Probate Attorney for St. Augustine, Florida

Probate in St. Johns County: Where It’s Filed

St. Augustine is in St. Johns County, which sits in Florida’s 7th Judicial Circuit. Probate is filed with the St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller, in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. Cases are handled at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center at 4010 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine. Attorneys e-file every document through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, which is why an out-of-state family can have a St. Johns County estate handled without anyone traveling to the courthouse.

St. Johns County has one court building, so every probate, guardianship, and trust case in the county is filed at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center on Lewis Speedway, about two miles north of the historic district, and heard in a single division. We serve St. Augustine and St. Johns County residents, including St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Nocatee, World Golf Village, Hastings, Fruit Cove.

Which Kind of Probate You’ll Need

Most St. Johns 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 consultation 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 St. Johns 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 St. Johns 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 St. Augustine and St. Johns County by phone, video, and e-signature.

Inherited a house or other real property here, or took charge of one as personal representative or trustee? Our guide to inheriting a house in St. Johns County maps every office that now matters to you, including the property appraiser, tax deadlines, code enforcement, and how to watch what the county is planning near the property.

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

Every circuit publishes administrative orders and local procedures that control how probate actually runs in St. Johns County, including which division gets the case, which checklists are required, and how proposed orders reach the judge. St. Johns County runs one probate division out of a single court building, and its hardest local requirement sits on the homestead petition. A petition to determine homestead status filed without an administration is allowed here, and the division requires its own checklist emailed to the division mailbox at the same moment the petition is filed. Proposed orders go to that same mailbox in Word rather than through the portal, and in a probate matter that needs no hearing the proposed order is submitted with the petition itself. A hearing longer than 30 minutes is in person unless the court says otherwise, a remote appearance is requested by motion by close of business two days before, and every party and every lawyer attends docket sounding in person. A long-standing order lets the clerk return a probate pleading unfiled, for a caption defect alone, if a proceeding the rules call adversary does not carry the adversary case style. A second order bars any motion to compel in a probate case unless you first gave written notice of the deficiencies and ten days to cure, and attached it.

• Administrative orders of the Seventh Judicial Circuit
• Seventh Judicial Circuit judges directory
• The clerk’s probate office for St. Johns 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 St. Johns 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 the St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller (7th Judicial Circuit) and the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. (retrieved 2026-06-07)

Updated September 29, 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 St. Augustine and St. Johns County residents from Miami; this is not a St. Augustine office.