What Happens to Your Debt When You Die in Florida?

What happens to your debt when you die in Florida comes down to one rule that almost nobody gets right: your estate pays your debts, and your family does not. Debt is not inherited in Florida. It does not transfer to your spouse, your children, or your heirs. It becomes a claim against your probate estate, it gets paid in a strict statutory order, and if the money runs out, most of what is left is simply never paid.

That single answer resolves most of what families are actually asking when they search what debts are forgiven at death in Florida, do you inherit debt in Florida, or who is responsible for debt after death. But the exceptions are where people get hurt — and they are narrow, specific, and almost always about something the survivor signed.

We at Lorenzo Law handle Florida probate and creditor claims every week, and this guide is the one we wish families had before they called us. Every statute below was read against the 2026 Florida Statutes on August 29, 2026, and every case cited was verified in Westlaw the same day.

The 30-Second Answer

• The estate pays, not the heirs. Florida has no filial responsibility law, and the common law doctrine of necessaries was abolished in 1995.
• Two deadlines control everything. Creditors get the later of 3 months from first publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days from being served (Fla. Stat. § 733.702). And 2 years after the date of death, nearly every claim dies — even if no probate was ever opened (Fla. Stat. § 733.710).
• Unsecured debt is usually forgiven. Credit cards, medical bills and personal loans sit in Class 8 — dead last — and are frequently paid nothing.
• Secured debt follows the asset. A mortgage or car loan survives death and survives the claim deadlines. The lender can foreclose or repossess.
• Florida protects more than most states. Homestead, up to $20,000 of household property, an $18,000 family allowance, life insurance, annuities and retirement accounts are all outside the reach of your creditors.
• You become liable by signing, not by relation. Co-signer, joint account holder, or guarantor — that is the whole list.

What Debts Are Forgiven at Death in Florida?

This is the most-searched question in the category, and the honest answer is that Florida law does not “forgive” debt at all — it runs a clock and a payment order, and whatever the estate cannot reach simply goes uncollected. The practical result looks like forgiveness for unsecured creditors and looks like nothing at all for secured ones.

Here is the complete picture. This is the table we could not find anywhere else on the internet, in Florida or nationally.

Debt type	Forgiven at death in Florida?	What actually decides it
Credit card debt (sole account)	Usually yes	Class 8 under § 733.707(1)(h). Paid last, and only if money remains.
Credit card as an authorized user	Yes — never your debt	You were never an obligor on the account.
Credit card as a joint account holder or co-signer	No	You signed. Your liability is contractual and survives the death entirely.
Medical and hospital bills	Usually yes	Last-60-days expenses are Class 4; everything older is Class 8.
Personal loans, unsecured	Usually yes	Class 8.
Federal student loans	Yes — discharged outright	Discharged on death by regulation, and not taxable to the estate.
Parent PLUS loans	Yes	Discharged if either the parent borrower or the student dies.
Private student loans	Depends on the lender	Many discharge on death; others file a claim against the estate.
Mortgage / home equity line	No	Secured. The lien survives death and survives the claim deadlines under § 733.710(3).
Car loan	No	Secured. Repossession stays available.
Reverse mortgage (HECM)	No — but it is non-recourse	Becomes due and payable. Heirs never owe more than the home is worth.
Federal income tax	No	Class 3, and it carries federal priority that can make the personal representative personally liable.
Florida Medicaid (AHCA recovery)	No — but often unenforceable	Class 3, and defeated entirely by homestead or by a surviving spouse or minor child.
Child support arrears	No	Class 6.
Funeral expenses	No	Class 2, capped at $6,000.
HOA and condo assessments	No	Pre-death dues are a claim; post-death assessments run against the new owner.
Timeshare maintenance fees	No	Same split — and you may be able to disclaim the interest entirely.
Utilities and ongoing bills	Usually yes, if unpaid	Pre-death balances are Class 8; post-death service is an administration expense.
Any debt where a survivor signed	No	Co-signer, joint holder or guarantor liability is independent of the estate.

What debts are NOT forgiven at death?

The pattern is simple once you see it. A debt survives death when something other than the decedent’s promise is holding it up — a lien on property, a federal priority, or a second person’s signature. Everything else is a claim against a finite pot of money, and when the pot empties, the claim ends.

Does debt die with you in Florida?

Your personal obligation does. What replaces it is a claim against your estate, and that claim has a short life. If nobody presents it in time, or if the estate has nothing to pay it with, the creditor writes it off. That is why does debt die with you and what happens to debt when you die with no estate have nearly the same answer in Florida: with no probate assets, an unsecured creditor has nothing to collect from and no one to collect from.

Who Is Responsible for Debt After Death in Florida?

The estate is responsible. Not the children, not the siblings, not the personal representative personally, and not the surviving spouse. Florida is unusually protective here, because it has closed both routes by which other states create family liability.

Are children responsible for parents’ debt in Florida?

No. Florida has no filial responsibility statute. More than half the states have some version of a law making adult children liable for a parent’s care costs; Florida has never enacted one. There is nothing in Chapter 415, Chapter 400, or anywhere else in the Florida Statutes that makes you responsible for your mother’s hospital bill or your father’s credit card because you are their child.

Is a spouse responsible for a deceased spouse’s debt in Florida?

No — and this is the part almost every other state gets differently. At common law, a husband was liable for his wife’s “necessaries.” When Florida’s courts faced the equal-protection problem with that rule, most states solved it by extending the doctrine to both spouses. Florida did the opposite.

In Connor v. Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, Inc., 668 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 1995), the Florida Supreme Court held: “Because constitutional considerations demand equality between the sexes, it follows that a husband can no longer be held liable for his wife’s necessaries. We therefore abrogate the common law doctrine of necessaries, thereby leaving it to the legislature to determine the policy of the state in this area.” The Legislature has not acted in the thirty years since.

Applied at death, the result is exactly what you would hope. In Heinemann v. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, 585 So. 2d 1162 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) — a decision the Supreme Court expressly approved in Connor — a widow was held not liable for her deceased husband’s hospital bills because she had signed no agreement binding her.

So Florida has removed both possible routes to family liability: no statute, and no common law doctrine. Liability in Florida follows assets received, not family relationship.

Then how do family members ever end up owing money?

By signing. That is the entire list, and it has four entries:

• You co-signed the loan.
• You were a joint account holder on the debt itself — not an authorized user, a joint obligor.
• You signed as a guarantor — most often on a nursing home or hospital admission agreement.
• You received estate property you were not entitled to keep, which we cover below.

Authorized user or joint account holder — which were you?

This distinction decides more credit card outcomes than anything else, and most people do not know which one they are. An authorized user is a person permitted to charge on someone else’s account. They never signed the cardholder agreement, never became an obligor, and owe nothing when the primary cardholder dies. A joint account holder signed as a co-obligor and remains fully liable for the entire balance, regardless of probate.

Check the original application, not the card. Both people’s names appear on the plastic either way.

I signed something at the nursing home. Am I on the hook?

Probably not — and this is the most valuable thing on this page, because nobody publishes it.

Florida courts distinguish sharply between signing as a “responsible party” and signing as a guarantor. In Etheridge v. Palm Garden of Winter Haven, LLC, 359 So. 3d 1202 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022), a daughter signed a nursing home admission agreement as “responsible party” — where the agreement defined that term as agreeing to honor certain obligations of the resident without incurring any personal financial responsibility — and was not personally bound. In Lepisto v. Senior Lifestyle Newport Ltd. Partnership, 78 So. 3d 89 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012), a wife who signed only in her individual capacity as “financially responsible party” did not thereby bind herself in another capacity; signing in one capacity does not create obligations in another.

And there is a federal rule most families have never heard: under 42 C.F.R. § 483.15, a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing home may not require a third party to sign as a guarantor of payment as a condition of admission. Florida law reinforces the disclosure side at Fla. Stat. § 400.022(1)(i), which gives residents the right to be fully informed of services and charges before admission.

The caveat is real, though: a family member who genuinely signed as a guarantor, in clear language, can be held to it. And an ambiguous agreement will not be resolved on summary judgment — it goes to trial (Myrick v. St. Catherine Laboure Manor, Inc., 529 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)).

If a facility is billing you personally, find what you signed before you pay anything.

Can heirs be made to give money back?

Yes — and this is the one qualification to “heirs never inherit debt” that most articles leave out.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.812, “[a] distributee or a claimant who was paid improperly must return the assets or funds received, and the income from those assets or interest on the funds since distribution.” If the distributee no longer has the property, they must return its value at the date of disposition.

The exposure is larger in a summary administration. Under Fla. Stat. § 735.206(4)(e), recipients are “personally liable for a pro rata share of all lawful claims against the estate of the decedent, but only to the extent of the value of the estate of the decedent actually received by each recipient.” That liability runs for two years. And a known creditor who was never served and never provided for “may enforce the claim and, if the creditor prevails, shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees as an element of costs against those who joined in the petition.”

So the accurate statement is: heirs do not inherit debt, but heirs who receive property can be made to give it back.

Can I Use a Deceased Person’s Credit Card?

No. Stop. This is the question we get asked most often in the first week after a death, and it is the one where families create real legal exposure without realizing it.

A credit card is not an asset that passes to anyone. Authorization to use the account terminates at death — including yours, if you were an authorized user. Using a deceased person’s credit card after you know they have died is not “handling the estate.” It is unauthorized use of a credit card, and it is a crime regardless of how sympathetic the purchase is or whether you intended to repay the estate.

This applies to a surviving spouse. It applies to the person named in the will as personal representative, before letters are issued and after. It applies to funeral expenses, groceries, and the utility bill on the decedent’s own house. The card is not the mechanism.

What should I do with a deceased person’s credit cards instead?

1. Stop all use immediately, including autopay and recurring subscriptions charged to the card.
2. Notify each issuer and send a certified copy of the death certificate. Ask them to close the account and stop interest and fees.
3. Notify the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and request a deceased flag on the file. This is the single best protection against identity theft, which spikes after a published obituary.
4. Do not pay the balance personally. Almost every family that calls us has already paid a Class 8 credit card bill out of their own pocket that the estate was never required to pay at all.
5. Keep the statements. They are how the personal representative identifies creditors who must be served.

If a recurring charge has already hit the card after the death, that is fixable and ordinary. Tell your Florida probate attorney early rather than quietly hoping it resolves.

How Long Do Creditors Have to Collect a Debt After Death in Florida?

Two clocks run, and they are the most important dates in this entire area of law. Once you understand both, you understand the statute of limitations on debt after death in Florida better than most of the pages you will read on this subject.

How long can creditors come after an estate in Florida?

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.702(1), a creditor must file a statement of claim on or before the later of:

• 3 months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, or
• 30 days after that creditor was served with a copy of the notice.

The 30-day rule that most Florida websites state incorrectly

Read that again, because a great deal of published Florida legal content gets it backwards. Several widely-read Florida law firm pages state that a served creditor has “only 30 days from service.” That is wrong. The statute says the later of. A creditor served during the first week of publication has nearly the full three months, not thirty days. Others invert the two triggers entirely and write “three months from receiving notice or thirty days from publication,” which reverses the statute.

If you are a personal representative calendaring these dates, or a creditor deciding whether you still have time, this distinction is the whole case.

What is the 2-year hard bar on debt after death in Florida?

Fla. Stat. § 733.710(1) is the provision that ends most of these disputes: “Notwithstanding any other provision of the code, 2 years after the death of a person, neither the decedent’s estate, the personal representative, if any, nor the beneficiaries shall be liable for any claim or cause of action against the decedent, whether or not letters of administration have been issued.”

The Florida Supreme Court confirmed how absolute this is in Tsuji v. Fleet, 366 So. 3d 1020 (Fla. 2023), describing § 733.710 as a “jurisdictional statute of nonclaim” and “statute of repose” providing self-executing, absolute immunity. Tsuji also closed the last apparent loophole: the casualty-insurance exception in § 733.702(4)(b) does not extend the two-year period, because § 733.702(5) says “[n]othing in this section shall extend the limitations period set forth in s. 733.710.”

Are there any exceptions to the two-year bar?

Two, and they are in the statute itself — which is why we do not describe § 733.710 as having “no exceptions,” as many pages do:

• § 733.710(2) — the bar does not apply to a creditor who already filed a claim under § 733.702 within two years and whose claim has not yet been paid or disposed of.
• § 733.710(3) — the bar “shall not affect the lien of any duly recorded mortgage or security interest… or the right to foreclose and enforce the mortgage or lien.” This is why a mortgage or car lien outlives the two-year cutoff.

What the bar is not subject to is waiver, extension, or equitable tolling inside the probate. Hardship does not extend it. Not knowing about the death does not extend it.

What if the creditor was never served with notice?

Here is the trap on the other side, and personal representatives need to understand it before they decide to skip a step.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.2121(3)(a), the personal representative “shall promptly make a diligent search to determine the names and addresses of creditors of the decedent who are reasonably ascertainable… and shall promptly serve a copy of the notice on those creditors.” That duty comes from the Constitution — Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478 (1988) requires actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors.

If the personal representative skips the search, the three-month clock never starts for that creditor. In Jones v. Golden, 176 So. 3d 242 (Fla. 2015), the Florida Supreme Court held that “claims of known or reasonably ascertainable creditors of an estate who were not served with a copy of the notice to creditors are timely if filed within two years of the decedent’s death” — and such a creditor does not even need to ask the court for an extension.

Cutting corners on the diligent search does not shorten the creditor’s window. It lengthens it from three months to two years. That single sentence is the best argument we know for hiring a probate lawyer.

Can a late creditor still get in?

Only narrowly. Section 733.702(3) permits a court to extend the time “only upon grounds of fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claims period.” And the personal representative holds a weapon most people never use: if the PR or any interested person serves the creditor with a notice to file a petition for extension, “the creditor shall be limited to a period of 30 days from the date of service of the notice in which to file a petition for extension.” You can start the creditor’s clock.

Does the ordinary statute of limitations still apply?

After death, the probate statutes take over. Florida’s general five-year limitation on written contracts (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b)) does not save a creditor who missed § 733.702, and it does not survive § 733.710. A debt with four years left on its ordinary clock is still extinguished two years after death. The reverse is also true: a short probate deadline can bar a claim long before the ordinary period would have run.

What Happens If No One Opens Probate?

This is one of the most common real-world situations we see, and one of the least-discussed. A parent dies with a house, a car, and a stack of collection letters. Nobody files anything. Months pass.

The good news is genuine: § 733.710 runs whether or not anyone opens an estate. The statute says so in terms — “whether or not letters of administration have been issued.” Two years after the date of death, an unsecured creditor that never filed a claim is barred, permanently, even though no probate was ever started.

So can we just wait two years?

No, and this is the part that makes the strategy dangerous.

First, a creditor can open the estate itself. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.202, any interested person may petition for administration — and a creditor is an interested person. A creditor with enough at stake can force a probate, get a personal representative appointed, and file its claim well inside the window. Waiting is not a plan; it is a bet on the creditor’s indifference.

Second, secured debt is completely unaffected by waiting. The mortgage keeps accruing. The lender can foreclose. § 733.710(3) preserves the lien no matter how long the family sits still.

Third, you cannot sell or refinance anything without administration, so the house deteriorates, the taxes and insurance lapse, and the asset the family was trying to protect loses value.

Fourth, if the estate qualifies for summary administration and the family takes property that way, § 735.206(4)(e) makes them personally liable pro rata for two years anyway.

There are situations where doing nothing is genuinely correct — a truly insolvent estate with no homestead and nothing worth administering. But that is a decision to make deliberately, with advice, not by default.

How do creditors find out about a death?

Faster than families expect. Credit bureaus receive Social Security death data. Obituaries are scraped. Card issuers flag inactivity and returned mail. Collection agencies specifically monitor probate filings. The assumption that nobody will notice is almost always wrong.

Who Gets Paid First? The Florida Probate Debt Hierarchy

When an estate cannot pay everyone, Florida does not divide the money evenly. Fla. Stat. § 733.707(1) sets a strict order of eight classes, and each class must be paid in full before the next receives anything.

Class	What it covers	Statute
Class 1	Costs and expenses of administration, personal representative compensation, and attorney’s fees	§ 733.707(1)(a)
Class 2	Reasonable funeral, interment and grave marker expenses — capped at $6,000 in the aggregate	§ 733.707(1)(b)
Class 3	Debts and taxes with preference under federal law; Medicaid claims under §§ 409.9101 and 414.28; and claims of the state for unpaid court costs, fees or fines	§ 733.707(1)(c)
Class 4	Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness	§ 733.707(1)(d)
Class 5	Family allowance	§ 733.707(1)(e)
Class 6	Arrearage from court-ordered child support	§ 733.707(1)(f)
Class 7	Debts acquired after death by continuing the decedent’s business — but only to the extent of that business’s assets	§ 733.707(1)(g)
Class 8	All other claims — credit cards, personal loans, older medical bills, judgments, and any excess over the Class 2 and Class 4 limits	§ 733.707(1)(h)

Within a class, if the money runs short, § 733.707(2) requires creditors to be “paid ratably in proportion to their respective claims.”

Where do secured creditors sit in the order?

Nowhere — and this is a point many articles get wrong. You will read that the payment order “prioritizes secured debts first.” It does not. Secured creditors are not in the § 733.707 waterfall at all. They look to their collateral, and their rights survive the claim deadlines under § 733.702(4)(a): “Nothing in this section affects or prevents… a proceeding to enforce any mortgage, security interest, or other lien on property of the decedent.”

The practical translation: the mortgage company does not stand in line. It forecloses.

What happens if the estate is insolvent?

An insolvent estate is one whose debts exceed its non-exempt assets, and Florida handles it cleanly. The classes are paid in order until the money is gone. Everyone below that point receives nothing and has no recourse — not against the beneficiaries, not against the personal representative, and not against the decedent’s protected assets.

A worked example. An estate holds $40,000 in a bank account, plus a homestead worth $350,000 and a life insurance policy of $100,000 payable to a named beneficiary. Claims are: $9,000 in administration and legal fees, an $11,000 funeral bill, $18,000 in hospital charges from the final three weeks, and $95,000 in credit card debt.

• The homestead and the life insurance are not in the calculation at all. They pass outside the reach of general creditors. Only the $40,000 is available.
• Class 1 takes $9,000. Remaining: $31,000.
• Class 2 takes $6,000 — not $11,000, because of the statutory cap. Remaining: $25,000. The other $5,000 of the funeral bill drops to Class 8.
• Class 4 takes the $18,000 in last-60-days medical. Remaining: $7,000.
• Class 8 — $95,000 in credit cards plus the $5,000 funeral remainder — divides $7,000 ratably. The credit card companies recover about seven cents on the dollar.

The heirs owe nothing. The house passes to them free of those creditors. The insurance passes to the beneficiary untouched. That outcome is not a loophole — it is what Florida law is designed to do.

Is the Executor Personally Liable for the Estate’s Debts?

In Florida the executor is called the personal representative, and the answer to this question is no by default and yes if you get it wrong — which is why it deserves a section rather than a sentence.

The baseline: a personal representative pays estate debts from estate funds, never personal funds, and has no obligation to make up a shortfall. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.602, the PR is a fiduciary who must settle and distribute the estate as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate.

But there are three ways a personal representative becomes personally liable, and the first one is severe.

The federal priority statute — the biggest risk nobody writes about

31 U.S.C. § 3713(b) provides: “A representative of a person or an estate… paying any part of a debt of the person or estate before paying a claim of the Government is liable to the extent of the payment for unpaid claims of the Government.”

The trigger, under § 3713(a)(1)(B), is an estate that “is not enough to pay all debts” — an insolvent estate. Federal courts apply a three-element test (United States v. McNicol, 829 F.3d 77 (1st Cir. 2016); United States v. Coppola, 85 F.3d 1015 (2d Cir. 1996)):

1. The representative transferred or distributed estate assets before paying a claim of the United States;
2. The estate was insolvent at the time of the transfer; and
3. The representative had knowledge of the debt, or notice of facts that would lead a reasonably prudent person to inquire as to its existence.

Liability is capped at the amount improperly paid, and the party seeking relief bears the burden of showing an element fails. Courts recognize a narrow allowance for administration expenses and funeral costs paid ahead of the federal claim. (These are leading federal decisions and consistent across circuits; the Eleventh Circuit has not published its own formulation.)

Plainly: if the estate is insolvent and you pay the credit card, the funeral home, or yourself before the IRS, you can be made to pay the government out of your own pocket. Florida’s own statute defers to this — federal-preference debts sit in Class 3.

How does a personal representative limit that exposure?

Two IRS forms do real work, and three commonly-cited ones do not.

• Form 4810 — Request for Prompt Assessment (I.R.C. § 6501(d)). Shortens the assessment window to 18 months from the request, rather than the ordinary three years.
• Form 5495 — Request for Discharge from Personal Liability (I.R.C. § 6905). The PR is discharged upon paying the amount the IRS notices, or automatically 9 months after the application if the IRS gives no notice.
• Form 56, Form 1040 and Form 1041 do not limit liability. Form 56 is administrative notice of the fiduciary relationship. The final 1040 and the estate’s 1041 are filing obligations. They are necessary and they are not protection.

Can an executor pay debts before probate?

This is the question we most wish people would ask before acting rather than after. Before letters of administration are issued, you have no authority to pay anything from estate funds — and paying a creditor out of your own pocket does not create a right to reimbursement if the estate later proves insolvent or the claim proves invalid.

Families routinely pay a Class 8 credit card in the first two weeks because the letters look official and the caller was persistent. That money is usually gone. Pay nothing until the class of the claim and the solvency of the estate are known.

The other two ways a personal representative gets hurt

• Paying claims out of order. Distributing to a lower class before a higher one is satisfied is a breach of the § 733.707 duty and exposes the PR to surcharge.
• Filing an objection and forgetting to serve it. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.705(2), “The failure to serve a copy of the objection constitutes an abandonment of the objection.” A perfectly good objection, filed on time, evaporates — and the claim stands. We have seen this cost estates real money.

Objecting to a creditor claim in Florida

The mechanics are worth knowing because almost no one publishes them:

• Deadline to object: the later of 4 months from first publication or 30 days from the timely filing or amendment of the claim (§ 733.705(2)).
• Service is mandatory, and failure to serve abandons the objection.
• The creditor then has 30 days from service of the objection to file an independent action, or the claim is barred without further court order (§ 733.705(5)). Note a drafting quirk: the lead-in to subsection (5) runs from service while subparagraphs (b)–(d) run from filing. Calendar from the earlier date.

Which Assets Are Protected From Creditors in Florida?

Florida is one of the most debtor-protective states in the country, and most of a typical family’s wealth sits outside the reach of the decedent’s creditors. This is where the real answer to “will they take the house” lives.

Florida homestead — the largest protection of all

The Florida Constitution exempts homestead real property from forced sale by creditors, up to one-half acre inside a municipality or 160 contiguous acres outside one. There is no dollar cap under Florida law.

Critically, Article X, § 4(b) of the Florida Constitution provides in a single sentence: “These exemptions shall inure to the surviving spouse or heirs of the owner.” That is why homestead is not an asset of the probate estate available to general creditors, and why Fla. Stat. § 733.607(1) directs the personal representative to take possession of the decedent’s property “except the protected homestead.”

Florida courts read this generously. In Snyder v. Davis, 699 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 1997), the Florida Supreme Court held the homestead provision allows a testator to devise homestead, with its creditor protection intact, to any family member within the class categorized in the intestacy statute — approving Walker v. Mickler, 687 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997), where a grandson took protected homestead even though the decedent’s son was still living.

Three obligations are excepted and can still reach homestead: property taxes and assessments, purchase-money obligations (your mortgage), and obligations for improvements or repairs or labor on the property. A voluntarily granted mortgage is enforceable. The exemption runs against judgment creditors.

Exempt property — $20,000 that no competitor publishes

Under Fla. Stat. § 732.402, the surviving spouse — or, if none, the children — take the following as “exempt property,” free of all claims against the estate except perfected security interests:

• Household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the decedent’s usual place of abode, up to a net value of $20,000 as of the date of death;
• Two motor vehicles, each under 15,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, held in the decedent’s name and regularly used by the decedent or the immediate family — this is a count-and-weight limit, not a dollar limit;
• All qualified tuition programs under I.R.C. § 529, including Florida Prepaid; and
• All benefits paid under Fla. Stat. § 112.1915 (death benefits for certain teachers and first responders).

There is a deadline, and missing it forfeits the right. Section 732.402(6) deems the right waived unless a petition for determination of exempt property is filed by the later of 4 months after service of the notice of administration or 40 days after termination of any proceeding involving the will.

Family allowance — $18,000

Fla. Stat. § 732.403 entitles the surviving spouse and dependent lineal heirs to a reasonable maintenance allowance during administration. “The allowance shall not exceed a total of $18,000.” It is Class 5 in the payment order, it can be paid as a lump sum or in installments, and it is not charged against the recipient’s inheritance unless the will says otherwise.

Life insurance — and the mistake that destroys the protection

Under Fla. Stat. § 222.13(1), life insurance proceeds inure exclusively to the named beneficiary and are “exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured.” No dollar cap.

But read the second sentence of that statute, because it is a trap we see constantly: “whenever the insurance… is payable to the insured or to the insured’s estate or to his or her executors, administrators, or assigns, the insurance proceeds shall become a part of the insured’s estate for all purposes.”

Naming your estate as beneficiary — or letting the beneficiary designation lapse so it defaults there — converts fully protected money into an asset creditors can reach. Check your beneficiary designations. This is a five-minute fix that protects six figures.

Annuities and cash surrender value

Fla. Stat. § 222.14 protects the cash surrender values of life insurance policies and the proceeds of annuity contracts issued to Florida residents from “attachment, garnishment or legal process in favor of any creditor,” unless the contract was effected for that creditor’s benefit. No dollar cap.

Retirement accounts — including inherited IRAs

Fla. Stat. § 222.21 exempts money and assets in IRS-qualified funds and accounts — plans under I.R.C. §§ 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, 409, 414, 457(b) and 501(a) — from all claims of creditors.

And Florida goes further than federal law. Section 222.21(2)(c) provides that the exemption “does not cease to be exempt after the owner’s death by reason of a direct transfer or eligible rollover… including… to an inherited individual retirement account,” and states that this is remedial and retroactive. Florida protects inherited IRAs as a matter of state law even though federal bankruptcy law does not.

Tenancy by the entireties

Property a married couple holds as tenants by the entireties belongs to neither spouse individually. As the Florida Supreme Court put it in Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001), “only the creditors of both the husband and wife, jointly, may attach” entireties property.

At death, the entire estate vests by operation of law in the survivor — who takes the whole, not a half — so entireties property “is not available to satisfy, or answer for, the judgment debts of [the decedent] individually after his death” (Bendl v. Bendl, 246 So. 2d 574 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)).

Can creditors go after joint bank accounts after death?

Generally no, and the statutes are worth knowing by number.

Fla. Stat. § 655.79(1) presumes that a joint deposit account vests in the surviving party on death, and treats a husband-and-wife account as a tenancy by the entireties unless otherwise expressly provided in writing. The Florida Supreme Court confirmed in Loumpos v. Bank One, 423 So. 3d 856 (Fla. 2025) that § 655.79(1) authorizes an entireties account even where the account was originally established by one spouse. Earlier authority requiring a disclaimer to appear specifically on the signature card was superseded by the 2008 amendment to the statute (Storey Mountain, LLC v. George, 357 So. 3d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023)) — any writing can now negate the presumption.

Fla. Stat. § 655.82 governs payable-on-death (POD) accounts: the beneficiary has no rights during any party’s lifetime, and on the death of the last surviving party, “sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary.”

The key distinction — and it is the one nobody draws — is that unlike a revocable trust, these accounts carry no statutory obligation to contribute to the estate’s creditors. Two honest caveats: a transfer can still be attacked as a fraudulent transfer, and a joint account may be found to be a mere convenience account rather than a true survivorship account if the facts support it.

Does a Revocable Living Trust Protect Assets From Creditors in Florida?

No — and anyone who tells you otherwise is describing a different state’s law. This is the single most common misconception in Florida estate planning, and it appears on a great many law firm websites.

A revocable living trust avoids probate. It does not avoid your creditors. Fla. Stat. § 733.707(3) provides that any portion of a trust over which the decedent held a right of revocation at death “is liable for the expenses of the administration and obligations of the decedent’s estate to the extent the decedent’s estate is insufficient to pay them.”

What makes the rule useful rather than alarming is the mechanism, which almost nobody explains:

• The trust is second in line, not first. It is reached only if the probate estate is insufficient — and insufficiency is measured, under § 733.607(2), after providing for statutory entitlements and all devises other than residuary devises.
• The demand is a written certification, not a lawsuit. The personal representative certifies in writing the amount required to satisfy the shortfall, and the trustee pays it.
• Retirement money inside the trust is expressly excluded. Section 733.707(3)(a) carves out IRAs, § 401(a) plans, § 403 annuities and Keogh plans; subsection (b) carves out charitable remainder trusts.
• The trust pays its own costs first. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.05053(4), the trustee pays the expenses of trust administration “before and in preference to” the expenses and obligations of the settlor’s estate. Section 736.05053(2) then sets the order inside the trust: residue first, then general property, then specifically devised property.

If creditor protection is your actual goal, the tools that work in Florida are the ones listed in the previous section — homestead, properly designated life insurance, annuities, retirement accounts and entireties property — not a revocable trust.

Can I just give everything away before I die?

No, and this deserves saying plainly because so much estate-planning content implies otherwise. Florida’s Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, Chapter 726, lets a creditor unwind a transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor, or made without receiving reasonably equivalent value while insolvent (Fla. Stat. § 726.105). Moving the house to a child three months before death, for a dollar, is the fact pattern that statute exists to catch.

What Happens to the House When Someone Dies With a Mortgage in Florida?

The mortgage does not disappear, and the lien is not affected by the probate claim deadlines. But the outcome for the family is far better than most people fear, because of a federal statute that is almost never mentioned on Florida probate websites.

Can the bank call the loan due because the borrower died?

No. Under the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d), for a loan secured by residential real property of fewer than five dwelling units, a lender “may not exercise its option pursuant to a due-on-sale clause” upon, among others:

• (d)(3) — “a transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety”;
• (d)(5) — “a transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower“;
• (d)(6) — “a transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner of the property”; and
• (d)(8) — a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary.

Note that (d)(5) says “a relative” — broader than (d)(6). A sibling, niece or nephew who inherits is covered. This is the answer to can I assume my deceased parents’ mortgage and federal law assume mortgage after death: you can generally keep the existing loan in place at its existing rate, without refinancing and without the lender accelerating.

Two limits to be precise about. Garn-St Germain blocks acceleration; it does not erase the debt, and payments must continue. And it does not make you personally liable on the note — you take subject to the lien but are not an obligor unless you assume the loan.

Will the servicer even talk to me?

Yes, and it is required to. Under the CFPB’s successor in interest rules (Regulation X, 12 C.F.R. §§ 1024.31, 1024.32, 1024.36), a person who acquires an ownership interest by devise or descent, or as a relative on the borrower’s death, is a “successor in interest.” Once the servicer confirms identity and ownership, the confirmed successor is entitled to borrower notices and may submit information requests, notices of error and payoff requests.

The servicer may also provide an acknowledgment explaining that unless the successor assumes the obligation under state law, the successor “is not liable for the mortgage debt and cannot be required to use the successor in interest’s assets to pay the mortgage debt” — subject to the lender’s security interest and right to foreclose.

What happens to a reverse mortgage when a parent dies?

A HECM reverse mortgage becomes due and payable when the last surviving borrower dies and the property is no longer the principal residence of a surviving borrower (24 C.F.R. § 206.27(c)(1)), subject to the deferral available to an eligible non-borrowing spouse.

The protections for heirs are substantial and widely misunderstood:

• It is non-recourse. “The borrower shall have no personal liability for payment of the outstanding loan balance. The mortgagee shall enforce the debt only through sale of the property” (24 C.F.R. § 206.27(b)(8)). No deficiency judgment. If the balance exceeds the home’s value, heirs do not owe the difference.
• The 95% rule. Heirs may satisfy the loan by paying the balance in full or by selling for at least an amount set by the Commissioner, “which shall not exceed 95 percent of the appraised value” (24 C.F.R. § 206.125(a)(2)). If the loan balance is $400,000 and the house appraises at $300,000, heirs who want to keep it can pay $285,000.
• Timelines. The mortgagee must notify the estate or heirs within 30 days that the loan is due and payable and give 30 days to act, and must commence foreclosure within six months of the due date, extendable by the Commissioner. HUD routinely grants extensions for heirs actively marketing the property.

Act early. The most common bad outcome we see is a family that ignored the first letter and lost the extension window.

What Happens to a Car Loan When Someone Dies in Florida?

The car loan is secured, so the lender’s rights survive both the death and the claim deadlines — § 733.702(4)(a) expressly preserves proceedings to enforce a security interest. The estate or the heirs have three realistic options: keep paying and preserve the vehicle, pay the lien off from other estate assets, or surrender the vehicle to the lender.

Two practical points. Remember that up to two vehicles under 15,000 pounds may qualify as exempt property under § 732.402(2)(b) — but exempt property is exempt “except perfected security interests thereon,” so the exemption protects the car from general creditors, not from the auto lender’s lien. And do not keep driving the vehicle indefinitely on the decedent’s insurance; confirm coverage before anyone gets behind the wheel.

Medical Bills, Nursing Homes, and Medicaid After Death in Florida

Who pays medical bills after death in Florida?

The estate pays, in class order. Medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness are Class 4; everything older sits in Class 8 with the credit cards. No surviving family member is liable for either, unless they signed as a guarantor.

What is Florida Medicaid estate recovery?

Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) recovers Medicaid benefits from the estates of deceased recipients under the Medicaid Estate Recovery Act, Fla. Stat. § 409.9101, implementing 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(1). Acceptance of Medicaid “shall create a debt to the agency in the total amount paid to or for the benefit of the recipient for medical assistance after the recipient reached 55 years of age. Payment of benefits to a person under the age of 55 years does not create a debt.”

AHCA files a statement of claim like any other creditor, and Fla. Stat. § 409.910(11)(i) gives its claim Class 3 priority under § 733.707(1)(c).

Can Medicaid take the house?

In Florida, usually no. Section 409.9101(7) provides that no debt under the section “shall be enforced against any property that is determined to be exempt from the claims of creditors under the constitution or laws of this state” — and Florida homestead is exactly that. Section 409.9101(10) adds that “[r]eal property shall not be transferred to the agency in any instance.”

Recovery is also barred outright under § 409.9101(6) if the recipient is survived by:

• A spouse;
• A child under 21; or
• A child who is blind or permanently and totally disabled.

A hardship waiver is available under § 409.9101(8), including for an heir who resided in the home for the 12 months preceding death, or a child or sibling who provided full-time care for at least a year that delayed the recipient’s entry into a nursing home. But the statute is blunt about its limit: “A hardship does not exist solely because recovery will prevent any heirs from receiving an anticipated inheritance.”

Unpaid nursing home bills after death

A nursing home is a creditor like any other and must file its claim within the statutory windows. It has no special priority beyond the last-60-days Class 4 treatment. If the facility is billing a family member personally, go back to the admission agreement analysis above — and to 42 C.F.R. § 483.15, which barred the facility from requiring a third-party guarantee as a condition of admission in the first place.

Student Loans and Taxes After Death

Are student loans forgiven at death?

Federal student loans are discharged. Direct Loans, including Direct PLUS, are discharged on the borrower’s death (34 C.F.R. § 685.212(a)); FFEL loans under 20 U.S.C. § 1087(a); and Perkins loans under 34 C.F.R. § 674.61. A Parent PLUS loan is discharged if either the parent borrower or the student on whose behalf it was borrowed dies. The servicer will require a death certificate or an acceptable copy.

Private student loans depend on the lender. Many discharge on death; others will file a claim against the estate.

Is a student loan discharged at death taxable?

No — and a great deal of content published in the last year gets this wrong. Commentary widely reported that the I.R.C. § 108(f)(5) exclusion sunset on December 31, 2025. What lapsed was the broad, temporary exclusion covering student loan discharges for any reason. The death and total-and-permanent-disability exclusion remains in force, and the paragraph is now titled “Discharges on account of death or disability,” with no sunset. It also reaches private education loans.

One compliance note: the exclusion is conditioned on the taxpayer’s Social Security number appearing on the return for the year of discharge. If a Form 1099-C is issued, do not ignore it — bring it to the estate’s accountant.

What happens to IRS debt after death?

It does not go away. Federal tax claims sit in Class 3, they carry federal priority, and — as covered above — paying anyone ahead of them in an insolvent estate can make the personal representative personally liable under 31 U.S.C. § 3713(b). The personal representative should file the final Form 1040 and the estate’s Form 1041, and should consider Forms 4810 and 5495 to bound the exposure.

Can I Refuse to Inherit? Disclaiming Property Under Florida Law

Sometimes the best answer to an inherited problem is to refuse it, and Florida has an entire statutory chapter devoted to how — the Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, Chapter 739. We have not found a single competing article on debt after death that mentions it.

A disclaimer is a written refusal of an inheritance. When it is valid, the disclaimed interest passes as if you had predeceased the decedent — you never owned it, so you never owed anything connected to it. That matters most for:

• An inherited timeshare with perpetual maintenance fees;
• Real property that is worth less than the mortgage, or that carries code liens or environmental problems;
• A property with HOA or condo assessments you do not want to assume; or
• Any asset whose carrying costs exceed its value.

The rules are strict and unforgiving. The disclaimer must be in writing, must declare the disclaimer, must describe the interest, must be signed and delivered as the chapter requires — and above all it must come before you accept any benefit from the property. Renting out the condo, taking a distribution, or paying yourself back from the account can all be acceptance. Once you accept, the door closes.

If you have inherited something you do not want, ask about a disclaimer before you touch it.

Timeshares, HOA Dues, and Ongoing Bills After Death

The rule that resolves most of these disputes is the line between before and after. Assessments and dues that accrued before the death are claims against the estate, subject to the same deadlines and the same class ordering as any other debt. Assessments that accrue after the death run against whoever now owns the property.

That distinction is why an inherited timeshare feels like an inherited debt even though it legally is not: the estate’s old balance is a Class 8 claim that may never be paid, while the new fees keep arriving in the heir’s name because the heir now owns the interest. The solution is usually a disclaimer under Chapter 739, or a negotiated transfer back to the resort — not payment.

Ongoing utilities are handled the same way. A pre-death balance is a Class 8 claim. Service that keeps the house insured, powered and maintained during administration is an administration expense, which is Class 1 and paid first.

Debt Collectors and Your Family: What Florida Law Lets You Do

Collection calls to survivors are the most distressing part of this for most families, and Florida gives you materially stronger tools than federal law alone.

Who can a debt collector legally contact about a deceased person’s debt?

Under the FDCPA and Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6, the “consumer” a collector may deal with about a decedent’s debt is limited to the spouse, a parent if the consumer was a minor, the legal guardian, the executor or administrator of the estate, and a confirmed successor in interest. Official commentary reads “executor or administrator” broadly enough to include a personal representative acting under summary administration.

A surviving relative who is neither the spouse nor the estate’s representative is generally off-limits entirely. And a collector may not imply that a survivor is personally liable when they are not; 15 U.S.C. § 1692e bars false or misleading representations about “the character, amount, or legal status of any debt,” and the Regulation F commentary instructs collectors to strip liability-suggesting language — for example, using the deceased person’s name instead of “you.”

The Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act

Florida’s own statute is broader than the federal one and almost no one writes about it. Fla. Stat. § 559.72 applies to any “person” collecting a consumer debt — not just third-party collection agencies — so it reaches the original creditor too. Among its prohibitions:

• § 559.72(9) — no person may “[c]laim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a debt when such person knows that the debt is not legitimate, or assert the existence of some other legal right when such person knows that the right does not exist.” Given that Florida has no filial responsibility law and abolished the necessaries doctrine, telling a Florida adult child they owe a deceased parent’s medical bill is asserting a legal right that does not exist.
• § 559.72(7) — no willfully harassing frequency of communication with “the debtor or any member of her or his family.”
• § 559.72(8) — no profane, obscene or willfully abusive language to the debtor or any family member.
• § 559.72(18) — no communication once the person is known to be represented by an attorney.

And the remedy has teeth. Fla. Stat. § 559.77(2) creates a private right of action for actual damages plus statutory damages up to $1,000, “together with court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees,” and the court “may award punitive damages” — a remedy the federal FDCPA does not provide. The limitations period is two years.

If a collector is telling you that you personally owe a dead relative’s debt, write down the date, the time, the company and what was said. That call may be worth more than the debt.

Florida Probate Debt Deadlines: The Complete Timeline

Deadline	What must happen	Authority
10 days	The custodian must deposit the original will with the clerk of court after learning of the death	§ 732.901(1)
2 consecutive weeks	Notice to creditors published once a week in a newspaper in the county of administration	§ 733.2121(2)
Promptly	Diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors, and service on them	§ 733.2121(3)(a)
3 months / 30 days	Creditor files a statement of claim — the later of 3 months from first publication or 30 days from service	§ 733.702(1)
4 months / 30 days	Personal representative or interested person files an objection — the later of 4 months from first publication or 30 days from the claim’s filing or amendment	§ 733.705(2)
30 days	After service of an objection, the creditor must bring an independent action or the claim is barred	§ 733.705(5)
4 months / 40 days	Petition for determination of exempt property, or the right is waived	§ 732.402(6)
2 years	Absolute bar on all claims against the estate, the personal representative and the beneficiaries — regardless of notice, and whether or not probate was opened	§ 733.710(1)

Summary Administration and Small Estates in Florida

Not every estate requires full formal administration, and the threshold just changed in a way most published Florida content has not caught up with.

Under Fla. Stat. § 735.201, summary administration is available where the value of the entire estate subject to administration in Florida, less the value of property exempt from creditors’ claims, does not exceed $150,000 — raised from $75,000 effective July 1, 2026 — or where the decedent has been dead for more than two years.

Two consequences matter for debt:

• The petitioner must still deal with creditors. Section 735.206(2) requires a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, service on them, and provision for payment to the extent assets are available.
• Recipients carry personal liability for two years. As covered above, § 735.206(4)(e) makes them liable pro rata up to the value actually received, exclusive of exempt property — and a known creditor who was never served can recover attorney’s fees against those who joined in the petition.

For the very smallest estates, Fla. Stat. § 735.301 allows disposition without administration — no proceeding at all — where the decedent left only exempt property plus non-exempt personal property not exceeding the amount of funeral expenses and last-illness medical bills.

What to Do in the First 30 Days

1. Order 10 to 12 certified death certificates. You will need more than you expect.
2. Deposit the original will with the clerk within 10 days. This is a legal duty with cost, damages and fee consequences for a delinquent custodian.
3. Stop all use of the decedent’s credit cards, including autopay and subscriptions.
4. Notify card issuers and the three credit bureaus, and request a deceased flag to prevent identity theft.
5. Do not pay any unsecured creditor yet. Not the credit cards, not the old medical bills. You cannot un-ring that bell.
6. Keep the secured obligations current if the family intends to keep the house or the car — mortgage, taxes, insurance.
7. Gather statements for every account. This is the raw material for the diligent creditor search.
8. Do not distribute anything to beneficiaries until the claim period closes. Early distributions are where personal liability and § 733.812 clawbacks come from.
9. Write down every collection call — date, time, company, and exactly what was said.
10. Talk to a Florida probate attorney before the first deadline runs, not after.

Frequently Asked Questions About Debt After Death in Florida

What happens to your debt when you die in Florida?

Your debts become claims against your probate estate. The estate pays them in the eight-class order set by Fla. Stat. § 733.707, starting with administration costs and ending with credit cards and general unsecured claims. Whatever the estate cannot pay goes unpaid. Your heirs are not personally responsible unless they co-signed, were joint obligors, or signed as guarantors.

Do you inherit debt in Florida?

No. Debt is not inherited in Florida. You can inherit an asset that has a debt attached to it — a mortgaged house or a financed car — but the personal obligation does not transfer to you. If you keep the asset, you keep the lien with it.

What debts are forgiven at death in Florida?

Unsecured debts are effectively forgiven when the estate runs out of money — credit cards, personal loans and older medical bills, all of which sit in Class 8. Federal student loans are discharged outright. Secured debts, federal taxes, Medicaid recovery claims and child support arrears are not forgiven.

What happens if you die with debt in Florida?

If you die with debt in Florida, nothing happens to your family. Your creditors get a short window to present claims against your estate, they are paid in statutory order from estate assets only, and anything the estate cannot cover is simply never paid. Your heirs keep their own money, and they keep the assets Florida protects — homestead, life insurance and retirement accounts among them.

Do you have to pay probate fees up front?

Generally no, not out of your own pocket. Court filing fees, personal representative compensation and attorney’s fees are costs of administration — Class 1 under § 733.707(1)(a) — which means they are paid from estate assets before any creditor. Someone usually advances the court’s filing fee to open the case and is reimbursed from the estate. If you are being asked to fund an estate’s administration personally, ask why before you write the check.

Are children responsible for their parents’ debt in Florida?

No. Florida has no filial responsibility statute, and the common law doctrine of necessaries was abrogated in Connor v. Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center in 1995. An adult child becomes liable only by signing something — a co-signature or a guaranty.

Is a surviving spouse responsible for a deceased spouse’s debt in Florida?

No, unless the spouse co-signed, was a joint account holder on the debt itself, or signed as a guarantor. Florida is not a community property state, and it abolished the doctrine of necessaries. In Heinemann v. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, a widow was held not liable for her deceased husband’s hospital bills because she had signed nothing.

Can I use my deceased husband’s or wife’s credit card?

No. Authorization to use the account ends at death, including authorization you held as an authorized user. Using the card afterward is unauthorized use and creates criminal exposure. Notify the issuer, close the account, and pay estate expenses through the estate.

How long do creditors have to collect a debt from an estate in Florida?

The later of three months from the first publication of the notice to creditors, or thirty days from being served with that notice. Separately, an absolute two-year bar runs from the date of death under Fla. Stat. § 733.710 and cannot be waived or extended.

How long can creditors come after an estate in Florida?

Two years from the date of death, at the outside. After that, neither the estate, the personal representative, nor the beneficiaries are liable — whether or not probate was ever opened.

What is the statute of limitations on debt after death in Florida?

The ordinary limitations periods in Fla. Stat. § 95.11 stop being the operative deadline once someone dies. Sections 733.702 and 733.710 take over. A debt with years left on its ordinary clock is still extinguished two years after death.

What happens if no one opens probate in Florida?

The two-year bar in § 733.710 still runs, so unsecured creditors that never file are eventually barred. But a creditor can petition to open the estate itself under § 733.202, secured lenders can still foreclose, and nobody can sell or refinance the property in the meantime.

Can a creditor force probate in Florida?

Yes. A creditor is an interested person and may petition for administration under Fla. Stat. § 733.202. Waiting out the two-year clock is a bet, not a plan.

Is the executor personally liable for the estate’s debts in Florida?

Not for the debts themselves — the personal representative pays from estate funds, not personal funds. But a personal representative who distributes assets of an insolvent estate ahead of a claim of the United States is personally liable under 31 U.S.C. § 3713(b), and one who pays claims out of the § 733.707 order can be surcharged.

Can an executor pay debts before probate is opened?

No. Before letters of administration are issued there is no authority to pay from estate funds, and paying a creditor personally creates no right to reimbursement if the estate turns out to be insolvent or the claim turns out to be invalid.

What happens if the estate is insolvent in Florida?

The eight statutory classes are paid in order until the money runs out. Creditors below that point receive nothing, are paid ratably within their class if funds are partial, and have no recourse against the beneficiaries or the personal representative.

Which assets are protected from creditors in Florida?

Homestead property, up to $20,000 of household furnishings and two vehicles under § 732.402, an $18,000 family allowance, life insurance payable to a named beneficiary, annuities, retirement accounts including inherited IRAs, and property held as tenancy by the entireties.

Can creditors go after joint bank accounts after death in Florida?

Generally no. Fla. Stat. § 655.79 presumes a joint account vests in the survivor and treats a husband-and-wife account as a tenancy by the entireties. Payable-on-death accounts pass to the named beneficiary under § 655.82. Unlike a revocable trust, these accounts carry no statutory obligation to contribute to estate creditors.

Does a revocable living trust protect assets from creditors in Florida?

No. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.707(3), a revocable trust is liable for the expenses and obligations of the settlor’s estate to the extent the probate estate is insufficient. It avoids probate; it does not avoid creditors.

Can the bank foreclose if I inherit a house with a mortgage?

The lender can foreclose if payments stop, but it generally cannot accelerate the loan merely because the borrower died. The Garn-St Germain Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(5), bars enforcement of a due-on-sale clause on a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower’s death.

Are heirs responsible for a reverse mortgage?

No. A HECM is non-recourse — heirs are never personally liable, and no deficiency judgment may be obtained. Heirs may keep the home by paying the loan balance or 95% of the appraised value, whichever is less.

Who pays medical bills after death in Florida?

The estate. Expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness are Class 4; older medical debt is Class 8. Family members are not liable unless they signed as guarantors.

Can Medicaid take the house in Florida?

Generally no. Fla. Stat. § 409.9101(7) bars enforcement against property exempt under Florida’s constitution, which includes homestead. Recovery is also barred entirely if the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or permanently disabled child.

Are federal student loans forgiven when the borrower dies?

Yes. Direct, FFEL and Perkins loans are discharged on death, and a Parent PLUS loan is discharged if either the parent borrower or the student dies. The discharge is not taxable income under I.R.C. § 108(f)(5).

Can I refuse to inherit a timeshare or an unwanted property in Florida?

Yes, by filing a disclaimer under the Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, Chapter 739. The disclaimer must be in writing, properly delivered, and made before you accept any benefit from the property.

Can debt collectors call my family about a deceased relative’s debt?

Only a limited group — the spouse, the legal guardian, the executor or administrator, or a confirmed successor in interest. A collector may not imply that a survivor is personally liable when they are not. Florida’s own statute, § 559.72, adds protections and § 559.77 allows actual damages, up to $1,000 in statutory damages, attorney’s fees and punitive damages.

What happens to utility bills and ongoing bills after someone dies?

A balance owed before the death is a Class 8 claim against the estate. Service that keeps the property insured and maintained during administration is an administration expense, which is Class 1 and paid first.

Do I have to pay HOA dues on a house I inherited?

Assessments that accrued before the death are a claim against the estate. Assessments that accrue after the death run against the new owner. If you do not want the property, consider a disclaimer under Chapter 739 before accepting any benefit from it.

Authorities Cited

Florida Statutes: §§ 95.11 · 222.13 · 222.14 · 222.21 · 400.022 · 409.910 · 409.9101 · 559.72 · 559.77 · 655.79 · 655.82 · 726.105 · 732.402 · 732.403 · 732.901 · 733.202 · 733.602 · 733.607 · 733.702 · 733.705 · 733.707 · 733.710 · 733.812 · 733.2121 · 735.201 · 735.206 · 735.301 · 736.05053 · Chapter 739

Florida Constitution: Article X, § 4

Federal: 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3 (Garn-St Germain) · 15 U.S.C. § 1692e · 20 U.S.C. § 1087 · 31 U.S.C. § 3713 · 42 U.S.C. § 1396p · I.R.C. §§ 108(f)(5), 6501(d), 6905 · 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6 (Regulation F) · 12 C.F.R. §§ 1024.31, 1024.32, 1024.36 (Regulation X) · 24 C.F.R. §§ 206.27, 206.125 · 34 C.F.R. §§ 674.61, 685.212 · 42 C.F.R. § 483.15

Cases: Tsuji v. Fleet, 366 So. 3d 1020 (Fla. 2023) · Jones v. Golden, 176 So. 3d 242 (Fla. 2015) · May v. Illinois National Insurance Co., 771 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 2000) · Connor v. Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, Inc., 668 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 1995) · Snyder v. Davis, 699 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 1997) · Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001) · Loumpos v. Bank One, 423 So. 3d 856 (Fla. 2025) · Heinemann v. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, 585 So. 2d 1162 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) · Walker v. Mickler, 687 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) · Bendl v. Bendl, 246 So. 2d 574 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971) · Etheridge v. Palm Garden of Winter Haven, LLC, 359 So. 3d 1202 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) · Lepisto v. Senior Lifestyle Newport Ltd. Partnership, 78 So. 3d 89 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) · Myrick v. St. Catherine Laboure Manor, Inc., 529 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) · Storey Mountain, LLC v. George, 357 So. 3d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023) · Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478 (1988) · United States v. McNicol, 829 F.3d 77 (1st Cir. 2016) · United States v. Coppola, 85 F.3d 1015 (2d Cir. 1996)

Getting Help With Estate Debt in Florida

Most of the damage we see in these cases was done in the first month, before anyone called a lawyer — a credit card paid that never had to be paid, a distribution made before the claim period closed, an objection filed but never served, a reverse mortgage letter left unopened.

We at Lorenzo Law handle Florida probate, creditor claims and insolvent estates statewide from our offices in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale. If you are a personal representative trying to work out which claims you actually have to pay, or a family member being told you owe a debt you never signed for, a short conversation will tell you where you stand and what your deadlines are.