Florida Probate Counsel for Personal Representatives and Executors

If you have been named in a Florida will, asked to step forward by family, or appointed by the court, the role you are taking on is called personal representative. In many other states the same job is called an executor. Whatever the label, the responsibility is the same: gather the decedent’s assets, pay valid debts and taxes, and distribute what remains to the people the law and the will direct. This site is written for the people who actually carry that burden in Florida.

What a Florida Personal Representative Actually Does

Florida probate is governed by the Florida Probate Code, Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes. Once the court issues Letters of Administration, you hold legal authority to act for the estate. From that point you have a fiduciary duty: you must act in the interest of the beneficiaries and creditors, keep estate money separate from your own, and account for every dollar. Personal representatives who treat estate funds casually invite surrender claims and personal liability, which is why so many people choose to work with counsel from the start.

Two Roads Through Probate

Most Florida estates travel one of two paths. Summary administration is a streamlined process available when the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. Formal administration is the full process, generally required for estates over $75,000 where death occurred within the last two years, and it is the route in which a personal representative is formally appointed. Choosing the wrong track wastes months, so the analysis of which applies belongs early in the engagement.

The Florida Issues That Surprise Executors

Several features of Florida law catch out-of-state executors. Florida homestead property is protected under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and often passes outside the probate estate to a surviving spouse or descendants, with strict limits on how it can be devised. A surviving spouse may claim an elective share of roughly 30% of the elective estate under Section 732.2065 and following, even against the will’s terms. And while many states tax estates, Florida has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, though federal estate tax can still apply to very large estates.

When Planning Tools Keep Assets Out of Probate

As personal representative you may find that significant assets never reach you because the decedent used non-probate transfers. A Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate deed) can pass real property automatically at death. A funded revocable trust under Chapter 736 administers separately from probate. Payable-on-death accounts and jointly titled property likewise bypass the estate. Understanding what is and is not in your probate inventory is one of your first tasks.

How This Firm Supports You

We focus on the personal representative’s experience: petitioning for appointment, publishing the notice to creditors, building the inventory, handling homestead and elective-share questions, and closing the estate cleanly. When disputes arise, we defend fiduciaries against removal and breach claims and pursue valid claims on the estate’s behalf.

This page is general information about Florida probate, not legal advice for your situation. Estate facts vary, and you should consult a licensed Florida attorney before acting as personal representative.

For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of probate in Palm Beach. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Article 81 guardianship in New York.