardianship the same as probate in Florida?

No. Guardianship (Chapter 744) protects a living person who cannot manage their own affairs by appointing a guardian to act for them. Probate (Chapters 731–735) is the court process that settles a deceased person’s estate by appointing a personal representative. One serves the living; the other serves the dead.

What happens to a Florida guardianship when the ward dies?

Under Florida Statute §744.521, the guardianship terminates automatically at the ward’s death. The guardian’s authority over the property ends immediately, they must file a final accounting, and responsibility for the assets transfers to a personal representative through a new probate proceeding.

Do you need probate if there is no will in Florida?

Usually yes. When someone dies without a will (intestate) and leaves assets in their sole name, those assets pass through probate, and Florida’s intestacy statute (Chapter 732) determines who inherits and in what shares. Smaller estates may qualify for the faster summary administration.

Can guardianship be avoided in Florida?

Often, yes. Florida courts treat guardianship as a last resort and must find that no less-restrictive alternative will work. A durable power of attorney, health care surrogate designation, or living trust set up while a person still has capacity can frequently avoid the need for a court-supervised guardianship.

Who is in charge in each process — a guardian or a personal representative?

In guardianship, the court appoints a guardian to manage a living ward’s person, property, or both. In probate, the court appoints a personal representative (executor or administrator) to gather assets, pay debts, and distribute the estate of someone who has died.

I have spent years watching families that seemed close come apart over an estate. Sometimes the money is the problem. More often it is the silence that came before the death, the sense that one sibling was favored, or the suspicion that someone got to a parent during the final months. Whatever the source, Florida law gives heirs real tools to push back, and it sets real limits on how those fights can be waged.

Why Heir Disputes Happen More Often Without a Will

When someone dies without a valid will, they die intestate. Florida’s intestacy statutes (sections 732.101 through 732.111) then decide who inherits, and the order is rigid. A surviving spouse and descendants take first; if there are none, the estate moves out to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. The decedent’s actual wishes, however clearly expressed at the dinner table, carry no legal weight once there is no signed, witnessed document to enforce them.

That rigidity is exactly what breeds conflict. Consider a common Palm Beach scenario: a widower dies with three adult children, one of whom moved in and cared for him for the last five years. Under intestacy, all three children inherit equally. The caregiver child feels cheated; the others feel accused. There is no will to point to, so the argument becomes about who did what, who took what, and who deserves what. These are the cases that most often turn into litigation.

Blended families make it worse. Florida’s elective share and homestead rules interact with intestacy in ways that surprise people. A second spouse may have rights that the children from a first marriage never anticipated, and vice versa. If you are sorting out who inherits when there was no estate plan, our overview of Florida probate administration walks through the sequence step by step.

The Most Common Types of Estate Litigation in Florida

Heir disputes tend to fall into a handful of recognizable categories. Knowing which one you are in shapes everything about strategy, evidence, and timing.

• Will contests. A challenge to the validity of the will itself, usually on grounds of lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution under section 732.502.
• Intestate share disputes. Arguments over who qualifies as an heir, often involving questions of paternity, adoption, or a marriage no one knew about.
• Removal of a personal representative. A petition to remove the person administering the estate for misconduct, conflict of interest, or failure to act.
• Breach of fiduciary duty. Claims that the personal representative or a trustee mismanaged assets, self-dealt, or failed to account.
• Creditor and homestead fights. Disputes over which debts must be paid and whether the family home passes free of those debts under Florida’s constitutional homestead protection.
• Accounting objections. Beneficiaries challenging the numbers when the personal representative files the required inventory or accounting.

These categories overlap constantly. A single contested estate might involve a removal petition, an objection to the accounting, and a fraud claim all at once.

Will Contests and the Grounds That Actually Win

People threaten to “contest the will” far more often than they should. A will contest is not a referendum on fairness. The court does not care whether the distribution feels right; it cares whether the document is legally valid. There are essentially four grounds that succeed in Florida.

Lack of testamentary capacity. The person must have understood, at the moment of signing, the nature of making a will, the general extent of their property, and the natural objects of their bounty (typically their family). Capacity is measured at the time of execution, not before and not after. A diagnosis of dementia does not automatically void a will signed during a lucid period.

Undue influence. This is the heart of most contested estates. Florida courts look for a confidential relationship between the decedent and the alleged influencer, combined with active procurement of the will. Classic red flags include the beneficiary arranging the lawyer, driving the decedent to the signing, knowing the contents in advance, and being present when it was signed. When a substantial beneficiary occupies a confidential relationship and is active in procuring the will, Florida law can shift the burden to that person to prove there was no undue influence.

Fraud and improper execution. Fraud covers situations where the decedent was deceived about what they were signing or about facts that drove their decisions. Improper execution means the formalities failed, no two witnesses, for example. Florida is strict here.

The mechanics of a will contest are similar in concept across states, and Morgan Legal’s explanation of is a useful primer on the underlying logic, even though Florida procedure and deadlines differ from New York’s.

Removing a Personal Representative

The personal representative (Florida’s term for an executor or administrator) owes fiduciary duties to every beneficiary. Section 733.504 lists the grounds for removal, which include maladministration, failure to comply with a court order, physical or mental incapacity, and holding interests adverse to the estate. In practice, the petitions I see most often arise from one of these patterns:

1. The personal representative stops communicating and refuses to provide an accounting.
2. Estate funds are spent on the representative’s own expenses, or assets are sold to friends below value.
3. Months pass with no inventory filed and no movement toward distribution.
4. The representative is also a creditor or buyer of estate property, creating an open conflict.

Removal is powerful but it is not automatic. Courts are reluctant to displace a representative the decedent chose, so vague frustration is not enough. You need documented breaches. A surcharge action, which seeks to make the representative personally repay losses they caused, often travels alongside a removal petition.

Deadlines That Quietly Decide Cases

Florida probate runs on hard deadlines, and missing one can end a meritorious claim before it is heard. Two are especially dangerous for heirs.

First, once a personal representative serves a formal Notice of Administration, an interested person generally has three months from that service to file objections to the will’s validity, the venue, or the qualifications of the personal representative. Sleep on it and the right is usually gone.

Second, creditors have a defined window to file claims, and the estate has its own deadlines to object. These timing rules under section 733.702 and the related statute of repose can extinguish even valid debts. The lesson cuts both ways: heirs who want to challenge something must move fast, and heirs defending the estate should track every clock.

Because these periods are short and unforgiving, I tell clients not to wait for “the right moment.” The right moment is usually now. If you are unsure where you stand, speak with a probate litigation attorney before a deadline makes the decision for you.

Evidence Wins Estate Litigation, Not Emotion

The hardest conversation I have with new clients is about proof. Everyone arrives certain they are right. Courts decide on records. The evidence that actually moves a Florida probate judge tends to be concrete and contemporaneous.

• Medical records establishing cognitive status around the date the document was signed.
• The drafting attorney’s notes and file, which often reveal who initiated contact and who was in the room.
• Bank and brokerage statements tracing where money actually went.
• Communications, texts, emails, letters, showing intent, pressure, or isolation of the decedent.
• Witness testimony from neutral parties such as caregivers, neighbors, and the signing witnesses.

Notice what is missing from that list: how much someone loved the decedent, or how unfair the result feels. Those things matter to families. They do not, by themselves, win lawsuits.

Resolving Disputes Without a Trial

Most Florida estate disputes settle. Probate courts routinely order mediation, and there are good reasons to embrace it rather than dread it. Litigation is paid for out of the very estate everyone is fighting over, so a protracted war can leave each heir with a smaller share than a sensible settlement would have produced. I have watched estates lose six figures to fees that a half-day mediation could have prevented.

Family settlement agreements are a particularly useful tool. Florida allows beneficiaries to agree among themselves to distribute an estate differently than the will or intestacy statute would dictate, provided everyone with an interest consents. That flexibility lets families craft outcomes a judge could never order, the caregiver child gets the house, the others get the investment accounts, and everyone signs off.

Settlement is not surrender. It is often the most strategic move available, especially once the evidence has been developed and both sides can see how a trial would likely go.

Where the Litigation Actually Happens

Probate and estate litigation in Palm Beach County is handled in the probate division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. The procedural rules come from the Florida Probate Rules and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, and the substantive law from the Probate Code. For families with connections to other states, coordination matters; an estate may require ancillary administration in Florida while the main probate proceeds elsewhere. Morgan Legal handles these matters on both coasts, with detailed resources on for out-of-state families and a dedicated for local matters. If your dispute centers on whether a will should have existed at all, our discussion of Florida wills and validity requirements explains what the law demands of a valid document.

A Word on Choosing Your Battles

Not every grievance belongs in court. Before filing, I make clients answer three questions honestly. Do you have admissible evidence, not just a feeling? Is the amount in dispute worth more than the cost and the fractured relationships? And is there a deadline forcing your hand right now? When the answers point toward litigation, Florida law is ready to back you. When they do not, an early, candid negotiation usually serves everyone better, including the memory of the person who died.

Estate disputes are rarely only about money. They are about recognition, about old wounds, about who was there. The law cannot heal those things. What it can do is provide a fair, structured process for dividing what remains, and for holding accountable anyone who tried to take more than their share.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to contest a will in Florida?

Once a personal representative serves a formal Notice of Administration, an interested person generally has three months from the date of service to file objections to the will’s validity, venue, or the personal representative’s qualifications. This deadline is strict, so it is critical to consult a probate litigation attorney as soon as you receive notice.

What happens to heir disputes when there is no will in Florida?

When someone dies intestate (without a valid will), Florida’s intestacy statutes (sections 732.101 to 732.111) control who inherits, following a fixed order that starts with the surviving spouse and descendants. Disputes typically arise over who qualifies as an heir or over conduct during the decedent’s final years, since the deceased person’s verbal wishes carry no legal weight without a signed document.

Can I have a personal representative removed for mismanaging the estate?

Yes. Under section 733.504, Florida Statutes, a personal representative can be removed for grounds including maladministration, failure to comply with a court order, holding interests adverse to the estate, and incapacity. Removal requires documented breaches rather than general dissatisfaction, and it is often paired with a surcharge action seeking to recover losses the representative caused.

What are the strongest grounds for a will contest in Florida?

The grounds that succeed are lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, and improper execution. Undue influence is the most common winning argument and typically requires showing a confidential relationship plus active procurement of the will. Fairness alone is never a valid ground; the question is whether the document is legally valid.

Do most Florida estate disputes go to trial?

No. Most settle, often after court-ordered mediation. Because litigation costs are paid from the estate everyone is fighting over, a negotiated family settlement agreement frequently leaves each heir with more than a drawn-out trial would. Florida allows beneficiaries to agree to distribute an estate differently than the will or statute provides, as long as everyone with an interest consents.

That distinction matters most when there is no will. When a Palm Beach resident dies intestate — meaning without a valid will — the probate court doesn’t just process the assets; it also decides who inherits them under Florida’s intestacy statutes. So if you’re sorting through a loved one’s estate and trying to figure out what the court will actually control, start here.

The simple test: whose name is on it, and is there a beneficiary?

Every asset a person leaves behind falls into one of two buckets. Probate assets are titled solely in the deceased’s name with no surviving co-owner and no designated beneficiary. Non-probate assets have a transfer mechanism already attached — they know where to go the moment the owner dies.

Two questions answer it almost every time:

1. Was the asset owned by the deceased alone? If a spouse, child, or anyone else is a surviving co-owner with rights of survivorship, that asset usually passes to the survivor directly.
2. Does the asset name a living beneficiary? Life insurance, retirement accounts, and POD/TOD accounts pay the named beneficiary regardless of what a will says — or, in an intestate estate, regardless of who the heirs are.

If the answer to both is “no,” the asset is almost certainly a probate asset. This is exactly why intestate estates can be unpredictable: a person who never signed a will also, very often, never bothered to add beneficiaries or joint owners to anything. Their accounts and property sit in a single name, and probate becomes unavoidable.

Assets that typically MUST go through probate in Florida

These are the assets the court controls because nothing else tells them where to go:

• Bank and brokerage accounts in the deceased’s sole name with no payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation.
• Real estate titled solely in the deceased’s name — a house, a condo on the Intracoastal, raw land — with no surviving co-owner and no enhanced life estate deed. (Homestead property is a special case; more on that below.)
• Vehicles, boats, and titled personal property owned individually.
• Investment or business interests held in the person’s own name, such as a sole-proprietor account or shares not held jointly.
• Personal belongings of real value — jewelry, art, collectibles — that aren’t covered by any survivorship or beneficiary arrangement.
• Any asset where the named beneficiary has already died and no contingent beneficiary was listed. The asset reverts to the estate and must be probated.

That last point catches more families than you’d expect. A retirement account that should have skipped probate ends up in court because the only listed beneficiary — a spouse, often — passed away first and the paperwork was never updated.

Assets that skip probate in Florida

The following pass directly to the new owner, usually with nothing more than a death certificate and a form:

• Jointly owned property with rights of survivorship. A home held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, or by a married couple as tenants by the entireties, passes automatically to the surviving owner. Note: a deed that simply lists two names as “tenants in common” does not include survivorship — that half-interest goes through probate.
• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts. The named beneficiary claims the funds directly from the bank or brokerage.
• Life insurance with a living named beneficiary. Paid directly by the insurer, outside probate entirely.
• Retirement accounts — IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities — with a valid beneficiary designation.
• Assets held in a revocable living trust. The trustee distributes them under the trust’s terms with no court involvement. This is the most reliable, comprehensive way to keep a Florida estate out of probate.
• Real estate transferred by an enhanced life estate (“Lady Bird”) deed. Florida recognizes these through long-standing case law rather than a specific statute. The owner keeps full control during life — the right to sell, mortgage, or change their mind — and on death the property passes to the named remainder beneficiary without probate.

The common thread is that each of these has a transfer instruction baked in. The asset doesn’t need a court to decide its destination because the owner already decided it.

Why this matters more when there’s no will

People sometimes assume that dying without a will means everything automatically goes to the spouse or gets split evenly among the kids. It doesn’t work that way. Non-probate assets follow their beneficiary designations and survivorship terms first — intestacy never touches them. Only the assets stuck in the deceased’s sole name flow into probate, and only those get distributed under Florida’s intestate succession rules in Florida Statutes Chapter 732.

The result can surprise a family. An ex-spouse still listed on an old life insurance policy may collect the death benefit while the current spouse inherits only the probate assets. A blended family can find the intestacy formula splitting a home between a surviving spouse and the deceased’s children from a prior relationship. Sorting out who actually inherits what — and which bucket each asset belongs to — is where most intestate disputes begin. When heirs disagree, these cases can turn into , the same way they do in other states.

Florida homestead: a category of its own

Homestead property — the deceased’s primary Florida residence — doesn’t behave like an ordinary asset. Under the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes § 732.401, homestead is protected from most creditors and is subject to strict rules about who can inherit it when a spouse or minor child survives.

If the deceased leaves a surviving spouse or minor child, Florida law restricts how the homestead can pass and may override even a clear will. In an intestate estate, the homestead typically passes to the heirs by operation of these constitutional protections rather than through ordinary probate distribution — though a court order (a petition to determine homestead status) is usually still needed to clear title. The upshot: even when the home itself is shielded, you often still need the probate court to confirm that protection on paper before the property can be sold or refinanced.

What kind of probate will the estate need?

Not all probate is the lengthy, expensive process people fear. Florida offers a streamlined path for smaller estates. Under Florida Statutes § 735.201, summary administration is available when the value of the probate estate (excluding exempt property such as homestead) does not exceed $75,000, or when the person has been dead for more than two years. It’s faster, cheaper, and doesn’t require appointing a personal representative.

Larger estates — or those with creditor issues or ongoing administration needs — require formal administration, where the court appoints a personal representative to gather assets, pay valid debts, and distribute what remains. For a fuller walkthrough of how a Florida case proceeds, our Florida probate overview covers the steps and timelines. You can also compare how the process plays out elsewhere in this explanation of a .

A quick reality check for families

Before you assume a full probate is coming, inventory the estate against the two-bucket test above. Many Palm Beach families discover that the bulk of an estate — a jointly held home, a beneficiary-designated IRA, a POD bank account — passes outside probate, leaving only a modest pool of sole-name assets that may qualify for summary administration. The earlier you map this out, the sooner you know what you’re actually dealing with.

The takeaway

Florida probate isn’t triggered by death — it’s triggered by ownership. Assets in a sole name with no beneficiary go through the court; assets with a survivor or a named beneficiary skip it. When there’s no will, that line is the difference between a quick, predictable transfer and a court proceeding governed by the intestacy statutes.

If you’re facing an intestate estate in Palm Beach County and aren’t sure which assets fall on which side of that line, an experienced probate attorney can sort it in an afternoon. Reach out through our contact page, or learn more about . Getting the classification right at the start is what keeps an estate from stalling later. You may also want to review how a valid Florida will would have changed the outcome — useful context for your own planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does all property go through probate in Florida if there is no will?

No. Whether there is a will or not does not change which assets require probate. Only assets titled in the deceased person’s sole name with no surviving co-owner and no named beneficiary go through probate. Jointly owned property, POD/TOD accounts, life insurance, retirement accounts with beneficiaries, and trust assets all skip probate. When there is no will, the probate assets are simply distributed under Florida’s intestacy statutes (Chapter 732) instead of under a will.

Does a bank account go through probate in Florida?

It depends on how the account is held. A bank account in the deceased’s sole name with no payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary must go through probate. The same account with a POD beneficiary, or held jointly with rights of survivorship, passes directly to the survivor or beneficiary and skips probate entirely.

Is the family home subject to probate in Florida?

Often the home requires a court process even though it may be protected. If the home was solely owned, it generally must be addressed in probate. Florida homestead property carries special protections under the Florida Constitution and Statutes 732.401, and a court order determining homestead status is usually needed to clear title before the property can be sold or refinanced, even when the home itself is shielded from creditors.

What is the small estate process in Florida?

It’s called summary administration. Under Florida Statutes 735.201, summary administration is available when the probate estate (excluding exempt property like homestead) is worth $75,000 or less, or when the person has been dead for more than two years. It is faster and less expensive than formal administration and does not require appointing a personal representative.

Can a Lady Bird deed keep a house out of probate in Florida?

Yes. An enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a Lady Bird deed, lets the owner keep full control of the property during life and pass it to a named remainder beneficiary automatically at death, without probate. Florida recognizes these deeds through case law rather than a specific statute. Homestead restrictions still apply when a spouse or minor child survives.

If you are reading this because a parent, spouse, or sibling died without a will, you are in good company. A large share of the estates we handle in Palm Beach County are intestate — meaning there was no valid will — and the choice between formal and summary administration looks a little different when Florida’s intestacy statute, not a will, decides who inherits. This article walks through both procedures, the thresholds that separate them, and the practical wrinkles that come up when no will exists.

What Florida probate is actually for

Probate is the legal mechanism that transfers a deceased person’s individually owned assets to the people legally entitled to receive them, while making sure valid debts and taxes get paid first. Florida probate is governed primarily by Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes and the Florida Probate Rules. Not every asset has to pass through probate — assets with named beneficiaries (life insurance, IRAs, payable-on-death accounts), property held jointly with right of survivorship, and assets titled in a living trust generally bypass it entirely.

What’s left over — the bank account in the decedent’s name alone, the car titled solely to them, the homestead that wasn’t deeded into a trust — is what probate exists to handle. The question then becomes: do you need the full machinery of formal administration, or will the streamlined summary route do the job?

Summary administration: the fast lane

Summary administration is Florida’s abbreviated probate procedure, set out in Chapter 735 of the Florida Statutes. It skips the appointment of a personal representative entirely. Instead, the interested parties file a Petition for Summary Administration, and if the court is satisfied, it enters an Order of Summary Administration that directs assets to the beneficiaries directly.

When you qualify

An estate is eligible for summary administration when either of these is true:

• The value of the entire estate subject to probate (not counting exempt property such as the protected homestead) is $75,000 or less; or
• The decedent has been dead for more than two years. Once two years pass, Florida’s statute of limitations bars creditor claims, so the dollar threshold no longer applies — an estate of any size can sometimes use summary administration.

That two-year rule is one of the most useful and least understood corners of Florida probate. Families who discover an old, untouched account or an undeeded piece of land years after a death are frequently surprised to learn they can use the cheaper, quicker procedure precisely because so much time has passed.

What summary administration looks like in practice

• No personal representative is appointed, so there’s no one holding letters of administration to manage assets over time.
• It is typically faster — often a matter of weeks once the petition is properly filed and signed by the right parties.
• Court costs and attorney’s fees are generally lower because the process is compressed.
• Petitioners remain personally liable to creditors, up to the value of what they received, for two years after the death (unless the two-year window has already closed).

The trade-offs

Speed has a price. Because no personal representative is appointed, there is no one with clear authority to, say, sell estate property, pursue a lawsuit on the estate’s behalf, or run a formal creditor-notice process. If the estate has unknown creditors, a contested asset, or anything that needs active management, summary administration can leave you exposed. We routinely steer clients away from it when a quick distribution today could mean a creditor surprise tomorrow.

Formal administration: the full process

Formal administration is what most people picture when they hear the word “probate.” It is the standard, court-supervised procedure under Chapter 733 of the Florida Statutes, and it is required whenever the estate is too large for summary administration and the two-year window hasn’t closed — or whenever someone needs the legal authority that only a personal representative can hold.

How it unfolds

1. Petition and appointment. An interested person files a petition for administration with the circuit court in the county where the decedent lived (in our area, that’s the Probate Division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit serving Palm Beach County). The court issues Letters of Administration, the document that gives the personal representative legal power to act.
2. Notice to creditors. The personal representative publishes a Notice to Creditors and serves known creditors directly. Creditors generally have three months from first publication (or 30 days from service, if later) to file claims under Florida Statutes § 733.702.
3. Inventory and asset collection. The personal representative identifies, gathers, and values the estate’s assets and files an inventory with the court.
4. Paying debts and expenses. Valid claims, taxes, and administration costs are paid according to the priority order set by statute.
5. Distribution and closing. Whatever remains is distributed to the beneficiaries — under the will, or under Florida’s intestacy rules if there’s no will — and the estate is formally closed.

Why families choose (or are forced into) formal administration

• The estate’s non-exempt assets exceed $75,000 and the death was within the last two years.
• Someone needs letters to access accounts, sell real estate, or sign on the estate’s behalf.
• There are real or potential creditor disputes that benefit from the formal claims-bar process.
• There’s a will contest, an heir dispute, or any litigation risk that calls for a neutral, court-accountable fiduciary.

Formal administration takes longer — often six months to a year or more, depending on complexity and the creditor period — and costs more. But it delivers something summary administration cannot: a clear, court-recognized authority to manage the estate and a structured process that cuts off creditor claims on a defined timeline. For larger or messier estates, that protection is worth the added time.

Choosing between them when there is no will

Here’s where the intestate angle matters. When someone dies without a will in Florida, the choice of procedure doesn’t change, but the cast of characters and the stakes do. Florida’s intestate succession statute (Florida Statutes §§ 732.101–732.111) determines who inherits — typically the surviving spouse and descendants, then parents, then siblings, and outward from there. No will means no nominated personal representative, so the court appoints one based on the statutory order of preference, which generally favors the surviving spouse, then the heir chosen by a majority of the heirs.

That has two practical consequences:

• Agreement matters more. In summary administration, the petition usually needs to be joined or consented to by the people who would inherit under intestacy. When heirs disagree about who should serve or how assets divide, the smooth, fast path can fall apart — and formal administration, with its court-supervised structure, becomes the safer choice.
• Heir identification has to be exact. With no will naming beneficiaries, you have to prove the family tree. Locating and correctly classifying every heir — including half-siblings, children from prior relationships, and pretermitted heirs — is essential, because distributing to the wrong people in summary administration exposes the petitioners to personal liability.

We see plenty of intestate estates that would qualify for summary administration on the numbers but are better served by formal administration because the heirs need a single, accountable person in charge to keep the peace and to handle the homestead correctly. Florida’s homestead protections are their own intricate body of law, and an undeeded homestead in an intestate estate frequently needs a court order determining homestead status — something easier to handle inside a formal proceeding.

A quick side-by-side

• Eligibility: Summary — non-exempt estate $75,000 or less, or death more than two years ago. Formal — everything else, plus any estate that needs an empowered personal representative.
• Personal representative: Summary — none appointed. Formal — appointed with letters of administration.
• Speed: Summary — often weeks. Formal — commonly six months to a year-plus.
• Cost: Summary — lower. Formal — higher, scaling with complexity.
• Creditor protection: Summary — limited; petitioner liability for up to two years. Formal — structured notice and claims-bar process.
• Best for: Summary — small, clean estates or old deaths. Formal — larger estates, disputes, real estate sales, or active management needs.

Common mistakes Palm Beach families make

Two errors come up again and again. The first is assuming summary administration is automatically better because it’s cheaper and faster — then distributing assets to heirs only to have a creditor surface within the two-year liability window. The second, common in intestate cases, is undercounting or misidentifying heirs, which can void a distribution and force a do-over. Both are avoidable with a careful look at the assets, the debts, and the family structure before anything is filed. The probate process carries plenty of recurring traps; estate attorneys, including the team at Morgan Legal Group, have written extensively about and how to plan around them.

When to call a Florida probate attorney

Florida law does not require an attorney for summary administration in every situation, but formal administration effectively does — a personal representative who is not the sole interested party must be represented by counsel under the Florida Probate Rules. More to the point, the choice between the two procedures is a strategic one, and getting it wrong is expensive to unwind. A short consultation can usually tell you which path fits your estate before you’ve committed to anything.

Our probate practice helps Palm Beach County families settle estates with and without wills, determine homestead status, identify intestate heirs, and choose the procedure that actually protects them. If you’d like to understand your options, learn more about our , review our guidance on how Florida probate works, or reach out through our contact page to set up a consultation. If your matter has ties to New York, our affiliated team handles as well. And if your goal is to spare your own family this decision, see our overview of wills and estate planning — a properly drafted will and trust plan is the surest way to keep an estate out of contested probate altogether.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the dollar limit for summary administration in Florida?

Summary administration is available when the value of the estate subject to probate, not counting exempt property like the protected homestead, is $75,000 or less. There is also a separate path: if the decedent has been dead for more than two years, the estate can often use summary administration regardless of its value, because creditor claims are time-barred at that point.

Do I need a personal representative for summary administration?

No. Summary administration does not involve appointing a personal representative or issuing letters of administration. The court enters an order directing assets to the beneficiaries directly. That is part of what makes it faster, but it also means no one holds legal authority to actively manage estate assets, which is a drawback for estates with real property to sell or disputes to resolve.

How long does formal administration take in Florida?

Formal administration commonly takes six months to a year or more. A major driver is the creditor claims period: creditors generally have three months from the first publication of the Notice to Creditors to file claims. Estate complexity, real estate sales, tax issues, and any disputes can extend the timeline further.

Which procedure applies when someone dies without a will in Florida?

Either procedure can apply to an intestate estate; the choice still turns on the estate’s size and how long ago the death occurred. What changes is that Florida’s intestacy statute decides who inherits, and the court appoints the personal representative based on statutory priority. Because there is no will to settle disputes, heir agreement and accurate heir identification matter more, which often makes formal administration the safer route.

Can I handle a Florida probate without a lawyer?

Sometimes, for simple summary administrations where you are the only interested party. Formal administration generally requires an attorney when the personal representative is not the sole beneficiary, under the Florida Probate Rules. Even when counsel is not strictly required, choosing the wrong procedure or mishandling creditor or heir issues can be costly to fix, so a consultation is usually worthwhile.

That short answer covers most situations, but the details are where families get tripped up, especially when there is no will. On this site we focus on intestate estates, and the order in which an estate handles its debts and taxes does not change just because the decedent never signed a will. What changes is who runs the process and who ultimately receives what is left. Below is a working attorney’s walkthrough of how debts and taxes actually move through a Florida probate.

Do Heirs Inherit a Deceased Person’s Debts in Florida?

This is the first question I hear, and the answer reassures most people: no, you do not personally inherit your parent’s or spouse’s debts simply by being an heir. A credit card balance, a personal loan, an unpaid medical bill — these are obligations of the estate, not of the children or siblings who survive.

There are a handful of real exceptions, and they matter:

• Co-signed or jointly held debt. If you co-signed a car loan or held a joint credit card, you remain liable on that account regardless of probate.
• Secured debt on property you want to keep. A mortgage or car lien survives death. The lender can still foreclose or repossess if payments stop, so an heir who wants the house has to keep the loan current.
• Certain spousal medical expenses. Florida recognizes limited spousal responsibility for necessaries in some circumstances, which can reach a surviving spouse.

Outside those situations, creditors look to the estate, not to you. When the estate runs dry, the remaining unsecured debt usually dies with it. This is one reason it is dangerous for a well-meaning relative to start paying a decedent’s bills out of pocket before probate is open — you may be volunteering money the law never required you to spend.

The Personal Representative’s Duty to Pay Debts and Taxes

In an intestate estate, the court appoints a personal representative (Florida’s term for an executor or administrator). Because there is no will naming anyone, Florida Statutes section 733.301 sets the priority — the surviving spouse first, then the heir chosen by a majority of those entitled to the estate, and so on. Once appointed and issued Letters of Administration, that person carries a legal duty to identify, evaluate, and pay the estate’s legitimate debts and taxes before distributing anything.

This is fiduciary work, not bookkeeping. A personal representative who distributes assets to heirs and then discovers unpaid creditors can be held personally responsible for the shortfall. I have watched people hand out a parent’s savings to siblings within weeks of the funeral, only to face a valid hospital claim months later that the estate could no longer cover. The order of operations exists precisely to prevent that.

How the Creditor Claim Process Works

Florida runs a formal creditor-notice system, and it is more structured than most families expect.

Notice to Creditors

The personal representative must publish a Notice to Creditors in a local newspaper and serve a copy directly on any creditor that is “reasonably ascertainable” — meaning the personal representative knows about it or could find it through diligent effort. That published notice starts the clock.

The Deadlines That Bar a Claim

Under Florida Statutes section 733.702, a creditor generally must file its claim with the court by the later of:

1. Three months from the date the Notice to Creditors is first published; or
2. Thirty days from the date the creditor was actually served with notice.

Layered on top of that is an absolute outer limit. Florida Statutes section 733.710 bars almost all claims against the estate two years after the decedent’s death, regardless of whether probate was ever opened. This two-year statute of repose is one of the strongest debt-clearing tools in the state, and it is a major reason families sometimes wait before opening an estate. A claim filed late is, in most cases, simply unenforceable.

Objecting to a Claim

Filing a claim does not make it valid. The personal representative can file a written objection, which forces the creditor to file an independent lawsuit within a short window or lose the claim. Reviewing each filed claim with a skeptical eye — checking for duplicate billing, debts already paid, or amounts not actually owed — is a core part of protecting the estate. The probate process in Florida shares this structure with other states; for a useful out-of-state comparison, see how a handles creditor notice and claims.

The Order in Which Florida Estates Pay Debts

When an estate does not have enough money to pay everyone — what lawyers call an insolvent estate — Florida does not let creditors race to the front of the line. Florida Statutes section 733.707 sets a fixed payment priority. Higher classes are paid in full before a lower class receives anything; if a class cannot be paid in full, its members share proportionally. The order, simplified, runs like this:

1. Class 1: Costs and expenses of administration, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
2. Class 2: Reasonable funeral and burial expenses, capped at a statutory amount.
3. Class 3: Debts and taxes with a federal preference, such as certain federal tax obligations.
4. Class 4: Reasonable and necessary medical expenses of the last 60 days of the final illness.
5. Class 5: Family allowance.
6. Class 6: Court-ordered child support arrearages.
7. Class 7: Debts from the continuation of the decedent’s business, within limits.
8. Class 8: All other claims, including ordinary unsecured debt like credit cards.

The practical lesson: routine consumer debt sits near the bottom. In a tight estate, the people who funded the funeral and the last hospitalization are protected long before the credit card companies. Knowing this order is what lets a personal representative pay confidently instead of guessing. The way courts classify and prioritize claims can also differ depending on the involved, so the size and complexity of the estate genuinely matters.

Are Some Assets Protected From Creditors?

Yes, and this is where Florida is unusually generous to families. Several categories of property pass outside the reach of most creditors:

• Homestead property. Florida’s constitutional homestead protection can shield the primary residence from most creditor claims and pass it directly to a surviving spouse or heirs, often outside the probate estate entirely.
• Life insurance and annuities. Proceeds paid to a named beneficiary are generally protected from the insured’s creditors.
• Retirement accounts. IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar accounts with valid beneficiary designations typically bypass probate and creditor claims.
• Statutory family entitlements. The family allowance, exempt personal property, and elective share rights protect a surviving spouse and minor children from being left with nothing.

For families navigating an intestate estate, these protections often determine whether the home stays in the family. It is worth mapping them early — sometimes the most valuable asset never enters the creditor pool at all. If you are still organizing your own affairs, our overview of Florida wills and estate planning explains how to keep assets out of probate in the first place.

Taxes in Florida Probate: What the Estate Actually Owes

People conflate several different taxes here, so let me separate them cleanly.

No Florida Estate or Inheritance Tax

Florida has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. This has been true since the state’s “pick-up” estate tax was phased out years ago. An heir in Palm Beach does not pay a state tax simply for inheriting. That single fact makes Florida far friendlier to heirs than many northern states.

Federal Estate Tax

The federal estate tax still exists, but it reaches only very large estates. For 2025, the federal exemption is in the multimillion-dollar range per individual, indexed for inflation, so the overwhelming majority of Florida estates owe nothing. When an estate does exceed the threshold, IRS Form 706 is generally due nine months after death, and getting that valuation right is specialized work.

The Decedent’s Final Income Tax Return

This one is easy to forget. The personal representative must file the decedent’s final federal income tax return (Form 1040) for the year of death, covering income earned up to the date of passing.

Estate Income Tax

If estate assets generate income during administration — rent, interest, dividends, capital gains on a sale — the estate itself may need to file a fiduciary income tax return, Form 1041, once that income crosses the filing threshold.

None of these are state-level Florida taxes. They are federal obligations the personal representative must shepherd, and unpaid federal taxes carry that Class 3 priority discussed above. Getting a tax professional involved early is rarely wasted money.

What This Means for Intestate Estates Specifically

When there is no will, the debt-and-tax process runs on the same rails, but with a few wrinkles worth flagging. There is no nominated executor, so appointment can be contested or slowed. There may be no clear inventory of debts, forcing the personal representative to reconstruct the decedent’s financial life from mail, bank records, and credit reports. And because intestate heirs are fixed by statute rather than chosen by the decedent, disagreements over who pays what — and who inherits the home — surface more often.

The fundamentals still hold: debts and taxes come off the top, heirs receive only what survives, and the two-year repose period eventually closes the door on stale creditors. Walking that path with an attorney who handles intestate Palm Beach estates is the surest way to avoid personal liability and unnecessary delay. You can compare approaches through Morgan Legal’s , or learn how the local intestate process works on our Florida probate guide.

If you are administering an estate in Palm Beach County and feel unsure about which bills to pay first, do not guess. The order is statutory, the deadlines are unforgiving, and a single misstep can become your personal problem. Reach out for a consultation before any money leaves the estate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do my parents' debts become my responsibility when they die in Florida?

Generally no. A decedent’s debts are paid from the estate’s assets, not from heirs personally. Exceptions include debts you co-signed, joint accounts, and secured loans on property you want to keep, such as a mortgage. If the estate cannot cover unsecured debts like credit cards, those debts usually go unpaid rather than passing to you.

How long do creditors have to file a claim against a Florida estate?

Under Florida Statutes 733.702, a creditor must file by the later of three months after the Notice to Creditors is first published or 30 days after being served. Separately, Florida Statutes 733.710 bars almost all claims two years after death, regardless of whether probate was opened.

Does Florida have an estate tax or inheritance tax?

No. Florida has neither a state estate tax nor a state inheritance tax. Heirs do not owe a Florida tax for inheriting. A federal estate tax can apply, but only to very large estates above the multimillion-dollar federal exemption, so most Florida estates owe none.

In what order are debts paid when a Florida estate runs out of money?

Florida Statutes 733.707 sets a fixed priority. Administration costs and attorney’s fees come first, then funeral expenses, federal-preference debts and taxes, last-illness medical expenses, family allowance, child support arrears, business debts, and finally ordinary unsecured debts like credit cards. Higher classes are paid in full before lower ones receive anything.

What taxes does a personal representative have to file in a Florida probate?

The personal representative typically files the decedent’s final federal income tax return (Form 1040), and if the estate earns income during administration, a fiduciary income tax return (Form 1041). A federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates exceeding the federal exemption. There is no Florida state-level estate or inheritance tax filing.