How Long Do You Have to File Probate After Death in Florida?

1. Is There a Deadline to File Probate in Florida?

Florida has no general deadline for opening a probate case after a death, so a family can file in the first month or ten years later. Two dates run anyway, whether or not anyone files. The original will has to be deposited with the clerk within 10 days after the person holding it learns of the death, and two years after the death, the estate and the family stop being liable for any unsecured claim that was never filed.

Whether a case is needed at all depends on how the property was titled. A house with a lady bird deed, a funded living trust, accounts with a named beneficiary and joint accounts with survivorship all pass without a court. Our guide to whether you need probate in Florida sorts the assets, and our checklist for when a parent dies in Florida covers the first weeks.

2. What Is the 10-Day Rule for Filing the Will?

Florida requires the custodian of a will, meaning whoever has the original, to deposit it with the clerk of court in the county where the estate would be administered within 10 days after learning that the person who signed it has died. The custodian gives the clerk the date of death or the last four digits of the person’s Social Security number. The rule applies to a child who finds the will in a desk drawer, to a bank holding it in a safe deposit box, and to the law firm that drafted it.

Depositing the will does not open probate and costs little. Any interested person can petition the court to compel a custodian to produce the will, and a custodian with no just or reasonable cause for holding it can be ordered to pay the costs, the damages and the petitioner’s attorney’s fees. The clerk keeps the original for at least 20 years. Our page on what happens if you do not probate a will covers the deposit in more detail.

3. What Happens if You Don’t File Probate in Florida?

Nothing in the person’s sole name can move. Until a will is admitted to probate in Florida or in the state where the person lived, it is ineffective to prove title to or the right to possess the property it leaves. The house cannot be sold or refinanced, and a bank account in the person’s sole name with no beneficiary stays frozen. Mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance keep coming due on a house nobody has authority to manage.

Waiting can also cost the estate money it was owed. When a person dies holding a claim against someone else, the personal representative can bring the lawsuit before the later of the original deadline or 12 months after the death. An estate with no personal representative cannot sue, so a claim against a contractor, a caregiver or an insurer can expire while the family waits.

4. How Does Waiting Affect the Creditors?

Waiting works against unsecured creditors. Two years after the death, neither the estate, a personal representative nor the beneficiaries are liable for any claim against the person who died, whether or not letters of administration were ever issued. The Florida Supreme Court treats that limit as jurisdictional, so a court cannot extend it. Once a case does open, the personal representative publishes a notice to creditors and they have 3 months after first publication to file.

A mortgage or other recorded lien survives the two-year bar, and the lender can still foreclose. Interest, late fees and unpaid property taxes keep accruing on the house in the meantime. Our guide to what happens to debt when someone dies covers which debts the estate owes and which ones the family never does.

5. What Changes After Two Years?

Two years after the death, summary administration becomes available for an estate of any size. Summary administration is normally limited to estates of $150,000 or less after exempt property, but Florida opens it to any estate where the person has been dead for more than two years. Creditors’ claims are barred by then, so the court can order the property distributed without a personal representative or the months-long claims period.

A surviving spouse loses something at the same mark. The elective share, the 30% of the estate a spouse can claim whatever the will says, must be elected within 6 months after the spouse is served with the notice of administration, and never later than two years after the death. A spouse who waits for the family to open probate can lose the right entirely.

6. What Deadlines Start Once Probate Is Opened?

Opening a case starts a set of clocks, most of them measured from the letters of administration or from the notices the personal representative serves and publishes.

Our guides to the notice of administration and the letters of administration explain the documents that start these clocks, and our page on how long probate takes in Florida puts them on a calendar.

7. Can a Will Be Filed After the Estate Is Closed?

No will or codicil may be offered once a Florida estate has been completely administered and the personal representative discharged. The rule applies whether the estate was administered under an earlier will or with no will at all. A will found while the case is still open can still be offered, and any interested person can then ask the court to revoke the probate of the earlier will. Our page on reopening a closed probate covers the narrow grounds that remain, such as newly discovered property.

What Does It Cost to Open Probate Late?

Opening probate late costs the same as opening it early. Summary administration, including for any estate where the death was more than two years ago, is a flat fee from $2,500. A routine formal administration is a flat fee from $3,500. Filing fees, newspaper publication and certified copies are government and third-party costs, additional and passed through at cost. Advertised fees are honored for 90 days from the posted date. A dispute over a late will or a contested claim is litigation, quoted per matter. Our page on how much a probate lawyer costs in Florida sets out the statutory schedule, and the probate cost calculator runs it for any estate value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The house nobody can sell. A mother dies in Pinellas County with a will leaving her house to her two daughters, and nobody files anything for three years. A buyer appears, and the title company refuses to close because nothing gives the daughters title. The daughters file the will and petition for summary administration, which is open to them because more than two years have passed, and the court order lets the sale close.

The will in the closet. A son finds his father’s original will in a closet the week after the funeral. He deposits it with the clerk within the 10 days, even though the family has not decided whether probate is needed, so the original is safe and the deadline is met.

Sources of Law

• Fla. Stat. §732.901(1)-(4) (custodian must deposit the will with the clerk within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead; compelled production with costs, damages and attorney’s fees; clerk retains the original 20 years); §733.103(1) (an unprobated will is ineffective to prove title or the right to possession); §733.104(1) (personal representative may sue before the later of the limitations period or 12 months after death).
• Fla. Stat. §733.710(1),(3) (2-year limit on claims, whether or not letters were issued; liens unaffected); §733.2121(1)-(2) and §733.702(1) (notice to creditors and the 3-month claims period); §733.705(1) (claims paid within 1 year after first publication); §733.801(1) (no distribution required until 5 months after letters).
• Fla. Stat. §735.201(2) (summary administration where the estate does not exceed $150,000 or the decedent has been dead more than 2 years); §735.206(4)(f) (2-year limit after summary administration); §732.2135(1) (elective share within 6 months after service of the notice of administration or 2 years after death, whichever is earlier); §732.402(6) (exempt property petition within 4 months after service of the notice of administration); §733.212(3) (objections within 3 months after service of the notice of administration); §733.208 (no will or codicil may be offered after the estate is completely administered and the personal representative discharged).
• Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(a) (inventory within 60 days after issuance of letters).
• Cases, read in full from the opinion text on the local CourtListener corpus, retrieved October 1, 2026: May v. Illinois National Insurance Co., 771 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 2000) (the 2-year limit is jurisdictional and not subject to waiver or extension); In re Estate of Killinger, 448 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) (retold below).

The Will That Turned Up Three Months Too Late

I open files where the family found the will three months too late, and one Florida decision shows how final that can be.

A man named Herman Killinger died on December 27, 1981. His wife petitioned to open his estate and told the court she knew of no will, so the estate was administered as if he had died without one, and his property was distributed to her. His brother and sister searched diligently for a will during the administration and found nothing. The court closed the estate and discharged the personal representative on November 16, 1982. About three months later the will surfaced at the law office of one of the attorneys the family had contacted during the search. The will left his entire estate to his mother. A petition was filed to reopen the estate and probate the will, and the trial court refused. The Second District affirmed in 1984, holding that a newly discovered will cannot be offered once the estate is closed and the personal representative discharged, while conceding that a result favoring the wife over the mother was open to argument as a matter of fairness. I have a few take-home points.

The first is the deposit. Florida requires whoever holds an original will to file it with the clerk within 10 days after learning of the death. The practice pointer for an owner is to tell the family, in writing, where the original will is kept, and to keep it somewhere the family can reach quickly.

The second is the search. Avoid telling a court there is no will before checking with every lawyer the person used and every safe deposit box in the person’s name, because the clerk’s files and the lawyers’ vaults are where wills turn up.

The third is timing. The family in that case had the whole administration to find the will, and the door closed with the discharge. Florida has since written that cutoff into the probate code for estates with or without a will. One limit is worth stating plainly. The opinion does not say why the will stayed in that law office, or whether anyone there knew of the death.

Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., admitted in Florida since 2012. The case described above is a decision of a Florida court rather than a matter handled by this firm. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Updated on October 1, 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, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.