Florida Probate Deadlines and the Probate Rules: The Complete Calendar
Florida probate runs on deadlines, and most of them cannot be extended. Miss the exempt property petition and the right is waived outright. Miss the homestead election and it is gone, with no extension available. Miss the elective share window and a 30 percent claim disappears.
This page is the calendar: every significant deadline in a Florida probate, what statute or rule sets it, when the clock starts, and what happens if it runs out. It is the companion to our page on how long probate takes in Florida — that page answers how long it takes, this one answers how long you have.
The Master Deadline Calendar
| Deadline | Period | Clock starts | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit the original will with the clerk | 10 days | Custodian learns the testator has died | § 732.901 |
| File the inventory | 60 days | Issuance of letters | Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 |
| Serve AHCA where the decedent was 55 or older | 3 months | First publication of the notice to creditors | § 733.2121 |
| Creditor files a claim | Later of 3 months or 30 days | First publication, or service on a creditor required to be served | § 733.702 |
| Object to the will, the PR’s qualifications, venue or jurisdiction | 3 months | Service of the notice of administration | § 733.212 |
| Absolute bar on those objections | Earlier of final discharge or 1 year | Service of the notice of administration | § 733.212, added June 13, 2024 |
| Petition for exempt property | Later of 4 months or 40 days | Service of the notice of administration, or termination of a related proceeding | § 732.402(6) |
| PR objects to a claim | Later of 4 months or 30 days | First publication, or the timely filing or amendment of the claim | § 733.705 |
| Claimant brings an independent action after objection | 30 days | Service of the objection | § 733.705 |
| Earliest the PR can be compelled to pay a claim | 5 months | First publication | § 733.705 |
| Surviving spouse elects the one-half homestead interest | 6 months — irrevocable, not extendable | Date of death | § 732.401(2) |
| Surviving spouse files the elective share election | Earlier of 6 months or 2 years | Service of the notice of administration, or date of death | § 732.2135 |
| Withdraw an elective share election | 8 months, and before the order of contribution | Date of death | § 732.2135(3) |
| Interested person petitions after a PR’s disqualification notice | 30 days | Service of the notice | § 733.3101(2) |
| Appoint a successor resident agent | 10 days | Notice the agent can no longer act | Fla. Prob. R. 5.110 |
| Removed PR files an accounting | 30 days | Removal | Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 |
| File the final accounting and petition for discharge | 12 months | Issuance of letters, or the date a federal estate tax return is due | Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 |
| Object to the final accounting | 30 days | Service of the last of the petition or accounting | Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 |
| Serve notice of hearing on that objection | 90 days, or the objection is abandoned | Filing of the objection | Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 |
| Absolute bar on all claims | 2 years | Date of death | § 733.710 |
What Are the Florida Probate Rules?
The Florida Probate Rules are the procedural rules adopted by the Florida Supreme Court that govern how a probate or guardianship case is actually conducted — what has to be filed, in what form, on whom it must be served, and by when. They sit alongside the Florida Probate Code in chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes. The statutes create the rights; the rules govern the machinery. Where a deadline exists, it is usually in one or the other, and occasionally in both.
The Rules That Come Up Most Often
| Rule | What it governs |
|---|---|
| 5.030 | Attorneys — a personal representative must be represented by Florida counsel unless they are the sole interested person or a Florida Bar member |
| 5.110 | Address designation and designation of resident agent, required before letters issue |
| 5.260 | Caveat — who may file, and when |
| 5.340 | Inventory — 60 days from letters, verified, at date-of-death fair market value |
| 5.400 | Distribution and discharge — the 12-month final accounting deadline and objection procedure |
| 5.440 | Proceedings for removal of a personal representative |
| 5.490 | Form and manner of presenting a claim |
What Does Florida Probate Rule 5.400 Require?
Rule 5.400 governs distribution and discharge, and it carries the deadline that most often catches an administration out. The personal representative must file the final accounting and the petition for discharge within 12 months after the letters are issued — or, where a federal estate tax return is required, within 12 months of the date that return is due.
The Objection Procedure Under Rule 5.400
Two further periods matter, and they run against the beneficiaries rather than the personal representative. An interested person who wants to object to the accounting or the proposed distribution must file that objection within 30 days after service of the last of the petition for discharge or the final accounting.
Then the trap: having filed the objection, that person must serve a notice of hearing on it within 90 days, or the objection is abandoned. Filing and waiting is not a strategy. A beneficiary who objects and then does nothing loses the objection by operation of the rule, without anyone having to defeat it.
Is There a Deadline to Open Probate in Florida?
No. Florida sets no statutory deadline for opening a probate estate. Estates are opened five and ten years after a death, most often because a property sale finally needs clean title. What does exist is a duty on whoever holds the will, and a two-year wall on creditor claims — and the second of those actually works in the family’s favour as time passes.
When Must a Will Be Deposited With the Clerk?
Within 10 days. Section 732.901 requires the custodian of a will to deposit it with the clerk of the court having venue within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead. This is a duty on the person holding the document, and it is independent of whether anyone intends to open probate. Holding a parent’s will in a drawer while the family decides what to do is not a neutral act.
How Long Do You Have to Contest a Will in Florida?
Three months from service of the notice of administration — and this is the deadline that ends more claims than any other. Section 733.212 requires that any interested person on whom the notice is served file an objection within three months if they wish to challenge the validity of the will, the qualifications of the personal representative, or the venue or jurisdiction of the court.
The One-Year Backstop Added in 2024
Section 733.212 was amended effective June 13, 2024 to add an absolute bar. Those objections are now barred at the earlier of the entry of the final order of discharge or one year after service of the notice of administration, regardless of anything else — with the extension available only in the narrow estoppel situation where the personal representative misstated something.
Two practical consequences. First, note the date you were served and keep the envelope; the three months runs from service, not from the death and not from when you got round to reading it. Second, an objection is not the same claim as an elective share election, and they have different clocks. The substantive grounds for challenging a will are covered on our page about contesting a will in Florida.
How Long Do Creditors Have to File a Claim in Florida?
Section 733.702 sets a two-part deadline, and the correct answer is the later of the two: three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, or 30 days after the date of service on a creditor who was required to be served. A creditor the personal representative knew about, or should reasonably have discovered, is entitled to actual service — and their 30-day period can end well after the general three-month period has closed.
Publishing the Notice to Creditors
Section 733.2121 requires the personal representative to promptly publish the notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the estate is administered, or a newspaper of general circulation there. The personal representative must also promptly make a diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors and serve them.
One requirement is routinely missed. Where the decedent was 55 or older at death, the Agency for Health Care Administration must be served within three months after the first publication. Missing that is a defect that surfaces at exactly the wrong moment — when the estate is trying to close.
What Is the Two-Year Absolute Bar on Claims?
Section 733.710 is the outer wall, and it is unforgiving in both directions. Two years after the date of death, no claim may be brought against the estate, the personal representative, or the beneficiaries — whether or not probate was ever opened, and whether or not the creditor knew about the death. The only exception is a creditor who filed a claim under § 733.702 within that two-year period and whose claim has not yet been paid or otherwise disposed of.
This is why an estate opened three years after a death is often simpler than one opened three months after it. The creditors are gone. It is also why a personal representative who is tempted to sit on an estate should understand that they are not running out anyone’s clock but their own.
How Long Does the Personal Representative Have to Object to a Claim?
Section 733.705 gives the personal representative the later of four months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, or 30 days after the timely filing or amendment of the claim. A claim filed late in the period therefore carries its own 30-day objection window running past the four-month mark.
The 30-Day Independent Action Deadline
Once an objection is served, the burden shifts hard and fast. The claimant has 30 days from service of the objection to bring an independent action on the claim. That is a short window, it is a real lawsuit rather than a probate filing, and a claimant who lets it pass has effectively lost the claim.
Section 733.705 also protects the personal representative at the other end: they cannot be compelled to pay any claim within five months of the first publication. That five-month floor, not the three-month claim period, is the practical reason distributions do not happen early. The full creditor process is covered on our page about Florida probate creditors.
What Does Rule 5.490 Require a Claim to Contain?
Rule 5.490 governs the form. A claim must be verified, filed with the clerk, and must state the basis for the claim, the amount claimed, the name and address of the creditor, the security for the claim if any, and whether the claim is currently due or is contingent or unmatured. The clerk serves a copy on the personal representative’s attorney.
Two features favour creditors and are worth knowing. Failure to deliver or receive that copy does not affect the validity of the claim. And a claim defective in form may be amended at any time — so an objection aimed purely at form rather than substance rarely achieves anything.
When Can a Caveat Be Filed?
Rule 5.260 draws a distinction that matters. Any interested person other than a creditor may file a caveat before or after the death of the person whose estate is concerned. A creditor may file only after the death. No expiration is stated in the rule.
What a caveat does is give you notice. Once one is filed, the court may not admit the will to probate or appoint a personal representative without formal notice being served on the caveator. For an out-of-state family member worried that an estate will be opened and administered before they hear about it, that is exactly the protection needed, and it is inexpensive. Our page on caveats in Florida probate covers the mechanics.
The Deadlines a Surviving Spouse Cannot Miss
Three of the harshest deadlines in the code belong to the surviving spouse, and two of them are unforgiving.
Exempt property — 4 months. Under § 732.402(6) the right is waived unless a petition for determination of exempt property is filed by the later of four months after service of the notice of administration or 40 days after termination of a related proceeding. This is the one most often lost, because household furnishings and vehicles feel like things nobody would dispute.
Homestead election — 6 months, irrevocable. Section 732.401(2) lets the surviving spouse take an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common instead of a life estate, but the election must be made within six months of death and during the spouse’s lifetime. The time may not be extended, except that a petition by an attorney in fact or guardian filed within the six months extends the period at least 30 days past the order allowing it. Once made, it cannot be undone.
Elective share — the earlier of 6 months or 2 years. Section 732.2135 requires the election by the earlier of six months after service of the notice of administration or two years after the death. An extension is available for good cause, but never past the two-year mark. There is an 8-month withdrawal window under § 732.2135(3), running from the date of death and ending at the order of contribution.
All three are set out with the underlying rights on our pages covering surviving spouse rights in Florida and the Florida elective share.
Deadlines That Fall on the Personal Representative
60 days — the inventory. Rule 5.340 requires it verified, listing the estate in reasonable detail at date-of-death fair market value. Extendable for cause.
10 days — a successor resident agent. Rule 5.110 requires appointment within 10 days of notice that the agent has died, resigned or become unable to act.
Immediately — resignation if never qualified. Section 733.3101 requires a personal representative who knows they were not qualified at appointment to resign at once, and one who becomes disqualified to file and serve notice promptly. Interested persons then have 30 days to petition for removal. A personal representative who ignores this is personally liable for the costs and attorney fees of the removal proceeding — including where they should have known.
30 days — accounting after removal. Rule 5.440 requires a removed personal representative to file an accounting within 30 days and to deliver all estate records and property immediately, on pain of contempt.
12 months — final accounting and discharge. Rule 5.400. Running well past it without an extension starts to look like the “wasting or maladministration” ground for removal in § 733.504(5).
What Happens at Discharge
Section 733.901 provides that after administration is completed the personal representative is discharged, and that the discharge releases the personal representative and bars any action against them individually and against the surety. That is the point of the exercise from the fiduciary’s side, and it is why a personal representative should want the final accounting filed rather than letting an estate drift.
For a beneficiary, the mirror image is that discharge closes the door. Anything you meant to raise about how the estate was handled needs to be raised before then, which is what the 30-day objection window under Rule 5.400 is for.
How to Work Out Which Deadlines Apply to You
Find three dates and most of the calendar falls into place: the date of death, the date the letters were issued, and the date of first publication of the notice to creditors. If you were served with a notice of administration, the date you were served is the fourth, and it is the one that starts the clocks that matter most to beneficiaries and to a surviving spouse.
From there: creditor claims run from first publication, objections to the will and the exempt property petition run from service of the notice of administration, the homestead and elective share windows run from death or from service, and the inventory and final accounting run from the letters.
Talk to a Florida Probate Attorney About a Deadline
If you are reading this because you think a deadline may have passed, the answer is usually more nuanced than it looks — several of these periods run from service rather than from death, some are extendable for cause, and a few depend on whether you were properly served at all. That is worth ten minutes with someone who can look at the docket.
Lorenzo Law handles probate and probate litigation throughout Florida, including Miami-Dade and Broward County. Call 305-224-6811 or reach out through our contact page.
Related reading: how long probate takes in Florida, the personal representative’s duties, the family allowance, and what probate costs.
This page explains Florida statutes and probate rules for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Citations reflect Florida law in effect as of August 2026.
