Florida Probate Attorney

What Probate Is, and When Florida Requires It

A parent dies in Florida. There is a house, a bank account, maybe a condo, and you, the one handling it, live out of state. Within weeks you learn the bank will not release a dime and the title company will not touch the home until a court appoints you and, in most cases, a Florida lawyer files the case. You do not need a sales pitch. You need someone to take this off your plate, wherever you are, for a flat fee you can see before you commit. Not sure where to start? See what to do when a parent dies in Florida, or, if it happened this week, what is actually urgent in the first days.

Probate is the court process that proves the will (or applies the rules for dying without a will if there is none), appoints a personal representative (Florida’s term for executor or administrator), pays valid creditors, and transfers what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. The representative’s own compensation runs on a statutory schedule of its own, covered in our Florida personal representative fees guide.

Only probate assets go through it, meaning things in the decedent’s sole name with no beneficiary. Assets with named beneficiaries, joint-with-survivorship accounts, pay-on-death designations, a funded revocable trust, or a lady bird deed pass outside probate. The case is filed in the circuit court of the county where the decedent was domiciled at death, or, for a nonresident, where they owned property. Planning ahead? See how to avoid probate in Florida →

The Three Doors: Which Kind of Administration Applies

Most Florida estates pass through one of three doors, and the cheapest one may be open for you. Find out which probate you need →

Swipe the table sideways to compare all three paths.

A common search, answered. Florida has no general “small estate affidavit.” The functional equivalents are summary administration and disposition without administration. If that’s what you came looking for, one of these is what you need. Check if the estate qualifies in 60 seconds → · the "small estate affidavit" explained →

How Do I Start Probate in Florida?

You start probate in Florida by filing a petition for administration, together with the original will and a certified death certificate, in the circuit court of the county where the person lived. The original will has to reach the clerk within 10 days after whoever holds it learns of the death, whether or not anyone plans to open probate.

Opening a Florida estate runs in five steps.

1. Find the original will and deposit it. A copy does not start anything, and proving a lost will is a separate and harder proceeding. Our guide on how to find a will or probate records in Florida covers the clerk search, the drafting lawyer and the safe deposit box.
2. Order certified death certificates. The court wants one, and every bank and title company will want its own.
3. Pick the path. Disposition without administration, summary administration or formal administration, which turns on the value of the probate assets, whether there is real estate and how long ago the death was. Answer four questions to see which one fits.
4. File the petition. Any interested person may petition. A petition for formal administration is signed under oath and lists the person who died, the county of domicile, the proposed personal representative and why that person has priority, every beneficiary or heir with an address, the approximate value and nature of the assets, and every will the petitioner knows about.
5. Qualify and receive letters. The proposed personal representative files an oath and a designation of an address for service, posts a bond unless the will or the court waives it, and collects waivers from anyone with equal or higher priority or serves them with notice. The court then admits the will and issues letters of administration.

Attorneys file the whole case through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, so the person serving can be in another state for all five steps. The county filing fee runs about $400. Our flat fee for a routine formal administration starts at $3,500 and for summary administration at $2,500, with government costs passed through at cost.

Practice pointer. The petition must say whether the petitioner knows of any other unrevoked will, so ask the family and the drafting lawyer about later wills and codicils before filing. A later will that surfaces after letters issue can revoke them.

Formal Administration, Step by Step

1. Petition for administration. Any interested person may petition.
2. The court issues Letters of Administration appointing the personal representative.
3. The personal representative publishes a Notice to Creditors and serves known creditors.
4. The personal representative files the inventory, marshals assets, pays valid claims, and handles the tax filings, from the decedent’s final income tax return to, for larger estates or portability elections, the federal estate tax return (Form 706, due 9 months after death).
5. After the creditor window closes, the personal representative files an accounting and a petition for discharge. The assets distribute and the estate closes.

How Long Does Probate Take in Florida?

Formal administration typically takes 6 to 12 months or more, driven largely by the creditor-claim window. A creditor must file its claim by the later of three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days after being served. Clean distribution waits for that window. The absolute deadline for creditor claims is two years from the date of death. Summary administration is far quicker, often a few weeks to about two months. See the full probate timeline by type → · estimate costs with our calculator →

Who Can Be the Personal Representative (and the Out-of-State Trap)

Florida sets an order of preference. With a will, the person named in it; without one, the surviving spouse, then the heirs. The personal representative must be at least 18, mentally and physically able to serve, a Florida resident or a qualifying relative, and not a convicted felon or someone convicted of abusing an elderly or disabled adult.

The out-of-state rule surprises people. Someone who does not live in Florida cannot serve as personal representative unless they are related to the decedent by blood, adoption, or marriage. An out-of-state child of the decedent can serve. An out-of-state friend or partner cannot. If that is your situation, we sort out who can serve at the consult. Full guide to the personal representative role → · out-of-state families → · just inherited a house? →

Probate With a Will vs. Without a Will

With a will, the will names the personal representative and directs who gets what. It has to be proven and the original deposited with the court. Without a will, Florida’s rules for dying without a will control. Generally the surviving spouse takes the entire estate, but in blended families, where the decedent or the spouse has children from another relationship, the spouse and the children share it. Then the share goes to descendants, then parents and siblings. Dying without a will still requires probate, and “no will” does not mean the state takes everything. When heirs end up fighting over the will or the estate, that becomes probate and trust litigation, which we also handle.

Out-of-State Decedents and Ancillary Administration

If a non-Florida resident owned Florida real property (a snowbird condo, a vacation home, an investment parcel), the family usually needs an ancillary administration in Florida, a separate proceeding alongside the home-state probate. The reverse is also true. A Florida decedent’s out-of-state real estate needs ancillary probate in that other state. Each parcel in another state is another proceeding. We quote ancillary work at the consult and handle it wherever you are. The full explainer, including how families avoid the second probate, is our ancillary probate guide, and if the estate’s plan is to sell the property, see selling a house in probate.

What Does a Probate Attorney Do?

A Florida probate attorney represents the personal representative and carries the estate through court, from the petition that gets the representative appointed to the order that discharges the representative at the end. Florida requires a personal representative in most formal administrations to have a Florida lawyer, and the estate pays the fee, not the family.

The work at the start is getting authority in place. The attorney drafts the petition, files the original will and the death certificate, prepares the oath and the bond papers, collects waivers from family members with priority, and obtains the letters of administration that banks and title companies will accept.

The middle of the case runs on deadlines. The attorney serves the notice of administration on the beneficiaries, which starts their 3-month window to challenge the will, and publishes the notice to creditors, which starts the 3-month window for claims. The attorney reviews each claim and objects to the ones that are wrong, files the inventory within 60 days after letters, handles the court order or power of sale needed to sell real estate, and asks the court to confirm the homestead so the family home can pass or sell cleanly.

The end of the case is the accounting. The attorney prepares the final accounting and the plan of distribution, gathers receipts from the beneficiaries, and files the petition for discharge, which Florida’s probate rules expect within 12 months after letters for an estate that owes no federal estate tax return.

The attorney’s client is the personal representative, not each beneficiary. Florida’s notice of administration tells every beneficiary in writing that the lawyer-client privilege runs between the personal representative and the attorney, so a beneficiary with a disagreement about the estate needs separate advice. Our guide to the personal representative’s role covers the duties the attorney is guarding.

Do I Need a Probate Attorney in Florida?

In most formal cases, 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 or is themselves a member of the Florida Bar. If there is more than one beneficiary, heir, or creditor, counsel is required no matter how well the family gets along.

Disposition without administration and some summary administrations can be done without a lawyer, but the petitions, exempt-property determinations, and creditor handling routinely trip up non-lawyers. Everything the attorney does along the way is listed in What Does a Probate Attorney Do? above.

What Probate Costs

Florida sets a presumed-reasonable attorney fee scaled to the estate’s compensable value, plus a separate personal-representative commission. Both are a ceiling, not a mandate, so a flat-fee firm usually charges less. As anchors, the statute calls $3,000 reasonable on a $100,000 estate and about $30,000 on a $1,000,000 estate. See the full interactive breakdown → · verified 2026 filing fees for the 10 largest counties →

Our flat fees. Disposition without administration from $1,500, summary administration from $2,500, formal administration (routine) from $3,500, ancillary administration and post-death trust administration quoted at consult. Government costs are additional and passed through at cost, including filing (about $400, county-dependent), newspaper publication of the creditor notice (about $100 to $250), certified copies, bond, and appraiser or accountant where required. See full pricing.

Is the Florida Probate Attorney Fee Schedule Mandatory?

No. The schedule in Florida law is presumed reasonable, which means a judge will accept it without further proof if nobody objects, and it is not a required price. The same statute tells the court to weigh the whole picture of the representation instead, so a written flat fee agreed before the petition is filed governs the engagement and is ordinarily far less than the percentage.

The percentages are worth knowing so you can see the gap. Florida presumes $3,000 reasonable on a $100,000 estate and about $30,000 on a $1,000,000 estate, while our routine formal administration is a flat fee from $3,500. On an $8,000,000 estate the presumed figure runs past $240,000. Run your own numbers in the probate cost calculator →

How to Choose a Florida Probate Lawyer

Families comparing probate lawyers in Florida usually compare on the phone manner and hope for the rest. Four questions sort the field faster.

• Flat fee, or the statutory percentage? Many firms quietly charge the presumed-reasonable statutory figure, which reaches about $30,000 on a $1,000,000 estate. A flat fee in writing is usually far less. Ask for the number before you sign anything. Since July 1, 2026, Florida law also requires any attorney charging that percentage schedule to tell you in writing that there is no mandatory fee and that the fee is negotiable. If your lawyer has not handed you that disclosure, ask why.
• Does the lawyer actually litigate? Probates turn into fights over a late-appearing will, a sibling who objects, a deed signed in the last weeks of life. A drafting-only firm hands your case off mid-stream. A probate lawyer who tries these cases in court can carry it through.
• Can they run it without you flying in? Florida probate e-files statewide, so the right firm handles the whole case while you stay in another city or state. If a firm needs you in their office, that is their limitation, not the court's.
• Who pays? The estate pays the probate lawyer, from estate assets, before distributions. You should not be writing personal checks to move your parent's estate through court.

We answer all four the same way for every family, with flat fees posted and honored, litigation handled in-house, the whole case run wherever you are, and the estate paying. Bring us your questions in a no-cost 30-minute consult →

Where Florida Probate Is Filed

Probate is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the decedent’s county of domicile. Florida’s 67 counties sit within 20 judicial circuits, each with its own Probate Division and, in some counties, mandatory local forms. Attorneys e-file through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. We handle filings across Florida, including the areas below.

Filing it yourself, or just want to know where the courthouse is and which local checklist that county demands? We keep a separate procedural guide for the largest counties, with the courthouse address, where the original will goes, the posted filing fee, and an eleven-step opening checklist.

Probate Is Mostly Avoidable, for Next Time

Nobody wants a lecture at a moment like this, but when you are ready, a funded revocable trust, a lady bird deed on the homestead, and correct beneficiary and pay-on-death designations keep the next estate out of probate entirely. Not sure which tool fits? Try the deed selector →

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The out-of-state child. A son in Ohio inherits his mother’s Miami condo and a bank account. As her child he can serve as personal representative even from out of state. We open a formal administration, run the creditor process, and close it, all wherever you are, for a flat fee below the statutory figure.

The two-years-later estate. A widow never probated her husband’s estate; he died three years ago. Because it’s been more than two years, summary administration is available, weeks instead of many months.

The snowbird’s condo. A New York decedent owned a Naples condo. The family probates in New York and we handle the Florida ancillary administration in parallel so the condo can be sold or transferred.

Sources of Law

• Fla. Stat. ch. 733 (formal administration): §733.101 (venue), §733.202 (petition), §733.2121/§733.701 (creditor notice), §733.301 to §733.304 (who serves), §733.6171/§733.617 (fees), §733.702/§733.710 (creditor claims). flsenate.gov
• The fee schedule is a presumption rather than a price: Kushner v. Engelberg, Cantor & Leone, P.A., 750 So. 2d 33, 36 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (on an estate over $8,000,000 the parties contracted for $150,000 plus $30,000, while "the percentage of the estate calculation which the statute allows as a reasonable fee would be in excess of $240,000"; "in this case the parties did not contract for the statutory fee. Their contract called for a fee substantially less"; "the statute sets forth only 'presumed' reasonable compensation" and "authorizes a trial court to consider the totality of circumstances"), citing Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. v. Poletz, 652 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 1995) and In Re Estate of Platt, 586 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 1991) (hours and a reasonable hourly rate are "an appropriate starting point"); an attorney discharged for cause recovers the quantum meruit value less damages, Kushner v. Engelberg, Cantor & Leone, P.A., 699 So. 2d 850, 851 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). (Opinion read 2026-09-08.)
• Starting probate and the attorney’s role, Fla. Stat. §732.901(1) (will deposited within 10 days after the custodian learns of the death); §733.202 (any interested person may petition); §733.208 and §733.301(5) (a later will revokes the earlier probate and the letters); §733.402 (bond unless waived); §733.212 (notice of administration, the 3-month objection period and the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege statement); Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 (contents of the petition for administration), 5.320 (oath), 5.340(a) (inventory within 60 days after letters), 5.400(c) (final accounting and petition for discharge within 12 months after letters). Read from the 2026 Florida Statutes and the Florida Probate Rules as of July 16, 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-01).
• Ch. 735 (summary administration §735.201; disposition without administration §735.301); ch. 732 (intestate succession); ch. 734 (ancillary §734.102); Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 (attorney required). Filing via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. (retrieved 2026-06-06)

What I Have Learned About What Probate Actually Costs

In 14 years of law practice, families ask me what probate costs before they ask me anything else, and the honest answer is that the statute's number is a ceiling rather than a price.

A common question I hear is, "Is that fee schedule the law?" It is not, and the families who ask it are usually holding a quote built from it.

I have a few take-home points.

The first is that a written fee, agreed before anything is filed, is worth more than any argument about it later. In one case I have reviewed, the personal representatives of an estate worth more than $8,000,000 negotiated a flat $150,000, with another $30,000 payable when the tax audit closed. The statute's percentage on an estate that size would have exceeded $240,000. Those families saved over $60,000 by signing a piece of paper before the work started.

The second is what happened when the relationship broke down, because that is the part I find people never plan for. The firm was discharged for cause before the tax letter arrived, and it then pointed at the statute's much larger figure to justify what it was owed. The appellate court was unmoved. The parties had not contracted for the statutory fee, their contract called for substantially less, and the statute sets out only presumed compensation. I open files where the family found the will three months too late, and the fee agreement is the one document in this whole area that reliably does what the client thought it would.

The third is smaller and it tells you how these fights actually go. The trial court in that case had found the firm spent 1,671 hours on the estate, and the record could not support anything close to it. I have seen hours reconstructed years later by people with every reason to remember them generously.

Practice pointer. Get the fee in writing before the petition is filed, and make the agreement say what happens if the engagement ends early. A firm discharged for cause is entitled to the value of what it actually did, less any damage it caused, so the sentence covering an early exit is the one that caps a family's exposure. I would ask for the number in dollars rather than as a percentage, because a percentage is not a quote.

Avoid treating the fee chart as the going rate. A family that never signs a written agreement leaves the percentage standing as the only reference point in the file, which is exactly the position the firm in that case tried to argue from.

An honest limit belongs here. A contested fee is decided on the totality of the circumstances, with the hours worked and a reasonable rate as the starting point rather than the whole test, so nobody can tell you in advance what a judge will approve on a fee fight. What I can tell you is the number I will charge, which is why it is posted above.

Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., admitted in Florida since 2012. General information rather than advice on your situation.

Updated October 1, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Whether and how an estate must be probated depends on the specific facts.