When Is Probate Required in Florida? (And When You Can Skip It)

Probate is required in Florida when a person dies owning property in his or her own name that has no surviving co-owner, no named beneficiary, and no trust to carry it, and someone needs legal authority to transfer it. Property that already passes by survivorship, beneficiary designation, or trust title does not need probate at all. For what remains, Florida requires some court proceeding, but the size of the estate decides which one: formal administration, summary administration when the Florida estate less creditor-exempt property is $150,000 or less, or a still shorter procedure for the smallest estates.

One duty applies whether or not any probate case is ever opened. Under Fla. Stat. §732.901(1), whoever holds the original will “must deposit the will with the clerk of the court having venue of the estate of the decedent within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead.” Depositing a will is not the same as starting probate, and it is the one step every family with a will has to take.

The Real Test: What Was Owned, and How

The question families usually ask is “does this estate have to go through probate?” The better question is asset by asset: which of the decedent’s property can someone transfer without a court giving them authority? Florida’s probate code works on property that is subject to administration. A house, a bank account, or a brokerage account in the decedent’s sole name, with no survivor or beneficiary named, cannot be retitled by anyone until a court either appoints a personal representative or enters an order saying who receives it.

That is why the existence of a will does not decide the matter. A will directs where probate property goes, but it does not move anything by itself. Section 733.103(1) of the Florida Statutes is blunt about this: “Until admitted to probate in this state or in the state where the decedent was domiciled, the will shall be ineffective to prove title to, or the right to possession of, property of the testator.” A family holding a valid will still needs a probate order to sell the house that was in the decedent’s name alone.

The reverse is also true. A person can die without a will and leave nothing that needs probate, because every asset was joint, payable on death, or held in trust. Absence of a will changes who inherits, under Florida’s intestacy statutes, but it does not by itself require a court case.

Assets That Pass Without Probate

Most Florida estates are a mix, and the nonprobate part is often the larger share. It is worth sorting these assets out first, because they can be collected with a death certificate and the institution’s own claim form while the rest of the estate is being planned.

Pay-on-death bank accounts. Section 655.82 provides that “on the death of the sole party or the last survivor of two or more parties, sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries.” If no beneficiary survives, the statute sends the money to the estate of the last surviving party, which makes it a probate asset after all.

Transfer-on-death securities. Brokerage and investment accounts can carry a transfer-on-death registration under the Florida Uniform Transfer-on-Death Security Registration Act, §§711.50 to 711.512. The beneficiary claims the account directly from the brokerage firm.

Beneficiary designations. Life insurance, annuities, 401(k) plans, and IRAs pay the named beneficiary under the contract. They fall back into probate only when the named beneficiary died first and no contingent beneficiary is named, or when the estate itself is the beneficiary.

Survivorship ownership. Accounts and real estate held jointly with right of survivorship, and property a married couple holds as tenants by the entirety, belong to the survivor at the moment of death. Our guide to probate and joint ownership in Florida explains the differences between the forms.

Trust assets. Property titled in the name of a revocable trust during life is administered by the successor trustee under the trust instrument, not by the probate court. A trust only avoids probate for what was actually transferred into it, so a house left in the grantor’s own name still needs probate even when a trust exists.

Vehicles. Florida has no transfer-on-death car title, but most cars can be retitled at the county tax collector’s office without a court order. Our guide to what happens to a car in Florida probate covers each title arrangement. For a full inventory of what stays out of court, see what assets are exempt from probate in Florida.

Which Proceeding Florida Requires, by Estate Size

Once the probate assets are identified, the next question is which proceeding fits. Florida’s small estates chapter, chapter 735, offers a ladder of procedures, and each rung has a statutory limit. Formal administration under chapter 733 is always available, and it is required when none of the shorter routes applies.

Payments without any court proceeding. Two small payments need no filing at all. Under §735.303(2), a Florida financial institution may pay a family member the funds in the decedent’s sole-name accounts without a pay-on-death designation if the combined total at that institution does not exceed $2,000, but “may not make such payment earlier than 6 months after the date of the decedent’s death.” Under §735.302(1), a federal income tax refund of up to $5,000 may be paid directly to the surviving spouse, or to a child designated by all children over 14, on a verified application stating that no administration has been started or planned.

Disposition without administration. Under §735.301(1), no administration is required when the decedent left only exempt personal property and nonexempt personal property worth no more than preferred funeral expenses plus reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness. For an intestate estate, §735.304(1) adds $20,000 to that allowance, provided the decedent has been dead more than 1 year and no administration is pending. Both are limited to personal property, so neither reaches a house.

Summary administration. Section 735.201(2) makes summary administration available when “the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $150,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years.” In a testate estate, the will must also not direct formal administration. The court enters one order distributing the assets, and no personal representative is appointed. Our summary administration guide explains how the value test is measured.

What Changed on July 1, 2026

Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, took effect on July 1, 2026, and doubled four of the thresholds on that ladder. The statute history notes on the current Florida Statutes show the change: §735.201 carries “s. 7, ch. 2026-57,” §735.302 carries “s. 8, ch. 2026-57,” and §735.304 carries “s. 10, ch. 2026-57.” The practical effect is that estates that needed formal administration last year may now qualify for summary administration, and more small bank balances can be released without any filing at all.

Two details are easy to miss. First, the $150,000 summary administration test is not the gross value of everything the decedent owned. It is the Florida estate subject to administration, less property exempt from creditors’ claims, so nonprobate assets, out-of-state property, protected homestead, and §732.402 exempt property are all outside the number. Second, the time door in the same subsection has no dollar limit: once the decedent has been dead more than 2 years, summary administration is available whatever the estate is worth.

If a formal administration was opened before July 1 and the estate now fits under the higher ceiling, §735.2055 allows a petition for summary administration “at any stage of the administration” if the estate would qualify at the time of filing. That can shorten a case already in progress.

The four figures Chapter 2026-57 changed, side by side:

The Step That Is Always Required: Depositing the Will

Even when nothing needs probate, an original will does not stay in a drawer. Section 732.901(1) requires the custodian to deposit it with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the estate would be administered within 10 days after learning of the death, and to give the clerk the testator’s date of death or the last four digits of the testator’s social security number. An original will filed with a petition counts as deposited, under §732.901(3).

The statute’s enforcement is civil. Under §732.901(2), a custodian “may be compelled to produce and deposit the will,” and if the court finds the custodian “had no just or reasonable cause for failing to deposit the will,” all costs, damages, and a reasonable attorney’s fee are adjudged against the custodian. Earlier versions of this article described the risk as contempt of court; the statute itself speaks of compelled production and costs, damages, and fees.

The clerk keeps the original. Section 732.901(4) requires the clerk to “retain and preserve the original will in its original form for at least 20 years,” whether or not probate is ever started, and scanning or recording it does not replace the original. The deposit rule also reaches a separate written list of tangible personal property referred to in the will, because §732.901(5) defines “will” to include a separate writing under §732.515.

Depositing the will is not the same as admitting it to probate. Deposit puts the document in safe custody. Admission is the court’s ruling that it is valid, and until that happens, §733.103(1) makes the will ineffective to prove title to property. That is the gap between having a will and being able to use it.

Is There a Deadline to Open Probate?

Florida sets no general statutory deadline for opening a probate case after a death. The 10-day will deposit is a deadline for the custodian of the will, not for starting administration. Waiting still has consequences, because several clocks start at death whether or not anyone files.

The most important is the 2-year bar in §733.710(1): “2 years after the death of a person, neither the decedent’s estate, the personal representative, if any, nor the beneficiaries shall be liable for any claim or cause of action against the decedent, whether or not letters of administration have been issued.” The bar does not apply to a creditor who filed a claim within the 2 years, and it does not affect a recorded mortgage or other lien.

When an administration is opened, a shorter period applies. The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors under §733.2121, once a week for 2 consecutive weeks, and under §733.702(1) most claims must be filed by the later of 3 months after first publication or, for a creditor who must be served, 30 days after service. Opening probate promptly is therefore one way to shorten the period in which creditors can come forward.

What Happens If Probate Is Not Filed

When probate property exists and nobody opens a case, the property does not pass to anyone automatically. It stays titled in the decedent’s name. The consequences tend to arrive when someone tries to do something with it.

• Real estate cannot be sold or refinanced. In practice, a buyer’s title insurer will require a probate order or other court-recognized proof of who owns property still in a decedent’s name, and §733.103(1) prevents the will alone from proving title.
• Accounts stay frozen. Apart from the $2,000 family payment after 6 months under §735.303, a bank holding a sole-name account without a beneficiary will generally not release it without letters of administration or a court order.
• No one has authority to act. Without a personal representative, nobody can sign for the estate, collect debts owed to it, deal with a tenant in a rental property, or pursue a claim the decedent had.
• Acting without authority is risky. A family member who spends or sells a decedent’s property without legal authority can face claims from creditors and from other heirs who were entitled to it.
• Disputes have no forum. Disagreements among heirs about who gets what have no structure for resolution until a court case exists.

Delay is not always harmful. For a family that has sorted out the nonprobate assets and is waiting for a 1-year or 2-year door to open, waiting can be a deliberate choice. After 2 years, most creditor claims are barred under §733.710 and summary administration becomes available at any value. The cost is that the property remains unusable in the meantime and that insurance, taxes, and upkeep on real estate still have to be paid by someone.

The First Weeks After a Death, Before Probate

Several things happen before any probate decision, and some of them affect the estate later.

Who decides about the body and the funeral. Florida’s funeral and cemetery law, chapter 497, gives the right to direct final disposition to a “legally authorized person” in a set order of priority. Under §497.005, the decedent’s own written directions come first, then a military designee where applicable, then the surviving spouse, then an adult son or daughter, then a parent, then an adult brother or sister, then an adult grandchild, then a grandparent, and then the next degree of kinship. The personal representative appears only later in the list, among the people who may act when no family member exists or is available.

Death certificates. Order enough certified copies at the outset. Banks, insurers, brokerage firms, and the tax collector’s office each ask for one, and many want to keep it.

Funeral expenses. Whoever pays the funeral bill can be reimbursed from the estate, within limits. Under §733.707(1)(b), “reasonable funeral, interment, and grave marker expenses, whether paid by a guardian, the personal representative, or any other person, not to exceed the aggregate of $6,000” are a Class 2 expense, paid right after the costs of administration. Anything above $6,000 drops to Class 8 with general claims. A claim for funeral or burial expenses is one of the claims §733.702(1) requires to be filed in the probate proceeding, so a relative who paid out of pocket should keep the receipts and file a claim once an administration opens.

Secure the property. Lock the home, keep insurance in force, forward the mail, and write down what is in the house. None of this requires court authority, and all of it protects the estate until someone has it.

Once the first weeks settle, the sorting in the first section of this guide decides what comes next: collect the nonprobate assets, total what is left in the decedent’s sole name, and match it to a rung of the ladder. If the answer is formal administration, our Florida probate services page and our guide to how long Florida probate takes are the next stops.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article describes Florida law as of September 2026 and is general information, not legal advice for any particular estate. Statutes and rules change, and the right procedure depends on the facts of the estate. The MTM Law Firm PLLC handles probate matters throughout Florida from its office in Lakeland.