Small Estates in Florida: Summary administration

Florida small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the Florida shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $150,000 or less (florida estate subject to administration, not counting exempt property such as the protected homestead, since July 1, 2026).
• Timing: none set; the court enters an order.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: yes. Summary administration can transfer real estate by court order.

Other Florida rules

• Before the order, you must make a diligent search for creditors, serve them with the petition and provide for paying them.
• If all that's left is exempt property and personal property no larger than the funeral bill and last-60-days medical costs, disposition without administration may apply.
• A bank may pay up to $2,000 from a sole-name account to a spouse or close relative, no earlier than 6 months after the death.

How the Florida procedure works

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. None set; the court enters an order.
3. Get the paperwork. Ask the probate court clerk in the county where the person lived for the current form.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. Petition in the circuit court. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or Florida's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car has its own paperwork at the tax collector's office: see how to transfer a car title after death in Florida (HSMV 82040).

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. Florida's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In Florida, creditors have this long to claim: 3 months after first publication, or 30 days after being served if later. See how long probate takes in Florida.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

Florida taxes on a small estate

Florida has no estate or inheritance tax, so a small estate owes no state death tax. See Florida estate tax for the rules heirs still meet, such as income tax on an inherited IRA.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund