Probate & Estate Administration

When someone dies owning assets in their sole name, those assets generally cannot be transferred without a court order. Probate is how that order is obtained: the will is validated, a personal representative is appointed, assets are inventoried, creditors are paid, and what remains is distributed.

Florida's two main paths

Formal administration is the standard process, required for most estates. It involves a petition, appointment of a personal representative, a notice to creditors published and served, a three-month creditor claim period, an inventory, and a final accounting before the estate is closed.

Summary administration is available where the value of the probate estate subject to administration is $75,000 or less, or where the death occurred more than two years ago. It is materially faster and cheaper, has no personal representative, and is the right answer more often than families expect.

There is also disposition without administration — a limited procedure for very small estates where the only assets are exempt property and the funeral and final medical expenses exceed them.

The steps in a formal administration

1. Petition for administration and deposit the original will with the clerk.
2. Appointment of the personal representative; letters of administration issued.
3. Obtain an EIN for the estate and open an estate account.
4. Notice to creditors — published, and served on all reasonably ascertainable creditors.
5. Inventory of the estate's assets, filed with the court.
6. Resolve claims and pay valid debts and taxes in the statutory order of priority.
7. Resolve any disputes between beneficiaries or with claimants.
8. Distribute the remaining assets and file the final accounting to close the estate.

Probate and non-probate assets

Not everything goes through probate. Property held jointly with rights of survivorship, accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation, life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, and assets already held in a living trust all pass outside it. Assets in the decedent's sole name — a house, a bank account, a car, a brokerage account — generally do not.

Timing and cost

A straightforward Florida formal administration typically takes six months to a year, largely because the creditor claim period cannot be compressed. Contested estates, real property in more than one state, or a will challenge extend that considerably. Summary administration can be measured in weeks.