What Probate Actually Is

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will (if there is one), paying a decedent's debts, and transferring what's left to the right people. It applies mainly to assets held in the decedent's individual name — property in a trust, accounts with a named beneficiary, and jointly held property with rights of survivorship generally bypass it entirely. Florida offers three paths depending on the size of the estate and how long ago the person died: disposition without administration, summary administration, and formal administration.

A 2026 Law Change Widened the Fast Path

Florida just made it meaningfully easier for smaller estates to avoid the longer process. Effective July 1, 2026, the threshold for summary administration doubled from $75,000 to $150,000 in non-exempt assets. The cap for skipping probate entirely through "disposition without administration" — available for very small estates consisting mostly of final-expense reimbursements and modest personal property — rose from $10,000 to $20,000, and a surviving spouse or child can now collect up to $5,000 of an income tax refund without opening an estate at all, up from $2,500. In practical terms, a noticeable share of estates that would have needed the longer formal process last year now qualify for something faster.

Summary Administration: The Faster Path

An estate qualifies for summary administration if its non-exempt assets are valued at $150,000 or less, or if the decedent has been dead for more than two years, regardless of estate size. No personal representative is formally appointed. Instead, an interested party files a Petition for Summary Administration, and the court issues an Order of Summary Administration identifying who is entitled to which assets. Without the ongoing administration, creditor process, and accounting requirements of formal probate, summary administration typically wraps up in about two to three months.

Formal Administration: Step by Step

Formal administration is required for larger, more recent estates, and it follows a more structured sequence:

  • Petition and appointment. An interested party files a Petition for Administration along with the original will, if any, and a certified death certificate. The court issues Letters of Administration and an Order Appointing Personal Representative, which give the personal representative legal authority to act.
  • Notice to creditors. The personal representative publishes a Notice to Creditors in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks and serves known creditors directly. Creditors generally have 90 days from first publication (or 30 days from being served, if later) to file a claim.
  • Inventory. The personal representative files a verified inventory listing the estate's assets and their date-of-death values.
  • Claims and administration. Valid creditor claims are paid from estate assets, and the personal representative manages estate property throughout.
  • Accounting and distribution. Once claims are resolved, the personal representative accounts for the estate's finances and distributes what remains to the beneficiaries, closing the estate.

Formal administration usually takes six months to a year, and longer when the estate is complex, creditor claims are contested, or beneficiaries disagree.

What a Personal Representative Actually Does

The personal representative (what some states call an executor) is the person responsible for shepherding a formal estate through the process: securing and managing property, obtaining Letters of Administration, responding to creditor claims within strict deadlines, filing the inventory, and accounting for every dollar spent along the way. It's a fiduciary role with real legal exposure if handled carelessly, which is part of why Florida generally requires the personal representative in formal administration to be represented by an attorney unless they're the estate's only interested party.

One Deadline That Applies Regardless of Which Path You Take

Whoever has custody of a decedent's original will is required to deposit it with the clerk of court within 10 days of learning of the death — even if no probate case is ever opened. This obligation exists independently of whether the estate ultimately needs summary administration, formal administration, or no probate at all.