How to Open a Probate Estate in Florida: A Step-by-Step Guide for Personal Representatives

To open a probate estate in Florida, you file a petition for administration in the circuit court of the county where the decedent was domiciled, deposit the original will (if one exists), and ask the court to appoint a personal representative and issue letters of administration. Once those letters are signed, the personal representative has legal authority to marshal assets, give notice to creditors, and ultimately distribute what remains. The process is governed primarily by Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes and the Florida Probate Rules.

That sounds tidy on paper. In practice, opening an estate in Palm Beach County is rarely the hard part. The hard part comes later, when creditors surface, and the decisions you make at the very beginning of the case determine how exposed the estate is to those claims. This guide walks through how to actually open a probate estate in Florida, with an eye on the creditor problems that quietly do the most damage.

First, decide whether you even need formal probate

Not every death requires a full probate administration. Before you file anything, figure out which path the estate belongs in, because choosing wrong wastes months.

• Formal administration is the standard path. It applies to most estates where the decedent owned probate assets in their sole name and either the estate exceeds $75,000 in non-exempt assets or the death occurred within the last two years. This is the route that involves a personal representative, letters of administration, and a formal creditor process.
• Summary administration (Fla. Stat. § 735.201) is available when the value of the probate estate, less exempt property, is $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. There is no personal representative in summary administration, which has real consequences for how creditors are handled.
• Disposition without administration is a narrow option reserved for very small estates where assets are exempt or barely cover final expenses. It is not common.

A word of caution on summary administration: because no personal representative is appointed, no one has the authority to formally cut off creditors by serving notice. The two-year statute of repose under Fla. Stat. § 733.710 still runs, but if you summarily administer an estate inside that two-year window, the recipients of the assets can remain personally liable to creditors up to the value of what they received. For a creditor-heavy estate, that exposure is exactly why we often steer clients into formal administration even when the dollar threshold would technically permit the shortcut.

Where to file: the county of domicile

Florida probate is filed in the circuit court of the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. For a Palm Beach resident, that means the Probate Division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Domicile is about more than where someone happened to die; it turns on where they intended to make their permanent home. Snowbirds complicate this. If the decedent split the year between, say, a New York apartment and a Palm Beach condo, the question of domicile can become genuinely contested, and it can pull a second state’s courts into the picture through ancillary administration.

If the decedent lived elsewhere but owned Florida real property, the primary probate happens in the home state and an ancillary administration is opened in Florida to handle the Florida asset. We see this constantly with out-of-state families who kept a Palm Beach property. Coordinating a home-state estate with a Florida ancillary case takes planning; firms that handle alongside Florida counsel are well-positioned to keep both proceedings aligned so creditors and assets are handled consistently across state lines.

You will almost certainly need a Florida attorney

This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly. Under Florida Probate Rule 5.030, a personal representative in a formal administration must be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida, unless the personal representative is the sole interested person. This is not a marketing pitch; it is a court rule. The personal representative is acting as a fiduciary for the estate’s beneficiaries and creditors, and the rule reflects that fiduciaries should not be navigating creditor claims, accountings, and distributions alone.

Gather the documents you’ll file to open the estate

Opening the case is a paperwork exercise. To get an estate moving in Palm Beach, you generally need to assemble:

1. The original will and any codicils. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.901, the custodian of the will must deposit the original with the clerk of the circuit court within ten days of learning of the death. Photocopies create real problems; a lost-will proceeding is far harder than producing the original.
2. A certified death certificate. For court filing, request the version without cause of death.
3. The petition for administration (Fla. Stat. § 733.202), identifying the decedent, the heirs and beneficiaries, the proposed personal representative, and a description of the assets.
4. An oath of personal representative and a designation of resident agent. If the personal representative lives out of state, Florida requires a resident agent within the state to accept service.
5. The will’s self-proving affidavit, if one was executed. Without it, you may need to prove the will through an oath of a witness, which slows things down.

Once the petition is filed and the court is satisfied, it admits the will to probate (if testate) and issues an order appointing the personal representative. The clerk then signs letters of administration, the single most important document in the case. Letters are what banks, brokerages, and title companies will demand before they release anything. No letters, no authority.

Choosing and qualifying the personal representative

The will usually names the personal representative. If it doesn’t, or if the named person can’t serve, Florida statute sets an order of preference. Two qualification rules trip people up regularly:

• Residency and relationship. A non-resident can serve only if they are a close relative of the decedent (or related to one) as defined in Fla. Stat. § 733.304. A friend from out of state generally cannot serve as personal representative of a Florida estate.
• Disqualification. A person who has been convicted of a felony, or who is mentally or physically unable to perform the duties, cannot serve under Fla. Stat. § 733.303.

The court may also require the personal representative to post a bond, depending on the will’s language and the nature of the assets. A well-drafted will often waives bond; a creditor-laden or contentious estate may prompt the judge to require it anyway.

The step that defines a creditor-heavy estate: notice to creditors

Here is where our work at Palm Beach probate matters most. Opening the estate is the first move; controlling creditors is the whole game. Once appointed, the personal representative is required to make a diligent search for creditors and serve them, and to publish a notice to creditors in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks under Fla. Stat. § 733.2121.

That notice starts the clock that limits the estate’s exposure:

• A creditor who is not personally served but learns of the estate through publication generally has three months from the date of first publication to file a claim.
• A creditor who is reasonably ascertainable and is personally served has the longer of three months from first publication or thirty days from the date of service on that creditor.
• Regardless of notice, the two-year statute of repose under Fla. Stat. § 733.710 bars most claims filed more than two years after death.

The phrase “reasonably ascertainable” is where estates get burned. The U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning in Tulsa Professional Collection Services v. Pope means that a creditor the personal representative could have discovered through reasonable diligence is entitled to actual notice, not just newspaper publication. Skip the diligent search, and a creditor you “forgot” can resurface long after you thought the window had closed. We have seen personal representatives distribute an estate, only to face a valid claim because a known medical provider or lender was never served. Out-of-state representatives, in particular, tend to underestimate how much these can derail an otherwise simple estate.

What to do with a claim once it’s filed

Creditors file their claims with the clerk. The personal representative then reviews each one and may pay it, or file an objection under Fla. Stat. § 733.705. An objection forces the creditor to file an independent lawsuit within thirty days, or the claim is barred. Timing and precision here protect the beneficiaries’ inheritance, and getting it wrong can make the personal representative personally responsible for an improperly paid or improperly objected claim.

What happens after the estate is open

With letters in hand and the creditor period running, the personal representative works through the administration:

• Open an estate bank account and obtain a federal tax ID (EIN) for the estate.
• Marshal and inventory the assets; file the inventory with the court (Fla. Prob. R. 5.340) within 60 days of issuance of letters.
• Determine and pay valid creditor claims and final expenses, in the statutory order of priority if assets are insufficient.
• Handle exempt property and any family or elective-share allowances for a surviving spouse.
• File any required tax returns.
• Distribute the remaining assets to beneficiaries and petition for discharge.

A typical, uncontested Florida formal administration runs somewhere between six months and a year, largely because the three-month creditor period and the inventory and accounting steps can’t be rushed. Creditor disputes, will contests, or real property sales extend that timeline.

How a Palm Beach probate practice approaches the first 30 days

Because our focus is on estates with meaningful creditor exposure, the early decisions we make are deliberately defensive. We confirm domicile, file promptly, and prioritize the diligent creditor search before any assets move. We document the search, serve every reasonably ascertainable creditor, and publish on schedule so the three-month clock starts as early as possible. The goal is simple: shorten the window in which the estate is exposed and protect the personal representative from personal liability. For families with property in more than one state, we coordinate with the firm’s and out-of-state counsel so the home-state estate and the Florida proceeding move in step.

If you’re holding a death certificate and a will and aren’t sure where to begin, start by confirming the county of domicile and locating the original will. Then talk to a probate attorney before you contact creditors or move any money. You can review related topics on our Florida probate and wills pages, or reach our office directly through the contact page to walk through your specific estate.

Frequently asked questions about opening a Florida probate estate

Below are the questions Palm Beach families ask most often when they first sit down with us.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to open a probate estate in Florida?

There is no single statutory deadline to file the petition, but practical clocks force action. The custodian of the will must deposit the original with the clerk within 10 days of learning of the death (Fla. Stat. 732.901), and the two-year statute of repose under Fla. Stat. 733.710 bars most creditor claims two years after death. Waiting also lets reasonably ascertainable creditors argue they were never properly notified, so opening the estate promptly is almost always the safer choice.

Do I need a lawyer to open a probate estate in Florida?

In most formal administrations, yes. Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires the personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested person. Even in summary administration, the creditor and exempt-property rules are technical enough that most families use counsel.

What is the difference between formal and summary administration?

Formal administration appoints a personal representative who receives letters of administration, gives notice to creditors, and administers the estate. Summary administration (available when non-exempt assets are $75,000 or less, or the death occurred more than two years ago) skips the personal representative entirely. Because no one serves notice to creditors in a summary case, the people who receive assets can stay personally liable to creditors within the two-year window, which is why creditor-heavy estates often choose formal administration.

What are letters of administration and why do they matter?

Letters of administration are the court-issued document confirming that the personal representative has authority to act for the estate. Banks, brokerages, and title companies will not release assets or accept instructions without them. Until letters are issued, no one has legal power to collect or distribute estate property.

How long does Florida probate take after the estate is opened?

A straightforward, uncontested formal administration usually takes about six months to a year. The three-month creditor claim period, the 60-day inventory deadline, tax filings, and any creditor disputes or will contests are the main factors that lengthen the timeline.