Probate of a Will in Florida: Requirements, Deadlines and Costs (2026)

Written by Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Esq., Florida Bar No. 107002 — Lorenzo Law, serving all 67 Florida counties. Updated for the statutory changes effective July 1, 2026.

Probate of a will in Florida is the court process that proves the will is valid and gives one person the legal authority to collect, manage and transfer the property the deceased person owned in their own name. Learning how to probate a will in Florida starts with one uncomfortable fact: a will is a set of instructions to a judge, not a transfer document. Until a Florida circuit court admits it, the will moves nothing.

We at Lorenzo Law handle Florida probate matters statewide, every week, for families who are holding an original will and cannot understand why the bank, the title company or the buyer will not talk to them. This guide walks through the whole process — the 10-day deposit deadline, what actually happens if you miss it, how a will is proved, what to do when the original is lost, who can serve as personal representative, what it costs, and when probate in Florida with a will can be avoided or shortened.

What Does It Mean to Probate a Will in Florida?

To probate a will in Florida means asking a circuit court to (1) accept the will as the deceased person’s valid last will, and (2) appoint someone with legal authority to administer the estate. Those are two separate things the court does, and people routinely assume the first one accomplishes the second.

The short answer

The court reviews the will’s execution and, if it is valid, enters an order admitting the will to probate. That order is the document banks, title companies and buyers actually care about. Separately, the court issues letters of administration to the personal representative, which is the document that lets that person act.

Why a Will Does Not Transfer Property by Itself

This is the single most misunderstood point in Florida probate, and the statute is blunt about it. Fla. Stat. § 733.103(1) provides:

“Until admitted to probate in this state or in the state where the decedent was domiciled, the will shall be ineffective to prove title to, or the right to possession of, property of the testator.”

A will is a legal instruction document — not a deed, not a bank authorization, not an automatic transfer. Holding the original will gives you no authority over a single dollar. That is why the bank will not release the account and the title company will not insure the sale, no matter how clearly the will names you.

What “Admitted to Probate” Actually Means

People search for what does admitted to probate mean because they have been handed a piece of paper and do not know what they are holding. When a Florida court admits a will to probate, it makes a judicial determination that the document is the decedent’s valid will. Under § 733.103(2), that determination is powerful: in any later collateral action about devised property, the probate of the will is conclusive of its due execution, that the testator was competent and free of fraud, duress, mistake and undue influence, and that the will was unrevoked at death.

Probate Court vs. Probate: What People Actually Mean

When people ask what is probate court in Florida, they are usually asking one of two different questions. Probate is the process. Probate court is where it happens — in Florida, the probate division of the circuit court in the county where the case belongs. Florida has no separate standalone probate court system; probate is a division of the same circuit court that hears civil cases.

Does a Will Have to Be Probated in Florida?

Not always. Whether probate is required in Florida depends far more on how the assets were titled than on whether a will exists.

When Probate Is Required

Probate is generally needed when the decedent owned assets in their individual name alone, with no surviving co-owner and no valid beneficiary designation. A bank account with only the decedent’s name on it. A house titled solely in the decedent’s name. A brokerage account with no transfer-on-death registration. Those are probate assets, and no institution will release them without a court order.

When Probate Is Not Required

Many assets pass outside probate entirely, regardless of what the will says:

For a fuller treatment, see our guides on what are probate assets in Florida and when probate is not necessary.

Does a Will Avoid Probate in Florida?

No. This is worth stating plainly because it is the most common misconception we hear. A will does not avoid probate — a will directs probate. It tells the court who should serve and who should inherit. The instrument that avoids probate is a properly funded trust, a survivorship deed, a beneficiary designation, or a lady bird deed. Having a will means the estate is testate rather than intestate; it does not mean the estate skips court.

What Are the First Steps After Someone Dies and You Find the Will?

1. Find and Preserve the Original Will

Do not mark up, staple, unstaple, hole-punch, alter or discard the original. Removing a staple from a Florida will has produced genuine litigation over whether pages were substituted. The original matters far more than a copy — see the lost-will section below for what happens when the original cannot be found.

2. Deposit the Original Will With the Clerk Within 10 Days

Fla. Stat. § 732.901(1) requires that “the custodian of a will must deposit the will with the clerk of the court having venue of the estate of the decedent within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead.” The same subsection adds a practical requirement people miss: the custodian must supply the testator’s date of death, or the last four digits of the testator’s Social Security number, to the clerk upon deposit. Bring one or the other with you. This is covered in detail in the next section, including what actually happens if the deadline passes.

3. Get Certified Death Certificates

Order more than you think you need — typically six to ten. Ask the funeral home for both versions: the certificate with cause of death (needed by some insurers and financial institutions) and the certificate without cause of death (used for most filings and recording). Florida court filings and most transfers require a certified copy, not a photocopy.

4. Do Not Distribute Estate Property Yet

Families frequently start dividing furniture, jewelry, vehicles and cash within days. Before probate is opened and creditor obligations are addressed, early distributions can create disputes among beneficiaries, expose the person who distributed to personal liability, and complicate the personal representative’s later accounting. Wait until someone has authority.

What Is the 10-Day Rule for Filing a Will in Florida?

The 10-day rule comes from Fla. Stat. § 732.901, titled “Production of wills.” It is short, and almost every part of it gets misreported online.

Who Is the “Custodian” of a Will?

The duty runs to the custodian — the person or institution holding the original — not to the family generally, not to the named personal representative, and not to the beneficiaries. The statute does not define “custodian,” and no published Florida appellate decision has construed the term. On the plain language, it is broad enough to reach the drafting attorney holding the will in a vault, a bank holding a safe deposit box, or a relative with the original in a drawer.

Two related provisions are worth knowing: § 732.524(11) addresses qualified custodians of electronic wills and expressly cross-references § 732.901, and § 740.11 confirms that nothing in Florida’s fiduciary-access-to-digital-assets chapter affects the deposit obligation.

When the 10 Days Starts

The clock runs from the custodian “receiving information that the testator is dead” — not from the date of death. A lawyer who learns three weeks later that a long-ago client died has ten days from learning it, not a missed deadline.

What Happens If You Don’t File a Will Within 10 Days in Florida?

Here is the answer most Florida websites either avoid or get wrong.

Missing the 10-day deadline does not invalidate the will, and it does not prevent the will from being admitted to probate. The deadline is a duty with a specific enforcement mechanism — it is not a condition precedent to admission. Two things confirm this. First, § 732.901(3) provides that “an original will submitted to the clerk with a petition or other pleading is deemed to have been deposited with the clerk,” meaning deposit and probate can happen in the same filing. Second, nothing in the statute conditions admission on timely deposit.

What the statute does provide is a remedy. Under § 732.901(2):

“Upon petition and notice, the custodian of any will may be compelled to produce and deposit the will. All costs, damages, and a reasonable attorney’s fee shall be adjudged to petitioner against the delinquent custodian if the court finds that the custodian had no just or reasonable cause for failing to deposit the will.”

Two things are worth knowing about that remedy. First, no published Florida appellate decision has ever defined what does or does not constitute “just or reasonable cause.” The repealed predecessor statute used the identical phrase and no published case construed it either. Any website telling you what courts have held on this point is telling you something that does not exist.

Second, the process matters. In Rossen v. Bilchik, 46 So. 3d 1233 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) — the leading published decision construing § 732.901(2) — a trial court entered an order compelling production and awarding $2,500 in fees four days after the petition was filed, without a hearing and without proof the petition had been served. The Fourth District reversed the fee award and the production order as a due process violation, while affirming a separate contempt order that had been entered after proper notice and an opportunity to be heard. A custodian is entitled to notice and a hearing before any award.

Is It a Crime Not to File a Will in Florida?

Simply failing to deposit a will on time is not a crime. Several Florida law firm pages imply otherwise by citing Fla. Stat. § 918.13, the evidence-tampering statute. That statute reaches altering, destroying, concealing or removing a record only where a criminal “trial, proceeding, or investigation” is pending or about to be instituted. Sitting on a will past ten days, with no criminal matter in the picture, does not meet that element. (Where it does apply, § 918.13 is a third-degree felony — second-degree if the underlying matter involves a capital felony.)

Deliberately destroying or hiding a will is a different matter entirely. Florida courts treat the spoliation of a will seriously: in In re Deane’s Estate, 153 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963), the court explained that Florida’s lost and spoliated will statutes are designed to ensure the spoliator “will gain nothing from his wrongful act,” and it removed the executor who had spoliated the will. Note, though, that Florida does not recognize an independent tort claim for first-party spoliation of evidence — Martino v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 908 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 2005), applied in Fini v. Glascoe, 936 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). The remedies are sanctions and evidentiary presumptions within the case, not a separate lawsuit.

What the Clerk Does With the Will

Under § 732.901(4), the clerk “shall retain and preserve the original will in its original form for at least 20 years” — and must keep it in original form for that full period whether or not the will is ever admitted to probate and whether or not any proceeding is terminated. The deposit duty is unconditional: it applies even if no estate will ever be opened, and even if there are no probate assets at all.

Depositing a Will vs. Probating a Will: What’s the Difference?

This distinction causes more confusion than any other step, and almost no Florida resource explains it. Depositing the will with the clerk and opening a probate case are two entirely separate acts.

The practical takeaway: a will sitting with the clerk, deposited and never probated, transfers nothing. Families sometimes deposit the will, receive a stamped receipt, and assume the matter is handled. It is not.

Where Do You File a Will in Florida?

You file the original will with the clerk of the circuit court having venue over the estate. Getting the county right matters, because filing in the wrong one creates delay.

Which County Has Venue

Fla. Stat. § 733.101(1) sets the order:

• (a) The county in Florida where the decedent was domiciled.
• (b) If the decedent had no Florida domicile, any county where the decedent’s property is located.
• (c) If the decedent had no Florida domicile and no Florida property, the county where any debtor of the decedent resides.

Filing in the wrong county is not fatal. Under § 733.101(3), the court “may transfer the action in the same manner as provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure,” and acts taken before the transfer remain valid.

Which Florida Circuit Court Covers Your County

Probate is filed in the circuit court, and Florida is divided into 20 judicial circuits by Fla. Stat. § 26.021. You file with the clerk of the circuit court in the county itself — this table tells you which circuit that county sits in, which is what you will be asked for on court forms and what determines where an appeal goes.

One caution. The circuit is not the filing location. Venue is the county of the decedent’s domicile under § 733.101 — you file in that county’s clerk’s office, not at the circuit’s administrative headquarters. A Collier County estate is a Twentieth Circuit case filed in Naples, not in Fort Myers.

What to Bring to the Clerk

Section 732.901(1) requires you to give the clerk the decedent’s date of death or the last four digits of their Social Security number at the time of deposit. That is a statewide statutory requirement, not a local preference.

Most Florida clerks charge nothing to deposit a will — depositing is a statutory duty, not a filing. Some charge a small fee for a stamped receipt proving you did it. Orange County, for example, publishes its terms: no fee to file the will, $6.00 for a receipt. If you want proof of compliance with the 10-day rule, ask for that receipt.

Are Wills Public Record in Florida?

The answer changes completely depending on whether the person is alive.

Before Death: Private

A will you sign today is a private document. It is not filed anywhere, not registered with the state, and not searchable. Florida has no will registry. Nobody — not your children, not a creditor — has any right to see it while you are alive.

After Deposit: Public Record

Once the custodian deposits the original with the clerk under § 732.901, it becomes a court record. From that point, Florida wills are public record and generally viewable by anyone. This surprises families who assumed the will’s contents would stay within the family. It is one of the underrated advantages of a properly funded revocable trust: trusts are not filed with the court, so their terms stay private.

Certain information within the file is protected — Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and similar identifiers are confidential under Florida’s court records rules — but the dispositive terms of the will itself are not.

How to Find Out If a Will Was Filed or Probated in Florida

If you believe a relative’s will was filed and you want to check, the search is free and you can do it yourself:

1. Identify the right county — the county of the decedent’s domicile at death, under § 733.101.
2. Search that clerk’s online case search by the decedent’s last name. Nearly every Florida county — from Escambia to Monroe — runs a free public case search portal on its clerk’s website.
3. Look for a probate case number, which in most counties uses a format identifying the year and the probate division.
4. If nothing appears, the will may have been deposited without a probate case being opened. A deposited-only will may not show in case search — call the probate division and ask whether a will has been deposited for that person.
5. To obtain a copy, request it from the clerk. Copies are typically available for a per-page fee plus a certification fee.

You will generally need the decedent’s full legal name and date of death. Some clerks also accept a Social Security number.

Is There a Deadline to Probate a Will in Florida?

There is no statutory deadline to file for probate in Florida. A will can be offered for probate years after the death. But three separate clocks change what is available to you and what it costs, and searching for a single “statute of limitations on probate in Florida” misses the real picture.

The two-year mark is the one worth circling. After two years from death, the absolute creditor bar of § 733.710 has run and summary administration becomes available with no dollar limit at all. A large estate that would have required full formal administration at month eleven can sometimes be handled far more simply at month twenty-five. That timing question is worth an attorney’s analysis before you file anything.

How Do You Probate a Will in Florida? Step by Step

Here is what the Florida probate process with a will actually looks like, start to finish.

Step 1: The Original Will Is Deposited

The custodian deposits the original with the clerk within 10 days under § 732.901. If a petition is being filed at the same time, submitting the original with the petition satisfies the deposit requirement under § 732.901(3).

Step 2: A Petition for Administration Is Filed

Under § 733.202, “any interested person may petition for administration.” The petition asks the court to admit the will and appoint the personal representative. Its required contents are set by Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 — see the walkthrough below.

Step 3: The Court Reviews and Admits the Will

The court determines whether the will was properly executed and should be admitted. If the will is self-proved, this is usually done on the papers without a hearing. If it is not, additional proof is required under § 733.201.

Step 4: The Personal Representative Is Appointed

The court signs an order admitting the will and appointing the personal representative, then issues letters of administration. Florida calls this role the personal representative; most other states call it the executor. The PR takes an oath and, where required, designates a resident agent and posts bond.

Step 5: Beneficiaries, Heirs and Creditors Are Notified

The PR serves the notice of administration under § 733.212, publishes the notice to creditors under § 733.2121, and conducts a diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors. Both notices start clocks that matter a great deal.

Step 6: Estate Assets Are Identified and Inventoried

The PR takes possession of the decedent’s property — except protected homestead, which § 733.607(1) expressly excludes from the PR’s right of possession — and files an inventory. Non-probate assets are separated out.

Step 7: Debts, Taxes and Expenses Are Handled

Valid claims are paid or objected to. Statutory claim priorities apply. The PR must not distribute ahead of claims without understanding the personal exposure that creates.

Step 8: Assets Are Distributed and the Estate Is Closed

Once claims and expenses are resolved, the PR distributes according to the will, files a final accounting and petition for discharge, and the court discharges the PR. See our guide on closing an estate in Florida.

What Does the Petition for Administration Have to Contain?

Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 lists exactly what a petition for administration must state, in subdivisions (a) through (k). This is the document that trips up most people attempting probate without counsel, because a petition missing any required element gets rejected.

How Is a Will Proved in Florida?

Getting a will admitted requires proof that it was validly executed. Fla. Stat. § 733.201 creates a three-step path, and almost no Florida guide lays it out.

What Makes a Will Self-Proving in Florida?

A self-proving will is one that carries a notarized affidavit under Fla. Stat. § 732.503, in which the testator acknowledges the will and the witnesses swear to its execution before an officer authorized to administer oaths. Under § 733.201(1), a self-proved will “may be admitted to probate without further proof.”

That is the entire value of self-proof: nobody has to find the witnesses years later. A will can be made self-proved at signing or at any time afterward.

Does a Florida Will Have to Be Notarized?

No — and this is the most commonly botched sentence on Florida probate websites. A notary is not required for a Florida will to be valid. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.502, a valid Florida will requires only that it be:

• In writing;
• Signed by the testator at the end of the will (or signed in the testator’s presence and at their direction);
• Signed or acknowledged in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses; and
• Signed by those witnesses in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other.

The notary appears only in § 732.503, and only for self-proof. So a will signed with two witnesses and no notary is a perfectly valid Florida will — it simply is not self-proving, which means proving it takes an extra step. Confusing validity with self-proof is what leads families to believe a valid will is worthless.

What If the Will Is Not Self-Proving?

Section 733.201 provides two fallbacks:

Note the practical sequence: witnesses are not required to be alive or findable for a will to be admitted. The statute anticipates that they will not be.

Out-of-State and Handwritten Wills

Under § 732.502(2), a will executed by a nonresident is valid in Florida if it was valid where it was executed — except a holographic or nuncupative will. That exception matters constantly for people who moved to Florida. A handwritten will valid in another state is generally not valid in Florida if it was not executed with two attesting witnesses. Florida does not recognize holographic wills, even ones another state would honor.

Electronic Wills

Florida recognizes electronic wills under §§ 732.521–732.525. Under § 732.522, questions about the force, effect, validity and interpretation of a complying electronic will are determined the same way as for a traditionally executed will. One wrinkle worth knowing: under § 733.201(1), a purportedly self-proved electronic will may be admitted only through the oath routes in subsections (2) and (3) if there was a substantial failure to comply with the online notarization procedures of § 117.265.

What If the Original Will Is Lost or Destroyed?

A lost or destroyed will can still be admitted to probate in Florida — but the burden is real, and this is where most do-it-yourself probate attempts collapse. Nearly every Florida page on this topic cites the statute and stops. The case law is what determines outcomes.

The Presumption of Revocation

When a will that was last known to be in the testator’s possession cannot be found after death, Florida law presumes the testator destroyed it intending to revoke it. The Florida Supreme Court stated the rule in In re Washington’s Estate, 56 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 1952):

“Where a will, which cannot be found following the death of the testator, is shown to have been in his possession when last seen, the presumption is, in the absence of other evidence, that he destroyed it.”

The burden of proving otherwise falls on the person offering the will. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this in In re Estate of Parker, 382 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 1980), noting that “[t]he first step in overcoming this presumption is by the establishment and admission to probate of the lost or destroyed will pursuant to section 733.207.”

The Third District put the same rule in plainer terms in In re Estate of Hatten, 880 So. 2d 1271, 1274 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004): “When a decedent who has made a will dies, and the will cannot be found among the decedent’s personal papers (or other logical locations such as safety deposit box or family lawyer), a presumption arises that the decedent [himself] destroyed the will, intending to revoke it.”

What Evidence Rebuts the Presumption

The standard is competent substantial evidence, and this is a strong presumption, not a mild inference. As the Fourth District explained in Balboni v. LaRocque, 991 So. 2d 993 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), the presumption “gives rise to more than a ‘mere permissible inference of revocation'” — its effect is to require a finding of revocation unless the proponent offers evidence tending to show the will was not revoked. That formulation traces to In re Estate of Baird, 343 So. 2d 41 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977).

Direct evidence is not required. In Lonergan v. Estate of Budahazi, 669 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996), the court held that “in order to meet the burden of demonstrating competent substantial evidence, circumstantial evidence is sufficient.”

And the presumption is regularly overcome. It is worth saying plainly, because the case law is often described as though a missing original ends the matter. It does not. Washington itself affirmed admission of a carbon copy, because there was “other evidence” — two sons who stood to gain went to the house immediately after the death, ransacked a trunk, and the jar where the decedent kept her papers was never seen again. Lonergan likewise affirmed admission of a copy, on circumstantial evidence that the surviving husband had access to the marital residence, a pecuniary interest in the will disappearing, and a history of extreme marital discord with the decedent. Schultz reversed a dismissal outright. What defeats these cases is usually not the presumption — it is the proof-of-contents requirement discussed below.

Balboni catalogs the recognized categories of rebuttal evidence:

What If the Attorney or a Third Party Held the Original?

This changes the analysis entirely, and it is the fact pattern we see most often. In Schultz v. Estate of Roach, 549 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), the Third District held:

“The presumption that a lost will has been destroyed with the intention to revoke arises only where the original will has been in the possession and control of the decedent.”

Where the drafting attorney’s practice was to keep the original and no evidence showed it was ever in the decedent’s hands, no presumption of revocation arose at all. The Third District relied on its own earlier decision in In re Yost’s Estate, 117 So. 2d 753 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960), for the rule that a lawyer’s failure to find and produce a will entrusted to him “does not give rise to any presumption of its revocation.” Schultz reversed the dismissal and sent the case back with instructions to reinstate and grant the petition.

But no presumption does not mean no proof obligation — and that is the refinement in the most recent decision on this subject. In Pilak v. Reigel, 428 So. 3d 625 (Fla. 5th DCA 2026), the Fifth District held:

“Even if the presumption of revocation did not arise because there was no evidence the decedent was in possession of the will prior to his death, a proponent of a lost will still must comply with the statutory requirements of section 733.207.”

Can You Probate a Copy of a Will in Florida?

Yes — and the number of witnesses you need depends on whether you have one. Fla. Stat. § 733.207 provides:

“Any interested person may establish the full and precise terms of a lost or destroyed will and offer the will for probate. The specific content of the will must be proved by the testimony of two disinterested witnesses, or, if a correct copy is provided, it shall be proved by one disinterested witness.”

What counts as a “correct copy”? In Parker, the Florida Supreme Court answered a certified question and held that “correct copy” means “a copy conforming to an approved or conventional standard,” which “requires an identical copy such as a carbon or photostatic copy,” and that a substantial copy will not suffice. The Second District later clarified that those examples are illustrative rather than exclusive: in Smith v. DeParry, 86 So. 3d 1228 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012), the court read Parker‘s “such as” to mean “for example” and held that a computer-generated copy identical to the original can qualify.

A correct copy also does not need to bear signatures. In In re Estate of Kero, 591 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), an unsigned carbon copy paired with the testimony of the one surviving subscribing witness — the lawyer who drafted the will — satisfied the statute. As the Fourth District put it, “the statute conspicuously does not expressly require that the ‘correct’ copy itself bear the necessary signatures,” because “the purpose of the correct copy is not to prove execution of the original but to prove the content of the original.” That rule traces back to the Florida Supreme Court in Stewart v. Johnson, 142 Fla. 425, 194 So. 869 (1940).

Who Counts as a “Disinterested Witness”?

Smith v. DeParry is the leading construction. A disinterested witness is a person “who has no private interest in the matter at issue” and “no stake in the outcome of the matter in which he or she offers evidence.” Critically, that is a different concept from an “interested person,” which concerns standing — so a personal representative can be an interested person for standing purposes and still testify as a disinterested witness. On the facts of Smith, though, the co-personal representatives were not disinterested, because each had a substantial private stake — potential malpractice exposure and a direct financial interest.

The other trap is content. A witness who watched the will get signed but never read it proves nothing. In Brennan v. Honsberger, 101 So. 3d 415 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012), the proponent submitted affidavits from two witnesses attesting to the proper execution of the will — and the Fifth District still reversed, because the affidavits went to execution and “neither had knowledge of its content.” Same result in In re Estate of Musil, 965 So. 2d 1157 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007), where the niece “failed to present the testimony of at least one disinterested witness to prove the execution and the content of the will.” And in Pilak, a witness who “knew nothing of the contents of the will” could not prove them “[e]ven if he had no stake in the outcome.” Pilak also held that consents and waivers signed by intestate heirs are not a substitute for the statutory proof of contents.

The Procedure: Rule 5.510 and Adversary Status

Two procedural facts about lost-will cases are almost never published, and both matter.

First, a lost-will proceeding is an adversary proceeding from the start. Fla. Prob. R. 5.025(a) lists proceedings that “are adversary proceedings unless otherwise ordered by the court,” and subdivision (a)(4) expressly includes a proceeding “to probate a lost or destroyed will, or later-discovered will.” It does not become adversary when someone objects — it begins that way. That means formal notice, and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure govern, except rule 1.525. This was confirmed in Anderson v. Estate of Quintero, 388 So. 3d 938 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024).

Note that Rule 5.025 was amended effective July 16, 2026, by Florida Supreme Court opinion No. SC2026-0690 — the same opinion conforming the probate rules to chapter 2026-57. That amendment converted subdivision (a) into a numbered list and added a fourteenth category, proceedings to enforce the authority of a personal representative under § 733.612. The lost-will entry sits at (a)(4) in the current numbering.

Second, Fla. Prob. R. 5.510 sets the mechanics:

• (a) Establishment and probate of the lost will happen in one proceeding.
• (b) The petition must state the grounds and the contents of the will, or attach a copy if one exists.
• (c) Each witness’s testimony must be reduced to writing and filed, and may be used later if the witness dies or leaves the state.
• (d) No lost or destroyed will may be admitted unless formal notice has been given to those who, but for the will, would be entitled to the property.
• (e) The order admitting the will must state its terms and provisions in full.

Subdivision (d) is the one that derails petitions. The people entitled to notice are the intestate heirs — precisely the people who lose if the will is admitted. Skipping them is fatal. And subdivision (c) requires live testimony reduced to writing; affidavits do not substitute.

What Are Letters of Administration and Letters Testamentary?

Letters of administration are the court-issued document that proves the personal representative has authority to act for the estate. This is the piece of paper the bank, the brokerage, the DMV and the title company are actually asking for when they say they need “the paperwork.”

Florida uses the single term letters of administration for both testate and intestate estates. Many other states distinguish between letters testamentary (when there is a will) and letters of administration (when there is not). If you were told to bring “letters testamentary” in Florida, letters of administration are what you need — the naming difference is not a substantive one here.

Institutions typically want certified letters issued within a recent window — often 60 or 90 days. Order several certified copies at the outset; ordering them one at a time is a common source of delay.

What Is the Notice of Administration?

The notice of administration under Fla. Stat. § 733.212 is served by the personal representative on the surviving spouse, beneficiaries, certain trustees and trust beneficiaries, and persons who may be entitled to exempt property. It is the document that starts the clock on challenging the will.

Under § 733.212(3), an interested person served with the notice must object to the validity of the will, the venue, or the jurisdiction of the court within three months after service — “or those objections are forever barred.”

Note precisely what that three-month bar covers. It is the validity of the will, venue and jurisdiction. It is not a general three-month bar on every possible objection, and several Florida websites overstate its reach. Other deadlines in the same statute run differently: exempt property claims are due the later of four months after service or 40 days after any will-validity proceeding ends, and the elective share is due the earlier of six months after service or two years after death.

If you have received a notice of administration and believe the will is invalid, the three-month window is short and unforgiving. See our guide on contesting a will in Florida.

Who Can Serve as Personal Representative in Florida?

Florida calls the person administering an estate the personal representative. Elsewhere the term is executor. They mean the same role.

Order of Preference

Fla. Stat. § 733.301 sets the order:

Who Is Disqualified

Under § 733.303(1), a person is not qualified to serve if they:

• Have been convicted of a felony;
• Have been convicted in any state or foreign jurisdiction of abuse, neglect or exploitation of an elderly person or a disabled adult;
• Are mentally or physically unable to perform the duties; or
• Are under 18.

Note that being a beneficiary does not disqualify anyone. In Florida the personal representative is very often the main beneficiary, and that is entirely normal.

Can an Out-of-State Person Serve?

Only if they fall inside a specific list. Under § 733.304, a nonresident may serve only if they are:

• A legally adopted child or adoptive parent of the decedent;
• Related by lineal consanguinity to the decedent;
• A spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the decedent, or someone related by lineal consanguinity to any of those; or
• The spouse of a person otherwise qualified under the section.

That list is exhaustive. A nonresident close friend, business partner, or a cousin outside those categories cannot serve as personal representative in Florida — even if the will names them and everyone agrees. This is one of the most common reasons a nomination in an out-of-state will fails. See our guide for the out-of-state executor in Florida.

Summary Administration in Florida: The $150,000 Change

This is the most important Florida probate development of 2026, and most published guides — including several very well-known ones — still print the old number.

Effective July 1, 2026, chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida (CS/HB 1337) amended Fla. Stat. § 735.201 to raise the summary administration ceiling from $75,000 to $150,000. The same act moved several other thresholds:

Summary administration is available in a testate estate when the will does not direct administration under chapter 733, and when either:

• The value of the entire estate subject to administration in Florida, less property exempt from creditors’ claims, does not exceed $150,000; or
• The decedent has been dead for more than two years.

Those are independent qualifiers. The two-year route has no dollar cap at all — a multi-million-dollar estate can qualify for summary administration if the death was more than two years ago. That is a planning point worth real money, and it is why the timing analysis above matters.

Under § 735.203, the petition may be filed by any beneficiary or the person nominated as PR in the will, and must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse and any beneficiaries — except that joinder is not required from a beneficiary who will receive a full distributive share, though formal notice must then be served on them.

Summary administration does not appoint a personal representative. The court enters an order distributing the assets directly. That makes it faster and cheaper — but it also means no one holds letters, which occasionally causes problems with institutions that want them.

Can You Probate a Will Without a Lawyer in Florida?

Usually not — and the reason is a rule, not a recommendation. This is where most Florida websites are simply inaccurate.

What Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 Actually Says

Florida Probate Rule 5.030(a) provides:

“Every guardian and every personal representative, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person, must be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida. A guardian or personal representative who is an attorney admitted to practice in Florida may represent himself or herself as guardian or personal representative.”

So representation is required, not advised. Two exceptions: the personal representative is the sole interested person, or the personal representative is themselves a Florida-admitted attorney.

Rule 5.030 was amended effective October 1, 2026. The only change to subdivision (a) was stylistic — “shall be represented” became “must be represented.” The sole-interested-person exception and the attorney self-representation sentence both survive word for word.

“Sole Interested Person” Is Not “Sole Beneficiary”

You will see the exception described online as applying to a “sole beneficiary.” That is wrong, and the difference is not academic.

Fla. Stat. § 731.201(23) defines an interested person as “any person who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding involved,” and says expressly that the meaning “may vary from time to time” depending on the purpose and matter involved. That is a broad, context-sensitive test.

The Florida Supreme Court established the exception in State ex rel. Falkner v. Blanton, 297 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 1974), holding that a party may represent himself in probate “so long as he remains the sole interested party therein.” In Dimitroff v. Taylor, 651 So. 2d 131 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), parents who were both the proposed personal representatives and the sole heirs at law of an intestate estate did not need counsel — the Second District reasoned that “the persons who would be the personal representatives are also the only interested persons.” Two facts drove that result and are easy to overlook: the petition alleged the estate was not indebted, and the gross estate was $47,613.

One important limitation on the exception: it is not confined to the estate file. In Benedetto v. Columbia Park Healthcare Systems, 922 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), the Fifth District held that because an independent action brought on behalf of an estate “is ancillary to the estate administration, this rule governs both the estate administration itself and any independent proceedings prosecuted or defended by the estate.” So a personal representative who is not the sole interested person cannot bring or defend a lawsuit for the estate — or prosecute an appeal — without a Florida attorney.

No published Florida decision squarely holds that a known creditor defeats the exception. But the direction of the authority is clear: a creditor with a viable, non-contingent claim is a person “reasonably expected to be affected by the outcome,” and the definition runs broadly enough that even an attorney who rendered services to the personal representative has been held an interested person with standing to reopen a closed probate case to pursue a charging lien — Valentino v. Estate of Andollo, 410 So. 3d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025).

And the burden is on the personal representative to prove it. Benedetto ordered a pro se personal representative to furnish the court “relevant portions of the probate record, and appropriate argument in proper form, to establish that he is the ‘sole interested person'” — or, in the alternative, to “secure the proper, written appearance of counsel” — within 30 days, with dismissal as the consequence of non-compliance. The court did not presume the status; it made him prove it.

What Happens If You File Anyway?

Good news for anyone who already has: filings made in violation of Rule 5.030 are generally curable, not void. In Torrey v. Leesburg Regional Medical Center, 769 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 2000), the Florida Supreme Court rejected a bright-line nullity rule and held that a filing by an unauthorized person is an amendable defect, and that courts must allow a reasonable time to cure by retaining authorized counsel. Dismissal is appropriate only if the party fails to cure. Benedetto applied that framework directly in the probate context.

Practically: if you filed pro se and the court has flagged it, retaining counsel promptly generally solves the problem rather than starting over.

How Long Does It Take to Probate a Will in Florida?

Realistic ranges, assuming nothing is contested:

The single biggest driver in an uncontested formal administration is the creditor period. The estate generally cannot close until the three-month window after first publication has run. See our detailed breakdown of how long probate takes in Florida.

How Much Does It Cost to Probate a Will in Florida?

Most sites answer this with “it depends.” Here are actual numbers.

Court Filing Fees — Set by Statute, Statewide

Florida probate filing fees are not set county by county. Fla. Stat. § 28.2401 governs “service charges and filing fees in probate matters” for every circuit court clerk in the state, and it sets ceilings: the clerk “may impose service charges or filing fees … not to exceed” the listed amounts. A separate $4 service charge under § 28.2401(3) funds court and clerk education.

What clerks actually post. In practice most Florida clerks charge $400 for formal administration and $345 for summary administration of an estate worth $1,000 or more — a dollar or two above the statutory arithmetic, and a few counties differ slightly from each other. Confirm the current figure with the clerk in the county where you are filing. Two useful points buried in the statute: under § 28.2401(2) a court may increase the fee in an individual matter on a showing of extraordinary circumstances, and under § 28.241(1)(b) the $50 reopening fee does not apply to a probate case before the personal representative is discharged.

Other predictable costs: publication of the notice to creditors (commonly $100–$250 depending on the newspaper), certified copies of letters and orders, certified death certificates at roughly $10–$20 each, and bond if the court requires it.

Attorney’s Fees

Fla. Stat. § 733.6171(3) sets a schedule that is presumed reasonable for ordinary services in a formal administration:

This is a presumption, not a mandate. Section 733.6171(2) expressly allows the attorney, the personal representative and the persons bearing the impact of the fee to agree to compensation determined a different way — which is how flat-fee and hourly arrangements work. Subsection (4) allows additional reasonable compensation for extraordinary services such as will contests, sales of real property, and tax proceedings.

Personal Representative Compensation

Separately, § 733.617(2) presumes the following commission reasonable for the personal representative:

Note that the brackets differ from the attorney’s fee schedule — the attorney’s schedule steps at $3 million and $10 million; the PR commission steps at $5 million and $10 million. Many websites reuse one table for both, which produces wrong numbers. Family members serving as PR frequently waive the commission.

For a fuller breakdown, see the cost of probate in Florida.

What Changes If There Is No Will?

If the decedent left no valid will, the estate is intestate, and Florida law rather than the decedent decides who inherits. The court process is largely the same; the inputs change.

The most common misconception here is that dying without a will means the state takes everything. It does not. Escheat to the state happens only when no heir can be found at all, which is rare. For the full treatment, see our guide to the probate process in Florida without a will.

Do I Have to Probate My Husband’s or Wife’s Will?

Surviving spouses ask this more than anyone, and the answer turns almost entirely on how the couple held title.

Two Florida-specific points every surviving spouse should know:

Homestead. Under § 732.4015(1), the homestead cannot be devised at all if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor children — except that it may be devised to the spouse if there is no minor child. If it was not validly devised, § 732.401(1) gives the surviving spouse a life estate with a vested remainder to the descendants. But § 732.401(2) lets the spouse instead elect one-half as a tenant in common — and that election must be made by recorded notice within six months of the death, and is irrevocable once made. That six-month deadline is easy to miss and expensive to miss.

Elective share. A surviving spouse who is unhappy with what the will leaves them has a statutory claim to roughly 30% of the elective estate. The deadline is the earlier of six months after service of the notice of administration or two years after death.

Common Problems When Probating a Will in Florida

The Original Will Cannot Be Found

Covered in detail above. The short version: it is not hopeless, but you need the right number of disinterested witnesses who actually know the will’s contents, and formal notice must go to the intestate heirs under Rule 5.510(d).

The Will Is Not Self-Proving

Also solvable. Section 733.201(2) and (3) provide the oath routes. It adds a step, not a barrier.

Someone Challenges the Will

Florida will contests typically allege lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake, or improper execution. The three-month deadline in § 733.212(3) governs when a served interested person must object. See contesting a will in Florida and our Florida probate litigation practice.

The Personal Representative Is Disputed

Disputes arise over priority under § 733.301, disqualification under § 733.303, and the nonresident bar in § 733.304. Where a person nominated in the will cannot serve, the court moves down the statutory order rather than leaving the estate unadministered.

Creditor Claims and Homestead Confusion

Two recurring issues. First, the PR must conduct a diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors under § 733.2121(3)(a) — though the statute says expressly that “impracticable and extended searches are not required.” Missing a known creditor extends exposure. Second, families frequently assume the personal representative controls the homestead. Section 733.607(1) says otherwise: the PR takes possession of estate property “except the protected homestead.”

A Later Will Turns Up

Under § 733.208, on discovery of a later will or codicil any interested person may petition to revoke probate of the earlier will or to probate the later one — but not after the estate has been fully administered and the personal representative discharged. If instead new assets surface after closing, § 733.903 allows subsequent administration.

Florida Probate Statutes and Rules Referenced on This Page

Frequently Asked Questions About Probating a Will in Florida

Does a will have to be probated in Florida?

Not always. A will must be probated if the deceased person owned probate assets — property in their individual name with no surviving co-owner and no valid beneficiary designation. If everything passed by survivorship, beneficiary designation or trust, no probate may be needed. But the original will still has to be deposited with the clerk under § 732.901.

Does a will avoid probate in Florida?

No. A will directs probate; it does not avoid it. Probate is avoided through survivorship titling, beneficiary designations, a funded revocable trust, or a lady bird deed — not by having a will.

What is the 10-day rule for probate in Florida?

Under Fla. Stat. § 732.901(1), the custodian of an original will must deposit it with the clerk of the court having venue within 10 days after receiving information that the person died. The clock runs from learning of the death, not from the date of death.

What happens if you don’t file a will within 10 days in Florida?

The will remains valid and can still be admitted to probate — the deadline is not a condition of admission. What can happen is that an interested person petitions to compel production, and under § 732.901(2) the court may award costs, damages and a reasonable attorney’s fee against a custodian who had “no just or reasonable cause” for failing to deposit it. A custodian is entitled to notice and a hearing first.

What happens if a will is never probated in Florida?

The assets stay stuck. Under § 733.103(1), an unprobated will is ineffective to prove title or the right to possession, so property in the decedent’s sole name cannot be sold, transferred or accessed. Nothing forces a family to open an estate — but nothing moves until they do.

Is it a crime not to file a will in Florida?

Simply being late is not a crime. Fla. Stat. § 918.13, the tampering statute some sites cite, applies only where a criminal trial, proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted. Deliberately destroying or concealing a will is a different matter and carries serious consequences within the probate case.

Where do you file a will in Florida?

With the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. If there was no Florida domicile, then any county where the decedent’s property is located — Fla. Stat. § 733.101.

How much does it cost to file a will in Florida?

Depositing a will typically costs little or nothing. Orange County, for example, charges no fee to file a will and $6.00 for a receipt. Opening a probate case is separate, with filing fees of roughly $345 to $401 depending on the county and type of administration.

Are wills public record in Florida?

Before death, no — a will is a private document and Florida has no will registry. Once the original is deposited with the clerk after death, it becomes a court record and is generally public. Certain identifiers such as Social Security and account numbers remain confidential.

How do I find out if a will was probated in Florida?

Search the online case search portal of the clerk in the county where the person was domiciled, using their last name. If nothing appears, the will may have been deposited without a probate case being opened — call the probate division and ask whether a will has been deposited. You will generally need the full legal name and date of death.

How can I obtain a copy of a will in Florida?

Once a will has been deposited or filed in a probate case, request a copy from the clerk of that county. Copies are available for a per-page fee, with an added fee for certification.

Is there a deadline to probate a will in Florida?

There is no statutory deadline to open probate. But several clocks matter: the 10-day deposit duty, the 3-month objection and creditor periods, the surviving spouse’s 6-month homestead election, and the 2-year absolute creditor bar under § 733.710.

Is there a statute of limitations on probate in Florida?

Not on opening probate itself. The closest equivalent is § 733.710, which after two years from death bars claims against the decedent, and § 733.208, which prevents offering a later will after the estate has been fully administered and the personal representative discharged.

Can a will be probated after 2 years in Florida?

Yes — and in some ways it becomes easier. After two years from death, the § 733.710 creditor bar has run, and under § 735.201 summary administration becomes available regardless of the estate’s value.

How long does it take to probate a will in Florida?

Summary administration commonly runs one to three months. An uncontested formal administration typically runs six to twelve months, because the estate generally cannot close until the three-month creditor period has passed. Contested matters can take years.

How much does it cost to probate a will in Florida?

Court filing fees run about $345 to $401. Publication of the notice to creditors commonly costs $100 to $250. Attorney’s fees for ordinary services are presumed reasonable under the § 733.6171(3) schedule — $1,500 for estates up to $40,000, scaling to 3% between $100,000 and $1 million — though the statute expressly allows a different fee arrangement by agreement.

Who pays for probate in Florida?

The estate does. Fees and costs are generally paid from estate assets, not out of the personal representative’s pocket, though a PR who advances costs is typically reimbursed.

Can I probate a will without a lawyer in Florida?

Usually not. Fla. Prob. R. 5.030(a) requires a personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney unless the PR remains the sole interested person, or is themselves a Florida-admitted attorney. Note that “sole interested person” is narrower than “sole beneficiary” — creditors and anyone entitled to notice can defeat the exception.

Do I need an attorney to file a petition for probate?

If you will serve as personal representative and anyone else is an interested person, yes. Summary administration and disposition without administration have narrower requirements, but the safest course is to have the specific facts reviewed before filing.

What does it mean if a will is admitted to probate?

It means the court has determined the will is the decedent’s valid last will and will govern distribution of the probate assets. Under § 733.103(2), that determination is conclusive in later collateral proceedings as to due execution, capacity, absence of fraud or undue influence, and that the will was unrevoked at death.

What is probate court in Florida?

Probate in Florida is heard in the probate division of the circuit court in the county with venue. Florida has no separate standalone probate court — it is a division of the same circuit court that hears other civil matters.

Does a Florida will have to be notarized?

No. Under Fla. Stat. § 732.502, a valid Florida will requires a writing, the testator’s signature at the end, and two attesting witnesses who sign in the testator’s presence and each other’s. A notary is needed only to make the will self-proving under § 732.503 — which is convenient, not required for validity.

What is a self-proving will in Florida?

A will carrying a notarized affidavit under § 732.503 in which the testator acknowledges the will and the witnesses swear to its execution. Under § 733.201(1), a self-proved will may be admitted to probate without further proof — nobody has to locate the witnesses years later.

What does it mean if a will is not self-proving?

It is still a valid will. It just takes an extra step to admit: the oath of an attesting witness under § 733.201(2), or — if the witnesses cannot be found, are incapacitated, or their testimony cannot be obtained within a reasonable time — the oath of the nominated personal representative or any disinterested person under § 733.201(3).

Is a handwritten will valid in Florida?

Only if it was executed with the same formalities as any other will — signed at the end and witnessed by two attesting witnesses. Florida does not recognize holographic wills (handwritten and unwitnessed), and § 732.502(2) expressly excludes holographic and nuncupative wills from the rule that validates out-of-state wills.

Is an out-of-state will valid in Florida?

Generally yes. Under § 732.502(2), a will executed by a nonresident is valid in Florida if it was valid where executed — except holographic and nuncupative wills, which Florida will not accept even if the other state would.

Can you probate a copy of a will in Florida?

Yes. Under § 733.207, if you provide a correct copy, the contents can be proved by one disinterested witness; without a copy, you need two. A “correct copy” means an identical copy — a photocopy or a computer-generated duplicate qualifies, but a draft does not.

What happens if the original will cannot be found?

If the will was last in the decedent’s possession, Florida presumes they destroyed it intending to revoke it, and the proponent must rebut that presumption with competent substantial evidence. If the attorney or a third party held the original, no presumption of revocation arises at all — Schultz v. Estate of Roach. Either way, the § 733.207 proof requirements still apply.

Who counts as a disinterested witness for a lost will?

Someone with “no private interest in the matter at issue” and “no stake in the outcome” — Smith v. DeParry. A personal representative can be an interested person for standing and still be a disinterested witness, unless they have a personal financial stake. The witness must also know the will’s contents; testimony that the will was signed is not enough.

What are letters of administration in Florida?

The court-issued document proving the personal representative’s authority to act — to collect assets, open estate accounts, sell property and sign for the estate. Institutions typically want a recently certified copy.

Is there a difference between letters testamentary and letters of administration in Florida?

Florida uses letters of administration for both testate and intestate estates. Other states distinguish letters testamentary (with a will) from letters of administration (without). If someone asked you for letters testamentary in Florida, letters of administration are what you need.

What is the notice of administration in Florida?

The document the personal representative serves under § 733.212 on the surviving spouse, beneficiaries and certain others. It starts the three-month period to object to the validity of the will, the venue, or the court’s jurisdiction.

How long do I have to object to a will in Florida?

Three months from service of the notice of administration, under § 733.212(3), for objections to the will’s validity, venue or jurisdiction — after which those objections are forever barred. Other deadlines in the same statute run differently, including exempt property and the elective share.

Who can be a personal representative in Florida?

Any person 18 or older who is a Florida resident and is not disqualified under § 733.303 — that is, not convicted of a felony, not convicted of abuse, neglect or exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult, and mentally and physically able to serve. Being a beneficiary does not disqualify anyone.

Can an out-of-state person be a personal representative in Florida?

Only within the closed list in § 733.304 — an adopted child or adoptive parent, someone related by lineal consanguinity, a spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece (or someone related by lineal consanguinity to them), or the spouse of a qualified person. A nonresident friend or unrelated business partner cannot serve, even if the will names them.

Can a felon be a personal representative in Florida?

No. Section 733.303(1)(a) disqualifies anyone convicted of a felony from serving as personal representative in Florida.

Does the personal representative get paid in Florida?

Yes. Under § 733.617(2), a commission of 3% of the first $1 million, 2.5% from $1 million to $5 million, 2% from $5 million to $10 million and 1.5% above that is presumed reasonable. Family members serving as PR often waive it.

What is summary administration in Florida?

A shortened probate proceeding in which the court distributes assets directly without appointing a personal representative. It is available when the will does not direct formal administration and either the estate subject to administration is under $150,000, or the decedent has been dead more than two years.

What is the summary administration limit in Florida in 2026?

$150,000, effective July 1, 2026, under chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, amending § 735.201. It was previously $75,000. The two-year-since-death alternative has no dollar limit.

Do bank accounts go through probate in Florida?

Only accounts in the decedent’s sole name with no payable-on-death designation. Joint accounts with survivorship rights and POD accounts under § 655.82 pass outside probate. See our guide on bank accounts when someone dies.

What happens if you die without a will in Florida?

The estate is intestate and Florida’s statutes decide who inherits, under §§ 732.102 and 732.103. Probate is still required for probate assets. The surviving spouse has first priority to serve as personal representative. The state takes the property only if no heir at all can be found, which is rare.

Do I have to probate my husband’s will in Florida?

It depends on titling. Assets held as tenants by the entireties, joint accounts with survivorship, and accounts naming you as beneficiary pass to you without probate. Anything in his sole name — including a home titled only in his name — generally requires a court proceeding. Watch the six-month deadline to elect one-half of the homestead as a tenant in common under § 732.401(2).

Does the personal representative control the homestead?

No. Section 733.607(1) gives the personal representative the right to possession of estate property “except the protected homestead.” Homestead is treated differently from the rest of the estate throughout Florida probate.

What happens if a later will is found after probate started?

Under § 733.208, any interested person may petition to revoke probate of the earlier will or to probate the later one — but not after the estate has been fully administered and the personal representative discharged. If new assets rather than a new will turn up after closing, § 733.903 allows subsequent administration.

What to Do Next If You Are Holding a Will

If you are holding an original will and are not sure what to do next, the first two steps are the same in almost every case: preserve the original, and get it deposited with the right clerk. What comes after that — whether probate is needed at all, whether summary administration is available, who can serve, and how to handle a will that is lost or not self-proving — depends on facts a short conversation usually sorts out.

We at Lorenzo Law handle probate of a will in Florida statewide — all 20 judicial circuits and all 67 counties. Much of Florida probate is now handled remotely, so it rarely matters whether the estate is in Escambia County or the Keys. Call (305) 224-6811 or send us a message to talk through your situation.

This article is general information about Florida law and is not legal advice. Statutes, rules and court filing fees change; the figures above are current as of publication. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.