Celebration Probate Attorney
A Celebration probate attorney handles estates filed in Osceola County, in Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, at the Jon B. Morgan Osceola County Courthouse in Kissimmee. When a Celebration family agrees on everything, that filing is paperwork. When they do not — when a will surfaces that nobody expected, when one sibling has been managing a parent’s accounts, when a second marriage collides with children from a first — it becomes litigation, and the deadlines start running from the day a notice of administration is served.
Lorenzo Law represents beneficiaries, personal representatives, surviving spouses and families in contested probate, will disputes, trust disputes and guardianship proceedings in Osceola County and throughout Central Florida. Call (305) 224-6811 to discuss a Celebration probate dispute.
Where Is a Celebration Probate Case Actually Filed?
Celebration is an unincorporated community in northwest Osceola County, so there is no “Celebration probate court.” Osceola County sits in the Ninth Judicial Circuit together with Orange County, under section 26.021(9), Florida Statutes. Probate, guardianship and mental health matters are filed with the Osceola County Clerk of the Circuit Court at the Jon B. Morgan Osceola County Courthouse, 2 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee, Florida 34741, on the second floor. The Clerk’s probate line is (407) 742-3500, option 7. The public counter is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with recording and payments accepted until 4:30 p.m.
Sharing a circuit with Orange County does not mean sharing a courthouse. An Osceola estate is filed in Kissimmee, not at the Orange County courthouse in downtown Orlando, and venue under section 733.101 follows the decedent’s domicile at death — not where the family lives now, and not where the property happens to sit. Families near the county line may need a Kissimmee probate lawyer or an Orlando probate attorney depending on which county the decedent was domiciled in.
One structural detail matters for anyone comparing counties: Osceola County has no standalone probate division. Under the Ninth Circuit’s Administrative Order 2025-13, effective January 1, 2026, Osceola probate, guardianship and mental health cases are assigned within Circuit Civil Division B — Judge Christine E. Arendas in subdivision 20-B and Judge Christy C. Collins in subdivision 22-B. Orange County, by contrast, maintains a dedicated probate, guardianship and mental health division. The practical consequence is that an Osceola contested matter is scheduled against a general civil docket, and the division’s own procedures govern how proposed orders reach the judge.
Attorneys e-file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Certain documents must still reach the Clerk in original form, including the original will and any codicils, separate writings, oaths of witnesses, proofs of will, bonds and authenticated copies.
What Makes Celebration Estates More Likely to End Up in Litigation?
Celebration is not a typical Osceola County community, and the difference shows up in probate. Census figures for 2020–2024 put the median value of owner-occupied homes in Celebration at roughly $635,000, against about $353,300 countywide — and the share of residents 65 and over at 18.7%, compared with 13.5% for Osceola County as a whole. Higher property values, an older population and a housing stock that includes second homes and seasonal residences produce three recurring dispute patterns.
The house is the estate. When a Celebration home is worth more than everything else combined, there is no way to divide it evenly without selling it, and siblings who disagree about selling end up litigating rather than negotiating. Florida homestead law compounds this: under section 732.4015, homestead cannot be devised at all if the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, except to the spouse where there is no minor child. A will that leaves the house to the wrong person does not accomplish what it says.
The owner was not a Florida resident. Where a decedent lived elsewhere but owned Celebration property, the Florida court’s role is ancillary administration under section 734.102. That statute is broader than most people assume — it is triggered by Florida assets, by credits due from Florida residents, or by liens on Florida property, not only by owning a Florida house. Coordinating an ancillary proceeding in Kissimmee with a primary estate in another state or country is where a great many Celebration disputes begin.
Later-in-life documents. A new will, a new deed or a change of beneficiary signed in the last months of a long illness is the single most common trigger for a will dispute anywhere in Florida — and it is more common where estates are large enough to be worth fighting over.
How Long Do You Have to Contest a Will in Florida?
Three months from service — and the clock is unusually unforgiving. Under section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes, an interested person served with a copy of the notice of administration must object to the validity of the will, the venue, or the jurisdiction of the court by filing a petition or other pleading within three months after that notice is served. Objections not filed in time are, in the statute’s own words, “forever barred.”
Two features of this deadline are routinely misstated, and both matter. It can be extended for essentially one reason: estoppel based on a misstatement by the personal representative about the time period itself. It expressly cannot be extended for affirmative misrepresentation, failure to disclose information, or misconduct by the personal representative or anyone else. And there is an outer limit — objections must be filed no later than the earlier of an order of final discharge of the personal representative or one year after service of the notice of administration.
The trigger is service of the notice, not the date of death and not the date the case was filed. Someone who learns about a Florida estate eight months after a parent’s death may still be within the window, or may be out of it, depending entirely on when — and whether — they were served. Our Florida will contest page covers the procedure in more detail.
What Are the Grounds for Contesting a Will in Florida?
Disliking the outcome is not a ground. Florida recognizes a defined set.
Lack of testamentary capacity. The standard traces to Newman v. Smith, 77 Fla. 633, 82 So. 236 (1918): the testator must be able to understand, in a general way, the nature and extent of the property being disposed of, the testator’s relation to those who would naturally claim a substantial benefit from the will, and the practical effect of the will as executed. Capacity is measured at the moment of execution — which is why a person under a guardianship may still execute a valid will during a lucid interval, as the Third District confirmed in American Red Cross v. Estate of Haynsworth, 708 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998).
Improper execution. Section 732.502 requires that the testator sign at the end of the will, or direct another to subscribe the name in the testator’s presence; that the testator sign or acknowledge the signature in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses; and that those witnesses sign in the presence of the testator and of each other. A will that fails these formalities fails entirely, however clear the decedent’s intent.
Undue influence, fraud, duress or mistake. Section 732.5165 makes a will void where its execution was procured by any of these. The statute operates surgically: a part procured by undue influence is void, while the remainder of the will stands if it is not invalid for other reasons. The same rule voids a revocation procured that way — which is how a superseded will sometimes comes back to life.
A self-proving affidavit under section 732.503 is optional; a will is validly executed without one. What it does is procedural, and the authority for that is section 733.201(1): a self-proved will may be admitted to probate without further proof. Its absence is not a defect — it simply means the proponent must prove execution another way.
How Does Florida Law Treat Undue Influence Claims?
This is the ground most Celebration disputes actually turn on, and Florida law here is stronger for contestants than most out-of-state families expect.
Under In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1971), a presumption of undue influence arises where three things coincide: a substantial beneficiary under the will who occupies a confidential relationship with the testator and who was active in procuring the will. The confidential-relationship element is deliberately broad — the Florida Supreme Court adopted language reaching not only technical fiduciary relations but those informal relations existing wherever one person trusts in and relies upon another, and the relation may be moral, social, domestic or merely personal.
For active procurement, Carpenter identified seven considerations: presence of the beneficiary at the execution of the will; presence when the testator expressed a desire to make a will; recommendation by the beneficiary of the attorney who drew it; the beneficiary’s knowledge of the contents before execution; the beneficiary giving instructions to the drafting attorney; the beneficiary securing the witnesses; and the beneficiary keeping the will after execution. The Court was explicit that these criteria cannot be considered exclusive, and a contestant need not establish all of them.
One point is frequently published incorrectly, including by law firms. As Carpenter was decided, the presumption shifted only the burden of coming forward with an explanation, then vanished. That is no longer the law. Section 733.107(2), added in 2002, provides that the presumption of undue influence implements public policy against abuse of fiduciary or confidential relationships and is therefore a presumption shifting the burden of proof. The Fifth District confirmed the effect in Hack v. Janes, 878 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), holding that the statute supersedes Carpenter to the extent it prohibited shifting the burden of proof, and ensures the presumption does not vanish when the will’s proponent produces rebuttal evidence. Once the presumption arises, the proponent must establish the nonexistence of undue influence by a preponderance of the evidence.
The baseline allocation still comes from section 733.107(1): the proponent must first establish prima facie formal execution and attestation, after which the contestant carries the burden on the grounds asserted — until a presumption shifts it back.
Can You Block a Will Before It Is Admitted to Probate?
Yes — through a caveat under section 731.110, and it is the most underused tool in Florida probate. An interested person who is apprehensive that an estate will be administered or a will admitted may file one. The effect is procedural but decisive: the court may not admit a will to probate or appoint a personal representative until formal notice of the petition has been served on the caveator and the caveator has had an opportunity to participate.
Two rules govern timing. An interested person other than a creditor may file before or after death; a creditor may file only after death. And a caveat filed before death expires two years after filing — so it is a watch, not a permanent hold, and it must be renewed to stay effective. A nonresident caveator without Florida counsel must designate a resident agent.
For a family that suspects a vulnerable relative is being isolated, a caveat is often the difference between litigating to undo an appointment and simply being heard before it happens.
How Do You Remove a Personal Representative in Florida?
Section 733.504 sets out the grounds, and they are specific: adjudicated incapacity; physical or mental incapacity preventing discharge of duties; failure to comply with a court order not superseded on appeal; failure to account for a sale of property or to produce estate assets when required; wasting or maladministration of the estate; failure to give bond or security; conviction of a felony; insolvency or receivership of a corporate personal representative; holding or acquiring conflicting or adverse interests that will or may interfere with administration; revocation of the probate of the will that designated the appointment; removal of domicile from Florida where domicile was required for appointment; and being qualified at appointment but no longer entitled to it.
Removal is not the only remedy, and often not the most useful one. Section 733.609 provides that a personal representative’s fiduciary duty is the same as that of a trustee of an express trust, and that the representative is liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from a breach. The section then does something Florida families should understand clearly: in all actions for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging the exercise of — or failure to exercise — a personal representative’s powers, the court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorney’s fees. The court may direct that the award be paid from the party’s interest in the estate, from that party’s other property, or both.
That fee provision changes the economics of a Celebration estate dispute. A beneficiary who is right about mismanagement is not necessarily funding the fight out of an inheritance that is shrinking while the fight continues. Our Florida probate litigation page covers these claims in more detail.
What Happens When Families Disagree About Guardianship?
Contested guardianship is a distinct proceeding with its own venue rule, and the difference catches families out. Probate venue under section 733.101 follows the decedent’s domicile at death — a fact fixed forever on one date. Guardianship venue under section 744.1097 follows a living person. Proceedings to declare incapacity are brought where the alleged incapacitated person resides or is found; appointment venue for a Florida resident is the county of residence; and when a ward moves within Florida, the guardian is required to petition to change venue to the county of the new residence.
For Celebration families whose parent splits the year between Osceola County and another state — or who moved a parent closer to a caregiving sibling — that rule determines which courthouse hears the case, and it can change.
A petition to determine incapacity under section 744.3201 may be executed by any adult. It must be verified and must state the factual basis for the belief of incapacity, the names and addresses of people with personal knowledge, and which specific rights enumerated in section 744.3215 the person is alleged to be incapable of exercising — the statute is built around removing particular rights, not conferring a blanket status.
Section 744.331 then requires the court, within five days, to appoint a three-member examining committee. One member must be a psychiatrist or other physician; the others are drawn from a defined list including psychologists, gerontologists, physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, registered nurses and licensed social workers. At least one of the three must have knowledge of the type of incapacity alleged. Committee members may not be related to or associated with one another, the petitioner, counsel for the petitioner or proposed guardian, or the alleged incapacitated person; a petitioner may not serve on the committee; and a member who examines the person cannot later be appointed guardian. Where family members are on opposite sides of a petition, those disqualification rules are frequently the first battleground. See our Florida guardianship litigation page.
Which Probate Route Will a Celebration Estate Need?
Florida offers three paths, and which one applies is a question of value and timing rather than preference.
Summary administration. Under section 735.201, this shortened route is available where the value of the entire estate subject to administration in Florida, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed the statutory ceiling — or where the decedent has been dead more than two years.
That ceiling changed this summer. Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, section 7 (CS/HB 1337), effective July 1, 2026, raised it from $75,000 to $150,000. The Legislature’s own bill summary states the change plainly, and the Supreme Court of Florida amended Florida Probate Rule 5.530(a)(7) to match in In re Amendments to Florida Probate Rules — 2026 Legislation, No. SC2026-0690 (July 16, 2026). The companion thresholds moved as well: the intestate small-estate figure from $10,000 to $20,000, family income-tax-refund claims from $2,500 to $5,000, and qualified account distributions from $1,000 to $2,000. Our Florida summary administration guide covers the procedure step by step.
Two cautions worth stating precisely, because much of what has been published about this change is imprecise. First, the online statutory text still displays the pre-amendment $75,000 figure, because no 2026 edition has been posted — the current threshold comes from the session law, not from that page. Second, chapter 2026-57 contains no date-of-death applicability clause. It says only that the act takes effect July 1, 2026, and section 735.201 keys eligibility to the value of the estate subject to administration rather than to when the decedent died. Sources describing the new ceiling as applying only to people who died on or after July 1, 2026 are adding a limitation the statute does not contain.
A Celebration home usually does not count toward that ceiling. Section 735.201 measures the estate less property exempt from creditors’ claims, and section 733.608(1) separately provides that all property of the decedent except the protected homestead constitutes assets in the hands of the personal representative. Whether a given house qualifies as protected homestead depends on how it was devised and to whom it inures — it is a legal conclusion, not an assumption.
Formal administration is the full proceeding, with a personal representative appointed and letters issued. Every contested matter discussed on this page arises inside a formal administration. Disposition without administration is a narrow route for very small estates consisting of exempt property and limited personal property.
Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires that every guardian and every personal representative be represented by a Florida-admitted attorney, with three exceptions: a personal representative who remains the sole interested person, a personal representative or guardian who is themselves a Florida attorney, and a guardian advocate unless law or the court requires counsel. The rule addresses guardians and personal representatives — it does not by its terms govern a petition for summary administration, where no personal representative is appointed.
What Is the Elective Share and When Must a Surviving Spouse Claim It?
A surviving spouse of a person who died domiciled in Florida has a statutory right to a share of the elective estate under section 732.201 — and the amount comes from section 732.2065: 30 percent of the elective estate. The elective estate is broader than the probate estate; it reaches assets that pass outside of probate, which is precisely why the claim generates litigation.
The deadline is in section 732.2135. The election must be filed on or before the earlier of six months after service of a copy of the notice of administration on the surviving spouse, or on an attorney in fact or guardian of the property of the spouse, or two years after the decedent’s death. The statute also provides for court-granted extensions and for withdrawal of an election, so a spouse who has missed the six-month mark should not assume the right is gone without advice.
Second and third marriages, common in a community with Celebration’s demographics, make elective share claims one of the most frequent sources of dispute between a surviving spouse and adult children from an earlier marriage.
Talk to a Celebration Probate Lawyer
Lorenzo Law represents beneficiaries, personal representatives, surviving spouses and families in contested probate, will disputes, trust disputes and guardianship proceedings in Osceola County and throughout Central Florida. If a notice of administration has been served, a deadline is already running.
Call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact form to arrange a consultation about a Celebration or Osceola County probate dispute.
Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. is a Florida attorney, Florida Bar No. 107002. This page is general legal information about Florida probate and guardianship procedure, not legal advice about any particular estate.