Florida Probate Help for Personal Representatives and Executors

If you have been named in a Florida will, or you have stepped forward to settle a loved one’s estate, you may carry the title personal representative (the term Florida uses for what many states call an executor). It is a position of real responsibility, governed by the Florida Probate Code, Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes. This site is written specifically for the people who do that work: the personal representatives and executors who must inventory assets, pay valid debts, protect homestead, and distribute what remains to the right heirs and beneficiaries.

What a Personal Representative Actually Does

In Florida, the personal representative is a fiduciary. That means you act for the benefit of the estate’s creditors and beneficiaries, not yourself. Core tasks include locating and filing the original will, obtaining Letters of Administration from the circuit court, marshaling estate assets, notifying known and reasonably ascertainable creditors, paying legitimate claims in the order the statute sets, and then distributing the remainder. Florida generally requires that a personal representative be represented by a licensed attorney unless you are the sole interested person, which is why most executors work with counsel from the start.

Two Roads Through Probate

Florida offers two main administration paths. Summary administration may be available when the estate’s non-exempt assets are valued at $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. Formal administration is the fuller process used for larger or more recent estates and any time a personal representative must be formally appointed to act. Choosing the right track early saves time and cost, and the distinction shapes nearly every step that follows.

Homestead, Exempt Property, and the Elective Share

Florida protects the family home through the homestead provisions of Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. Homestead often passes outside the probate estate and carries restrictions on how it may be devised when a spouse or minor child survives. A surviving spouse also has an elective share right under Sections 732.2065 and following, generally 30 percent of the elective estate. A personal representative who overlooks these protections can distribute assets improperly and face personal exposure, so they deserve careful attention.

Good News on Taxes

Florida imposes no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Beneficiaries receiving a Florida inheritance do not pay a state-level tax on it. Large estates may still face the federal estate tax, and certain assets carry income-tax consequences, but the Florida personal representative is spared a separate state death-tax filing.

Planning Tools That Shape Probate

Many estates are simpler because the decedent used non-probate tools. Revocable living trusts under Chapter 736, Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deeds, durable powers of attorney under Chapter 709, and properly executed self-proving wills under Section 732.502 all influence what reaches probate and how smoothly administration goes. Understanding which assets are inside the probate estate and which pass automatically is one of the first things a personal representative should sort out.

Explore the Topics That Matter to You

Use the pages on this site to dig into formal administration, summary administration, ancillary probate for out-of-state property and heirs, the specific duties of a personal representative, and what happens when an estate is contested.

Consult a Florida Attorney

This information is general and reflects Florida law as a public resource; it is not legal advice for your situation. Serving as a personal representative or executor carries personal responsibility, and every estate is different. Please consult a licensed Florida probate attorney before acting on anything you read here.