Probate Attorney for Apalachicola, Florida

Probate in Franklin County: Where It’s Filed

Apalachicola is in Franklin County, which sits in Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit. Probate is filed with Michele Maxwell, the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. Cases are handled at the Franklin County Courthouse at 33 Market Street, Suite 203, in Apalachicola, where the Clerk’s Circuit Civil and Probate desk sits and the circuit judge keeps his Franklin chambers, with a Thursday-only Clerk’s window at the Carrabelle Annex, 912 N.W. Avenue A. Attorneys e-file every document through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, which is why an out-of-state family can have a Franklin County estate handled without anyone traveling to the courthouse.

Franklin County probate is filed at the courthouse in Apalachicola, and the judge who hears it divides his weeks between Apalachicola and Tallahassee and sets his probate docket on the Tallahassee weeks, so a Franklin hearing is commonly taken on his standing Zoom room rather than in the Market Street courtroom. We serve Apalachicola and Franklin County residents, including Apalachicola, Carrabelle, Eastpoint, St. George Island, Alligator Point, Lanark Village, Dog Island.

Which Kind of Probate You’ll Need

Most Franklin County estates pass through one of three doors. The cheapest one may be open.

• Disposition without administration. Tiny estates with only exempt property and final-expense reimbursement; days to weeks.
• Summary administration. Estates of $150,000 or less (raised from $75,000 on July 1, 2026) after exempt property, or when the decedent died more than two years ago; often weeks.
• Formal administration. Everything else; a personal representative is appointed and the case runs about 6 to 12 months.

We confirm which applies at your consult and quote a flat fee. Estimate the cost and timeline first →

How Long, and What It Costs

Formal administration is paced by the 3-month creditor-claim window; clean distribution waits for it to pass. Florida law sets a presumed-reasonable attorney fee scaled to the estate, but it’s a ceiling, not a mandate. Our flat fees start at $1,500 (disposition), $2,500 (summary), and $3,500 (formal). Government costs, the Franklin County filing fee (about $400), newspaper publication, and certified copies, are additional and passed through at cost. See the full Florida probate guide →

Out-of-State Personal Representatives

Under Florida law, you can serve as personal representative of a Franklin County estate from another state if you’re related to the decedent by blood, adoption, or marriage; an out-of-state child qualifies. We represent personal representatives across Apalachicola and Franklin County by phone, video, and e-signature.

Local Rules, Judges, and the Clerk’s Probate Office

Every circuit publishes administrative orders and local procedures that control how probate actually runs in Franklin County, including which division gets the case, which checklists are required, and how proposed orders reach the judge. Franklin probate is heard by a circuit judge whose written policies require an affidavit of heirs, a death certificate, the will where there is one, a conforming personal representative oath and all necessary waivers, consents and notices in every case, with a copy of the death certificate going to the Agency for Health Care Administration where the person who died was over fifty-five. A petition to determine homestead must state whether the decedent was domiciled in the property, whether it sits inside or outside a municipality, and the acreage. The Clerk hosts four probate forms and not the two formal administration checklists the judge requires, which come from the circuit’s forms page as Word documents. No administrative order sets general probate practice in the Second Circuit, and the operative local rules live in the circuit’s approved checklists and in the assigned judge’s written procedures. In Franklin, read the date on that document first, because the previous judge’s Franklin procedures are still posted ahead of the current judge’s on the circuit’s own index.

• Administrative orders of the Second Judicial Circuit
• Second Judicial Circuit judges directory
• The clerk’s probate office for Franklin County
• Local probate forms and checklists

You do not have to learn any of this yourself. Part of what a flat fee covers is an attorney who already files under these rules, so nothing bounces back for a missing checklist.

Rather handle the filing yourself? Our Franklin County Probate Court filing guide is the procedural version of this page, with the courthouse address, where the original will goes, which forms the county wants, the posted filing fee, and an eleven-step checklist for opening the estate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Fla. Stat. ch. 733 to 735 (administration); §733.304 (nonresident PR); §733.702 (creditor claims); Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 (attorney required). Filing via Michele Maxwell, the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller (2nd Judicial Circuit) and the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. (retrieved 2026-06-07)

Updated August 12, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. 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. General information about Florida law, not legal advice. We serve Apalachicola and Franklin County residents from Miami; this is not a Apalachicola office.