Florida

Florida probate is heard in the circuit court of the county where the deceased lived,
under the Florida Probate Code. There are two main routes, and which one applies changes
everything about the timeline.

Formal administration

The standard route. The court appoints a personal representative and issues letters of
administration. The personal representative must, with very few exceptions, be
represented by a Florida attorney — Florida is stricter about this than most states.
Creditors are notified and have a limited window to file claims.

Summary administration

Available for smaller estates and where the death was long enough ago. No personal
representative is appointed — the court simply orders the assets distributed. Faster and
much cheaper, but it offers no mechanism for someone to actively administer anything, so it
suits simple estates only.

Homestead is its own universe

Florida's constitutional homestead protection is the trap that catches families from
other states. Homestead property is largely shielded from creditors — and if the deceased is
survived by a spouse or a minor child, they cannot freely leave the home to whoever they
like. A devise that violates the homestead rules simply fails, and the property passes as
the constitution directs. Get advice before assuming a Florida house can be left by will.

Before distributing

Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, but the surviving spouse's elective
share and the creditor claim period both have to be worked through before anything is
handed out. Wait for them.

A Florida will must be in writing, signed by the testator at the end, and signed by
two witnesses who are present when the testator signs and in the presence of each other.

Florida does not accept holographic wills

This is the single most important thing on this page. A will written out entirely by hand
and left unwitnessed is not valid in Florida — even if it was perfectly valid in the state
where it was written. Florida will not honour another state's holographic will. For a state
that so much of the country retires into, that catches people constantly. If you moved here
from Texas, Michigan or almost anywhere with a handwritten will in a drawer, that will is now
worthless.

Oral wills are not recognised either.

The self-proving affidavit

Attach one, signed before a notary at the same time as the will. Without it a witness has to
be found and produced after the death. It is one extra page and it removes a whole step.

Who you may name as personal representative

Another Florida peculiarity worth planning around. A person not domiciled in Florida cannot
serve unless they are a close relative — an adopted child or adoptive parent, someone
related by lineal consanguinity, a spouse, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece, or the
spouse of one of those. A trusted out-of-state friend, business partner or accountant
simply cannot be your personal representative in Florida.

Also

• Homestead limits what you can leave if a spouse or minor child survives you.
• A surviving spouse has an elective share regardless of what the will says.
• Name an alternate, and review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to Florida.

Yes. Florida sets out what counts as reasonable by statute, which makes it one of the
more predictable states.

The presumed-reasonable commission

Under § 733.617, a commission calculated on the compensable value of the estate is
presumed reasonable in a formal administration, starting at 3% of the first $1 million
and stepping down through lower percentages on value above that. Compensable value is broadly
the inventory value of the probate estate plus income it earns during administration.

Confirm the current bands against the statute before relying on them — the figures are
legislative and do get revisited.

Presumed, not guaranteed

The percentage is a starting point that an interested party can object to as excessive, or
the personal representative can argue is inadequate. The court then weighs the usual factors:
the work actually required, novelty and difficulty, responsibility assumed, the results, and
the time involved.

Summary administration pays nothing

There is no statutory commission in a summary administration, for the simple reason that
no personal representative is appointed. If you are expecting a fee, the route matters.

Attorney's fees are separate

Florida also sets presumed-reasonable attorney's fees for probate on a similar percentage
basis, paid by the estate on top of the personal representative's commission. Families are
frequently surprised by the combined figure — it is worth asking for both estimates at the
outset.

If the will sets the figure

The will governs, provided the personal representative accepts on those terms.

Tax

Commission is taxable income. An inheritance is not.

A Florida personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable
expenses of administration, separately from the statutory commission.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, and a reasonable reception.
• Court filing fees, publication of the notice to creditors, certified death certificates.
• Attorney's fees — effectively unavoidable in Florida, since formal administration
  requires counsel.
• Accountant's fees, and preparation of the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041.
• Appraisals of real property, vehicles, boats, jewellery and collections.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: homeowners and windstorm insurance,
  property tax, HOA or condominium assessments, utilities, security, lawn and pool
  service. In Florida these are substantial and they do not pause.
• Hurricane preparation and storm damage mitigation on estate property — shutters,
  tarping, emergency repairs.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing and shipping contents.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate, including flights for an out-of-state
  personal representative.
• Bond premiums where a bond is required.

Normally not claimable

• The personal representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal costs.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account under the estate's own taxpayer identification number and run
everything through it. Florida requires a formal accounting to the beneficiaries before the
estate closes, and a condominium or a waterfront house generates a lot of small recurring
charges. Log them as they happen.

Florida is a state where professional administration is more common than the national norm,
partly because so many estates here belong to people whose families live somewhere else.

Consider a professional when

• Everyone in the family lives out of state. This is the Florida case. A non-resident can
  only serve if they are a close relative, and even then they are administering a property
  they cannot easily visit, through a court in a county they may never have been to. A
  Florida corporate fiduciary or attorney solves both problems at once.
• The estate includes homestead property with a surviving spouse or minor child, where
  the constitutional rules override the will and getting the analysis wrong misdirects the
  largest asset.
• There is a second marriage with children from the first — the classic Florida elective
  share fight.
• The estate holds a business, rental or vacation property portfolio.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated.
• A will contest or undue influence claim looks likely, which in a state with a large
  elderly population is a live risk.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage broadly in line with the statutory
presumption, usually with a minimum annual fee. Remember that attorney's fees come on top
whichever route you choose, because formal administration requires counsel.

Middle ground

Name a qualifying relative in Florida as personal representative with an out-of-state
family member as a co-representative or successor, and let them retain a probate attorney at
the estate's expense. If no relative qualifies, naming a Florida institution is not a luxury
— it may be the only workable option.