Florida Ancillary Probate, State by State

The Rule That Applies in Every State

Real property is governed by the law of the state where it sits. That single idea is older than any of the statutes on this page and it produces every row in the table below. A court in Ohio can appoint someone to handle an Ohio estate, and that appointment stops at the Florida line, because the house in Naples answers to Florida.

Florida states the trigger plainly. Where a nonresident of this state dies leaving assets in this state, credits due from residents here, or liens on property here, a Florida proceeding may be had for those assets. Florida calls it ancillary administration, and the name only means it runs alongside the main estate rather than instead of it.

Find Your State

Twenty states have a full side-by-side comparison, with the home-state figures verified from that state’s own courts and dated on the page. For the rest, the Florida half is identical and the four routes below are what decide your matter.

Uniform Probate Code adoption is shown because it is the single fact that best predicts how light the home-state process felt. It has no effect on the Florida side. Deliberately no dollar figures appear here for states without a comparison page, because an unverified figure about another state’s law is worse than no figure.

The Four Florida Routes

Wherever you live, the Florida question is the same one, and four facts answer it. Whether there was a will, what the Florida property is worth, whether the home-state case has closed, and how long ago the death was.

1. Recording the foreign will. An authenticated copy of a will another court has already admitted is recorded in the Florida county where the land sits, and it passes title as if the will had been probated here. Available more than 2 years after the death, or at any time after the home-state representative has been discharged, provided no Florida administration was ever opened. No letters, no bond, no creditor period.
2. The short form. A testate estate with Florida property worth $50,000 or less, filed within 2 years of the death, on an authenticated transcript of the home-state proceedings.
3. Summary administration. A Florida estate of $150,000 or less after exempt property, or any death more than 2 years ago. Available for a nonresident decedent, not only a Florida one.
4. Formal ancillary administration. Everything else, and where most real estate and every intestate estate ends up.

Before any of the four, check the deed. Florida property held with survivorship rights passed to the survivor on the day of death. No case, no letters, no fee, and a recorded death certificate finishes it.

Three Patterns That Repeat Across States

Twenty states researched for this set, and the same three shapes keep appearing.

The cheap route was never capable of moving the house, and the statute usually says so. Illinois bars its small estate affidavit where the estate includes real estate. New York’s voluntary administration is unavailable where the decedent owned real property in sole name. Minnesota’s affidavit requires that there be no real property. Wisconsin’s transfer by affidavit reaches solely owned property within Wisconsin. Families read those limits as fine print at the time and only discover what they meant later.

Some states open their shortcuts by consent, and Florida opens none that way. Georgia will declare no administration necessary at any value where the debts are paid and the heirs agree. Indiana allows unsupervised administration where the heirs consent. Maryland’s modified administration runs on the agreement of the residuary heirs. Florida measures by value, by whether there was a will another court has admitted, and by how long ago the death was. Unanimous agreement among the heirs opens nothing.

Florida is not always the expensive one. California fixes attorney and representative compensation by statute on the gross value of the estate, so a California probate usually costs more than the Florida side will. Connecticut’s court fee scales with the estate and passes the $400 to $401 a Florida clerk charges at around $100,000. Where Florida does cost more, the reason is usually its rule about who may appear in court rather than the difficulty of the case.

How Much Does the Florida Side Cost?

Our flat fee for Florida ancillary administration is from $3,500, agreed in writing before anything is filed, and it does not change with where you live. Florida publishes a fee schedule that the statute itself calls presumed rather than mandatory, so a written flat fee agreed before the petition replaces it.

Government costs sit on top and are passed through at what they cost, covering the clerk’s filing fee, publication of the notice to creditors, certified copies, the authenticated copies the home-state court charges for, and a bond premium where the judge requires one. The clerk’s fee for a formal administration is $400 or $401 in every one of Florida’s ten largest counties, a statewide spread of one dollar, so the county your property sits in is not what moves the bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does My Home State Probate Cover Florida Property?

No. Letters issued by a court in any other state carry no authority over Florida land, because real property is governed by the law of the state where it sits. Florida opens its own proceeding, called ancillary administration, whenever a nonresident dies leaving assets here. The one exception is property that never entered the estate, such as a house held by a married couple with survivorship rights, which passes to the survivor on the death certificate alone.

My State Let Us Skip Probate Entirely. Why Not Florida?

Because most of those shortcuts are limited to personal property, to assets inside that state, or to estates below a value a Florida house exceeds, and several say so expressly. Illinois bars its small estate affidavit where the estate includes real estate. New York’s voluntary administration is unavailable where the decedent owned real property in sole name. Minnesota’s affidavit is available only where there is no real property. Wisconsin’s transfer by affidavit reaches solely owned property within Wisconsin. The route that felt free was usually never capable of moving the Florida house.

Which States Have a Full Comparison Page?

Twenty so far, chosen because they send the most property owners to Florida: Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California, Texas, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri. Each has a nine-row side-by-side against Florida, with the home-state figures verified from that state’s own courts and dated. If your state is not on the list, the four Florida routes are identical and the consult is the faster way to find out which one you are in.

How Much Does Florida Ancillary Probate Cost?

Our flat fee is from $3,500, agreed in writing before anything is filed, and it does not change with where you live. Ancillary administration of Florida real estate is ordinarily a formal administration rather than one of the short paths, because the cheapest Florida route of all, disposition without administration, is available only where the estate holds no real estate. Government costs are additional and passed through at what they cost.

Sources of Law

• Ancillary administration, Fla. Stat. §734.102, with bond at §734.102(4). Short form, §734.1025, implemented by Fla. Prob. R. 5.475. Foreign wills admitted to record, §734.104. Summary administration, §735.201, cap raised to $150,000 by Laws of Fla. ch. 2026-57 effective July 1, 2026. Nonresident personal representatives, §733.304. Attorney representation, Fla. Prob. R. 5.030(a). Ancillary petition and formal notice, Fla. Prob. R. 5.470, amended June 2026.
• Each state’s own figures are cited and dated on that state’s comparison page, and are stated there for contrast only. Kevin D. Klagge, Esq. is admitted in Florida and does not practise the law of any other state.

What I See Across These Cases

The calls I take about this almost always begin the same way, with somebody saying their state made it easy and asking what Florida is doing differently. Twenty states into building this set, the honest answer is that the home state was usually not easier, it was just finished with the assets it could reach.

A common question I hear is whether the family can just use the home-state letters at the Florida clerk’s counter, and the answer is no, because those letters have no force outside the state that issued them.

The first thing I ask for is the deed, before the will and before the home-state file. Survivorship wording means no Florida case exists, and I have closed files in a week on a recorded death certificate for families who had already been quoted for a full administration.

The second is the date the home-state representative was discharged. Almost nobody brings it, and it is the fact that decides whether the cheapest Florida route is open today or two years from now.

The third is whether there was a will. Two of the four Florida routes require one that another court has already admitted, so an intestate estate runs the long way and there is no argument about it.

Practice pointer. Ask the home-state attorney to send authenticated copies before they close their file, not after. Authenticated copies are routine while a case is open and awkward once it is shut, and they cost the same either way.

Avoid opening a Florida administration before anyone has checked the recording route. Florida makes that route available only where there has been no proceeding to administer the estate in this state, so filing is the single act that forecloses it, and it cannot be undone.

One limit is worth stating plainly. I am admitted in Florida only. What I can tell you about your own state is what its published rules say, which is what the comparison pages carry and why each of them is dated. The work I do is the Florida side, and the planning that stops the next one happening at all.

Updated on September 18, 2026. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court.