Closing an Estate in Florida: Final Accounting, Distribution and Discharge

Closing an estate in Florida is the last and most misunderstood stage of probate. Settling an estate in Florida does not end when the bills are paid or when the beneficiaries get their money — it ends when a judge signs an order of discharge releasing you as personal representative. Until that order is entered, you are still the fiduciary, you are still exposed, and the estate is still open.

This page covers only that final stage: the final accounting, the plan of distribution, the waiver of accounting and receipt of beneficiary, the petition for discharge, the objection window, and the order of discharge itself. If you are still at the beginning — deciding whether probate is required, opening the estate, or serving notice to creditors — start with the Florida probate process guide and come back here when the estate is administered.

I am Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., a Florida probate attorney (Florida Bar No. 107002). I close estates across Florida, and I handle each one personally from the first call to the order of discharge. If your estate is stuck at the closing stage, call (305) 224-6811.

One note on vocabulary before we start. Florida calls the executor the personal representative. The two words mean the same office, and most people searching for how an executor closes an estate in Florida are looking for exactly what is on this page. Where the executor lives out of state, nothing about the closing changes except the logistics.

What Does It Mean to Close an Estate in Florida?

Closing an estate means the court has formally ended the administration and discharged the personal representative. In a Florida formal administration, the personal representative files a final accounting and a petition for discharge that includes a plan of distribution, serves both on every interested person, distributes the remaining assets, files the signed receipts, and asks the court to enter an order of discharge. The estate is legally closed when that order is signed.

People use several phrases for this and they do not all mean the same thing:

• Settling an estate — the whole administration, from opening to discharge.
• Final distribution — handing the remaining assets to the beneficiaries. This happens before discharge, not instead of it.
• Closing the estate — in Florida practice, the filing of the final accounting and petition for discharge.
• Discharge — the court order that releases you. This is the finish line.
• The case being closed — a docket status at the clerk’s office. A closed docket and a discharged personal representative are not always the same thing, and the difference matters if someone later wants to reopen the estate.

The distinction that costs people money is the one between distribution and discharge. Handing out the assets does not end your exposure. Only the court’s order does.

The Florida Estate Closing Sequence at a Glance

Closing a Florida formal administration follows a fixed sequence. Each step depends on the one before it, which is why an estate that skips a step usually stalls.

Step	What is filed or done	Who signs it	Who is served
1. Creditor period closes	Nothing filed; the claims window runs out	—	—
2. Claims resolved	Claims paid, settled, objected to, or struck	Personal representative	Claimants
3. Taxes cleared	Final returns filed; refunds or liabilities resolved	Personal representative	IRS / taxing authority
4. Homestead and exempt property determined	Petitions and orders as needed	Personal representative	Interested persons
5. Final accounting prepared	Schedules of receipts, disbursements, distributions and assets on hand	Personal representative	Interested persons
6. Waivers obtained (optional)	Waiver of accounting and consent to discharge	Beneficiaries	Filed with the court
7. Petition for discharge filed	Petition including the plan of distribution	Personal representative	Interested persons
8. Objection window runs	Objections, if any, filed and served	Objecting party	PR and interested persons
9. Distribution	Assets transferred per the plan of distribution	Personal representative	Beneficiaries
10. Receipts filed	Receipt of beneficiary and consent to discharge	Beneficiaries	Filed with the court
11. Order of discharge	Order discharging the PR and releasing the surety	The judge	Entered of record

Two points about that sequence are worth stating plainly, because they are the ones people get backwards. Under Florida Probate Rule 5.400(d), the personal representative distributes promptly in accordance with the plan of distribution unless objections are filed — so in an unopposed estate distribution does not wait for the 30 days to expire. And under Rule 5.400(e), the court enters the order of discharge on receipt of evidence that the estate has been fully administered and properly distributed — so the discharge genuinely is last.

Before You Can Close: The Prerequisites

Most estates that will not close are not stuck on the paperwork. They are stuck on one of these five prerequisites.

The creditor claim period has to run

You cannot close a Florida estate while the claims window is still open, because you do not yet know what the estate owes. Florida runs two clocks at once: a shorter period measured from publication of the notice to creditors and service on reasonably ascertainable creditors, and a longer outside bar measured from the date of death.

Florida runs two clocks, and they do different jobs. § 733.702 is the nonclaim statute: a claim is not binding on the estate, the personal representative or any beneficiary unless it is filed on or before the later of three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days after service of the notice on a creditor entitled to be served. A claim not filed in time is barred even if nobody objects, unless the court extends the time for fraud, estoppel or insufficient notice. § 733.710 is different in kind: it is a two-year statute of repose running from the date of death, and the Florida Supreme Court has described it as jurisdictional — not subject to waiver or extension in the probate proceeding. May v. Illinois National Insurance Co., 771 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 2000); Tsuji v. Fleet, 366 So. 3d 1020 (Fla. 2023). Section 733.710(2) preserves the rights of a creditor who filed within the two years and whose claim has not been paid or otherwise disposed of.

Every timely claim has to be paid, settled, or disposed of

A claim is disposed of when it is paid, compromised, withdrawn, struck, or resolved by objection and the claimant’s failure to bring an independent action. An unresolved claim sitting on the docket will stop a discharge, because the petition for discharge has to state that claims have been dealt with.

Taxes have to be cleared

Florida imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, but the federal returns still matter. The estate’s fiduciary income tax return, the decedent’s final individual return, and — for a large estate — the federal estate tax return all have to be addressed before you distribute everything and ask to be released. See tax clearance below.

Homestead and exempt property have to be determined

Protected homestead is not an ordinary probate asset and is generally outside the personal representative’s right of possession. If homestead real property is involved, the estate usually needs an order determining homestead status before it can be closed cleanly, and exempt property needs to be claimed and determined.

Strictly speaking, an order determining homestead is a practical prerequisite to discharge rather than a legal one — no Florida statute conditions the entry of a discharge order on it. In practice it is close to unavoidable, because title insurers and lenders want a recorded order before they will insure or lend, and because the personal representative cannot list protected homestead in the plan of distribution as an estate asset.

Spousal and family entitlements have to be resolved

If a surviving spouse has elected against the will, the elective share has to be determined and satisfied before the residue can be divided. The same is true of a family allowance and of any exempt property claim. An estate that reaches the petition for discharge with any of these unresolved is not fully administered, and the plan of distribution cannot be correct.

One deadline here is easy to blow: under § 732.402(6) the right to exempt property is waived unless a petition to determine exempt property is filed by the later of four months after service of the notice of administration or 40 days after the termination of any will proceeding. Family allowance under § 732.403 remains $18,000. Where a surviving spouse has elected the elective share, or may still elect it, confirm the status of that election before filing for discharge. An unresolved election is a live issue at closing.

The assets have to be in a distributable form

Real property that has not sold, a business interest nobody has valued, a pending lawsuit, an unliquidated insurance claim — any of these will hold an estate open. Sometimes the answer is to distribute the asset in kind rather than wait for a sale. See distribution in kind.

The Final Accounting in Florida Probate

The final accounting is the personal representative’s complete financial report of the administration. It is not a bank statement and it is not a summary. It is a formal document with a defined structure, and interested persons have the right to examine it and to object to it.

What a Florida final accounting contains

Component	What it shows
Starting balance	The assets the personal representative took in, at their inventory or carrying value
Schedule of receipts	Everything that came into the estate during the accounting period — income, refunds, sale proceeds, recovered assets
Schedule of disbursements	Everything paid out — claims, administrative expenses, taxes, fees, costs
Capital transactions	Sales, exchanges and other dispositions, with gains and losses against carrying value
Schedule of distributions	Anything already distributed to a beneficiary during administration
Assets on hand	What remains to be distributed, described and valued
Compensation	The personal representative’s compensation and the attorney’s fees, disclosed

The schedules above describe what an accounting contains in substance. The precise format, the verification requirement and the valuation convention applied to each schedule follow the fiduciary accounting standards and your circuit’s practice — check both before you file.

Who gets to see the final accounting

Interested persons are entitled to the accounting. That normally includes residuary beneficiaries whose shares are affected, and it is the reason the accounting is served rather than simply filed. A beneficiary who receives a specific devise that has already been satisfied usually stands differently from a residuary beneficiary whose share depends on every number in the document.

Rule 5.400 requires the final accounting to be filed and served on all interested persons. An interested person is defined in § 731.201(23) as anyone who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding — and that definition expressly excludes a beneficiary who has already received complete distribution.

One correction to a claim that circulates widely: a Florida estate accounting is not an ordinary public record. Probate files are presumptively public under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420(a), but inventories and accountings are confidential and exempt under § 733.604(1) and are auto-designated as such by the clerk. Interested persons get access by statutory entitlement; anyone else needs a motion under Rule 2.420(j).

The mistakes that get accountings rejected

• The ending balance does not reconcile to the inventory plus receipts minus disbursements.
• Assets are carried at a value that was never established — no date-of-death appraisal, no supporting valuation.
• Personal expenses of the personal representative appear as administrative disbursements.
• Compensation appears as a lump sum with no disclosure of how it was calculated.
• A sale is shown as a receipt with no capital transaction entry, so the gain or loss disappears.
• The accounting period leaves a gap between the last interim accounting and the final one.

Interim and Amended Accountings

A long administration may call for an interim accounting along the way, and an accounting that contains an error can be amended or supplemented before the court rules. Filing an amended accounting is almost always better than defending an accounting you know is wrong — an objection sustained on a real error is a far worse outcome than a correction offered voluntarily.

Interim accountings run through Florida Probate Rule 5.345: the personal representative may elect to file one at any time, or the court may require an interim or supplemental accounting, and notice and a copy must be served on all interested persons. If you amend an accounting after it has already been served, calendar the objection period as running again from service of the amendment. It is the safer assumption and it costs the estate nothing.

Waiver of Accounting and Consent to Discharge

Florida allows an estate to be closed without a formal final accounting when the beneficiaries waive it. A waiver of accounting and consent to discharge is a signed document in which a beneficiary gives up the right to receive and examine the accounting and consents to the personal representative being discharged.

Waiving is common and, in the right estate, sensible. Preparing a formal accounting takes time and costs money, and in a small, uncontested family estate where everyone already knows what came in and what went out, the accounting can cost more than it reveals.

When a beneficiary should not sign a waiver

If you are the beneficiary, a waiver is the point at which you give up your best look at the administration. Do not sign one if:

• You have never received a clear statement of what the estate received and what it paid out.
• You do not know what the personal representative and the attorney are being paid.
• Assets were sold and you do not know to whom, for how much, or how the price was set.
• The personal representative is also a beneficiary and the shares are not equal.
• Estate assets were used, occupied or managed by someone connected to the personal representative.
• You are being asked to sign the waiver and the receipt at the same time, before you have been paid.

Ask for the numbers first. A personal representative acting properly will not object to producing them.

What if one beneficiary refuses to sign?

One refusal does not stop the estate from closing. It changes the route: instead of the waiver route, the estate goes the formal route — prepare the accounting, serve it, and let the objection window run. That costs more and takes longer, but it gets the estate closed, and it produces a court-tested record that protects the personal representative.

Three points settle most of the questions people have about waivers.

The waiver has to be unanimous. Every interested person who would otherwise be entitled to the accounting has to sign. If even one declines, the personal representative must prepare and file the formal final accounting.

A signature is not the end of it. A beneficiary who signed can still attack the waiver if it was not knowing and voluntary — that is, if the personal representative failed to make full and fair disclosure of the material facts before obtaining it. The principle comes from the same line of cases that limits the effect of a discharge: a fiduciary that does not disclose what it did cannot rely on the protection disclosure would have bought it. Van Dusen v. Southeast First National Bank of Miami, 478 So. 2d 82 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).

There is no prescribed form, but the waiver has to show the beneficiary knew of the right to a formal accounting and gave it up voluntarily. Which is the practical answer to why a waiver signed by someone who was never shown the numbers is worth so little: it is the disclosure, not the signature, that makes it hold.

Receipt of Beneficiary and Consent to Discharge

The receipt of beneficiary is the document almost nobody explains, and it is the one that actually proves the estate did what it said it would do. A waiver of accounting says I do not need to see the numbers. A receipt of beneficiary says I received my share. They are different documents doing different jobs, and an estate often needs both.

The receipt is what the court looks for as evidence that the plan of distribution was carried out. Without signed receipts on file, the judge has the personal representative’s word that distribution happened and nothing else.

How receipts work in practice

• One receipt per distributee, signed after that distributee has actually been paid or has taken delivery.
• The receipt should describe what was received specifically enough to match the plan of distribution — not “my share,” but the amount or the asset.
• A combined “receipt of beneficiary and consent to discharge” does double duty: it evidences the distribution and records the beneficiary’s consent to the discharge.
• A beneficiary who has been paid but will not sign is a solvable problem. See when a beneficiary will not sign.

Under Rule 5.400(e) the court enters the discharge on receipt of evidence that the estate has been fully administered and properly distributed — signed receipts are the ordinary way that evidence reaches the file. Where the distributee is a minor or an incapacitated adult, the receipt has to be signed by the right person; see minor and incapacitated beneficiaries below. Where a distributee will not sign, see when a beneficiary will not sign below.

The Plan of Distribution

The plan of distribution is the part of the petition for discharge that tells everyone exactly who gets what. It is the document a beneficiary reads first and the document objections are usually aimed at.

A plan of distribution generally sets out:

• What has already been distributed during the administration, and to whom.
• What remains on hand, described and valued.
• How the remaining assets will be divided, by beneficiary and by share.
• What is being retained and why — a reserve for a final tax liability, a closing cost, an unresolved item.
• The personal representative’s compensation and the attorney’s fees to be paid.

If a beneficiary is going to object to anything, this is where they see the reason. A plan that is vague about a reserve, or that shows a fee without explaining it, invites an objection that a clearer plan would have avoided.

Rule 5.400(b)(5) requires the plan of distribution to show four things: (A) a schedule of all prior distributions; (B) the property remaining in the hands of the personal representative for distribution; (C) a schedule describing the proposed distribution of the remaining assets; and (D) the amount of funds retained by the personal representative to pay expenses that are incurred in the distribution of the remaining assets and termination of the estate administration.

Item (D) is worth pausing on, because it answers a question personal representatives ask constantly: a closing reserve is not a workaround, it is written into the rule. You are expected to hold back what the closing itself will cost, and to say how much.

Distribution: In Kind, Partial, and Final

Distribution in kind means transferring the asset itself rather than selling it and distributing cash — deeding the house to the beneficiaries, transferring the brokerage account, assigning the note. It is often the right answer when a property will not sell, when the beneficiaries want the asset, or when a forced sale would waste value.

Partial distribution means distributing some assets during the administration and the rest at closing. It is useful when beneficiaries need money and the estate is plainly solvent, but it carries risk: assets distributed early cannot easily be recovered if a claim or expense appears later.

When real property is distributed, the transfer is typically documented by a personal representative’s deed, which is recorded in the county where the property sits. If you are still trying to sell estate real property, see selling a house during probate.

Two related questions turn on the particular estate and are worth settling before the plan of distribution is drafted: the valuation date used for property distributed in kind, and the order in which devises abate if the estate proves short.

The Petition for Discharge

The petition for discharge is the personal representative’s formal request to be released. It is filed with the final accounting (or with the waivers, if the accounting has been waived) and it is served on every interested person.

In substance, the petition tells the court that the administration is complete: that the estate has been fully administered, that claims have been paid or otherwise disposed of, what compensation is being paid and to whom, and how the remaining assets will be distributed. It also tells the recipients what their rights are and how long they have to exercise them.

What the petition addresses	Why it matters
That the estate has been fully administered	The court will not discharge a personal representative who still has work to do
That claims have been paid, settled or disposed of	An open claim is the most common reason a discharge is refused
Compensation paid or to be paid	This is the item objections most often target
The plan of distribution	Tells each beneficiary exactly what they are getting
Notice of the objection right and the deadline	An interested person who was not properly told cannot be held to the deadline

Rule 5.400(b) requires the petition to contain seven statements: (1) that the personal representative has fully administered the estate; (2) that all claims which were presented have been paid, settled, or otherwise disposed of; (3) that the personal representative has paid or made provision for taxes and expenses of administration; (4) showing the amount of compensation paid or to be paid to the personal representative, attorneys, accountants, appraisers or other agents, and the manner of determining that compensation; (5) showing the plan of distribution; (6) that any objections to the accounting, the compensation, or the proposed distribution must be filed within 30 days of service of the last of the petition or final accounting, and that within 90 days after filing an objection a notice of hearing must be served or the objection is abandoned; and (7) that objections must be in writing and state with particularity the items objected to and the grounds.

Item (6) is not boilerplate. Where a petition for discharge omitted the required warning about the 90-day abandonment rule, a Florida court held the abandonment provision could not be applied against the objector at all — the two rules are read together, and the abandonment rule does not operate without the warning. Estate of Guthrie v. Guthrie, 478 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).

When the petition for discharge is due

Florida sets an outside period for filing the final accounting and petition for discharge, measured from the issuance of letters, with a longer period where the estate must file a federal estate tax return, and a mechanism for extending it. Estates routinely run past it, and running past it is not by itself fatal — but it is the point at which a beneficiary can start asking the court to make something happen.

The deadline is 12 months after the issuance of letters for an estate that does not file a federal estate tax return. Where a federal estate tax return is required, it is 12 months from the date the return is due — the date it is due, not the date it is filed. The court can extend it for cause shown after notice to interested persons, on a petition stating the status of the estate and the reason for the extension.

Is the 12 months mandatory? No — it is directory, not jurisdictional. A Florida court has held that presiding over a probate beyond the 12-month period does not deprive the court of subject matter jurisdiction. Herskowitz v. Nesbitt, 419 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). That is not permission to drift, though. Blowing it exposes the personal representative to removal under § 733.504(3) (failure to comply with a court order) and § 733.504(4) (failure to account), and to surcharge if the delay costs the estate money.

Full-Waiver Route vs. Formal Route: A Comparison

Every Florida formal administration closes one of two ways. Choosing the wrong one is the single most common reason a closing costs more than it should.

	Full-waiver route	Formal route
Final accounting prepared	No — waived	Yes
What the beneficiaries sign	Waiver of accounting, consent to discharge, receipt of beneficiary	Receipt of beneficiary; objections, if any
Beneficiary cooperation needed	Complete	None
Objection window runs	Effectively bypassed by consent	Yes
Cost	Lower	Higher — the accounting takes real time
Speed	Faster, if everyone signs promptly	Slower but predictable
Record protecting the PR	Consent-based	Court-tested
Best for	Small, harmonious, family estates	Any estate with tension, unequal shares, a PR who is also a beneficiary, or a beneficiary who asks questions

My own rule of thumb: if any beneficiary has asked a pointed question about money, take the formal route. The accounting costs less than the litigation that follows a closing nobody could verify.

Objections to the Final Accounting or Petition for Discharge

Once the final accounting and petition for discharge are served, an interested person has a limited window to object. An objection is not a letter of complaint — it is a filed, served document that has to identify the specific items objected to and state the grounds for each.

The objection clocks

Event	Period	Runs from
Objection filed and served	30 days	Service of the later of the petition for discharge or the final accounting, calculated separately for each interested person
Hearing noticed on the objection	90 days	Filing of the objection
Consequence of no hearing notice	The objection is deemed abandoned and the personal representative may distribute under the plan	—

Two things about that table are commonly reported wrong elsewhere, so they are worth stating flatly.

The objection window belongs to Rule 5.401, not Rule 5.400, and the 30 days run individually for each interested person from the date that person was served with the later of the two documents. If the accounting and the petition go out on different dates, the clock starts on the later one.

A creditor, as a creditor, has no objection right at this stage at all. Rule 5.401 runs to interested persons, and § 731.201(23) defines that as someone who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the proceeding. A creditor whose claim has been paid or disposed of is no longer affected. A creditor’s remedies live in § 733.702 and § 733.710 — the claim periods — not here. The one qualification: a creditor holding a timely filed claim that has not been paid or otherwise disposed of is still affected by the outcome, so it retains interested-person standing; and Rule 5.401(f) independently requires creditor claims to be paid or disposed of before the discharge issues.

The 90-day abandonment rule is also not as absolute as it reads. It is subject to enlargement for excusable neglect under the probate rules’ own time-enlargement provision, Florida Probate Rule 5.042(b) — a Florida court allowed a 12-day enlargement on that basis and reversed a finding that the objections had been abandoned. In re Estate of Cummins, 979 So. 2d 984 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). That is a narrow escape hatch, not a general one: do not plan on it.

What a valid objection looks like

Objections that go somewhere tend to be about specific numbers: a disbursement that was not an estate expense, compensation that is not supported, an asset carried at a value nobody established, a sale to an insider, a missing receipt, a distribution that does not match the will. Objections that go nowhere tend to be about feelings — that the process took too long, or that the personal representative was unpleasant.

What happens at the hearing

If an objection is noticed for hearing, the court sustains or overrules it and determines the plan of distribution. That can mean disallowing a disbursement, reducing compensation, ordering a different division, or requiring a corrected accounting. If you are on either side of this, you are now in probate litigation, and the estate pays for it one way or another.

The Order of Discharge — and What It Actually Releases

The order of discharge is the judge’s order ending the administration and releasing the personal representative. This is the document that matters. A signed waiver from every beneficiary does not release you. A distributed estate does not release you. A closed docket does not release you. The order does.

Once the order is entered, get a certified copy and keep it. Banks, title companies, transfer agents and the IRS all ask for it eventually, and obtaining one later from a closed file is a nuisance.

The order also cuts off objections — immediately

This is the part beneficiaries learn too late. An objection to the petition for discharge filed after the discharge order has been entered is untimely. Not weak, not disfavored — untimely. In a 2026 Third District case, an objection filed nine days after the discharge order was held to present nothing the court needed to reach on the merits. Gilbert v. Riley, 431 So. 3d 588 (Fla. 3d DCA 2026). Florida courts have said the same about a petition to revoke probate filed the day after discharge. In re Jackson’s Estate, 236 So. 2d 475, 477 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970); Yellen v. Long, 387 So. 2d 384 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).

Which is why the 30-day window matters so much, and why an interested person who is uneasy about an accounting should file the objection rather than wait for a conversation. The window closes, and then the order closes it again.

Section 733.901(2) provides that the discharge of the personal representative releases the personal representative and bars any action against the personal representative, as such or individually, and the surety. Florida courts describe it as a modified form of res judicata for probate.

What survives it. The bar is not absolute. Florida courts recognize an exception where the personal representative did not disclose what it did. The rule, as the Third District framed it, is that a personal representative who has not disclosed its disposition of an estate asset is not entitled to the sanctuary the statute provides — at least where the asset was intentionally given away to someone not entitled to it. Van Dusen v. Southeast First National Bank of Miami, 478 So. 2d 82, 91 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). That rule is still live: the same court quoted it in 2026 as the basis on which an objection founded on fraud can reopen an estate after discharge. Gilbert v. Riley, 431 So. 3d 588 (Fla. 3d DCA 2026). The line runs between an accounting that is merely inaccurate, which the discharge generally does bar, and one that withholds a disposition from the court and the beneficiaries, which it does not. After-discovered assets are handled differently again — not by attacking the discharge, but through subsequent administration.

How long someone has to attack a closed administration is genuinely unsettled. Section 733.901 contains no period of its own. The four-year fraud limitation in § 95.11(3)(i) is the likely candidate, but no Florida appellate court has squarely decided which period applies to a post-discharge fraud claim against a personal representative or when it begins to run. Anyone who tells you the answer is settled is overstating it.

And the point that matters most to a personal representative: a signed waiver plus a signed receipt, with no order of discharge, does not end your exposure. The statutory bar is tied to the order. The waiver and receipt are evidence supporting entry of that order — they are not a substitute for it. Until the judge signs, you are suable and the surety is still on the bond.

Release of the Bond and the Surety

If the court required a bond, the discharge is also what releases the surety. Until then the bonding company remains on the hook, and you remain on the hook to the bonding company. Personal representatives who walk away from a substantially completed estate without obtaining a discharge sometimes discover this years later, when a premium notice arrives or the surety refuses to release collateral.

The order of discharge is what directs the court to release the surety. If a successor personal representative was appointed part way through, the original fiduciary’s surety is released on its own terms and the successor carries its own bond — a detail that gets missed when an estate changes hands mid-administration.

Rule 5.400(e) is explicit: the court’s order discharges the personal representative and releases the surety on any bond. Where a successor personal representative was appointed mid-administration, confirm how and when the predecessor’s surety is released. It does not necessarily happen at the same time as the successor’s discharge.

Compensation of the Personal Representative and Attorney’s Fees at Closing

Florida sets out presumptively reasonable compensation for the personal representative and for the attorney serving the personal representative, calculated on the value of the estate, with additional compensation available for extraordinary services. Both are disclosed at closing, and both can be objected to.

Two practical points. First, compensation is one of only a handful of items in a petition for discharge that a beneficiary has an obvious financial incentive to challenge, so it should be disclosed clearly and calculated transparently rather than dropped in as a number. Second, an attorney who charges on the statutory schedule owes the personal representative a set of written disclosures — a duty that has been in place since 2021, not something new — and the consequence of skipping them is real.

The personal representative’s commission. Section 733.617(2) sets a presumptively reasonable commission on the compensable value of the estate: 3% of the first $1,000,000; 2.5% above $1,000,000 to $5,000,000; 2% above $5,000,000 to $10,000,000; and 1.5% above $10,000,000. Subsection (3) allows further reasonable compensation for extraordinary services — selling property, conducting litigation, tax proceedings, running the decedent’s business, dealing with protected homestead. Under subsection (7) any interested person may petition the court to increase or decrease the ordinary commission, and the court weighs nine enumerated factors.

The attorney’s fee. Section 733.6171(3) sets a presumptively reasonable fee for ordinary services: $1,500 for an estate of $40,000 or less; an additional $750 above $40,000 to $70,000; an additional $750 above $70,000 to $100,000; 3% on the next $900,000; 2.5% above $1,000,000 to $3,000,000; 2% above $3,000,000 to $5,000,000; 1.5% above $5,000,000 to $10,000,000; and 1% above $10,000,000.

Two things the statute itself insists you be told, and that a lot of marketing copy quietly skips. These figures are not a mandatory statutory fee — an attorney charging on the schedule must disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory fee, that the fee need not be based on the size of the estate and the presumed figure may not suit every administration, that the fee is negotiable, that choosing the attorney is the personal representative’s decision and the personal representative is not required to use the attorney who prepared the will, and that at the end of the representation the personal representative is entitled to a summary of ordinary and extraordinary services. The attorney must obtain the personal representative’s signature acknowledging those disclosures. An attorney who does not make them cannot be paid without prior court approval or the written consent of all interested parties. These disclosure duties date to 2021, not to the 2026 legislation — the 2026 session law made wording changes and added an extraordinary-services category.

And the base is narrower than people assume: compensable value is the inventory value of the probate assets plus income earned during administration. Jointly held property, beneficiary-designated accounts and trust assets are not in it, and the schedule covers ordinary services only.

Can the personal representative pay itself before discharge? Yes — the commission is payable from estate assets without a court order under § 733.617(1), and attorney’s fees likewise under § 733.6171(1), except where the required disclosures were not made. But every dollar has to be disclosed in the petition for discharge under Rule 5.400(b)(4), and it is all subject to objection and to court review under § 733.6175 and Rule 5.355 — where the burden of proving propriety and reasonableness is on the personal representative and the person employed, not on the beneficiary who questions it. Excessive compensation can be ordered refunded.

If you are trying to work out what probate costs generally rather than what it costs to close, see the cost of probate in Florida.

Surcharge and What You Stay Exposed To

Surcharge is the remedy when a personal representative causes a loss to the estate through a breach of duty — self-dealing, an unjustified sale, unreasonable expenses, failing to preserve or invest assets, distributing to the wrong person. It is the reason the closing documents exist in the form they do: the accounting shows what happened, the objection window gives interested persons a chance to say it was wrong, and the discharge closes the question.

The ways personal representatives get surcharged at closing are predictable: paying themselves before anyone approved it, distributing before the claim period ran and then finding a creditor, using estate property personally, selling an asset to a relative at a number nobody tested, and closing on a waiver that was obtained without telling the beneficiary what they were waiving.

Closing the Estate Bank Account in Florida

Closing an estate bank account is the last operational step, not the first. The estate bank account is closed after the final distributions clear — not before. A bank will typically want the final distribution instructions, identification, and often a certified copy of the order of discharge. Leave enough in the account to cover the last filing fee, the last certified copies, and any final tax payment, and close it only once those have cleared.

The estate’s EIN is not “closed” in the way an account is; it simply stops being used once the final return is filed and marked final.

For opening the account, what banks require after a death, and how accounts pass outside probate, see closing a bank account when someone dies in Florida.

Tax Clearance: The Step Almost Nobody Writes About

Florida has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, so Florida practitioners often skip this entirely. That is a mistake, because the federal side is what actually holds estates open — and because distributing everything before the tax position is settled is how a personal representative ends up personally exposed.

Form	What it is	Deadline as stated by the IRS
Form 1041	U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts — the estate’s own income tax return	Calendar-year estates: April 15 of the following year. Fiscal-year estates: the 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year closes.
Form 1040 (final) and Form 1310	The decedent’s final individual return, and the claim for a refund due a deceased taxpayer	Normal individual filing deadline
Form 706	United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return	9 months after the date of death; automatic 6-month extension on Form 4768
Form 4810	Request for Prompt Assessment under IRC § 6501(d)	No independent deadline stated; shortens the assessment period to 18 months from the request
Estate tax closing letter (Letter 627)	Confirmation the Form 706 was accepted; requested through Pay.gov for a user fee	Do not request until at least 9 months after filing Form 706, or 30 days after an examination closes
Account transcript (code 421)	The free alternative to the closing letter	Allow roughly 9 months after filing
Form 56	Notice of fiduciary relationship	Filed when the fiduciary relationship begins and when it ends

The practical question is whether to hold the estate open until the IRS confirms the position or to close and distribute with a reserve. That is a judgment call that depends on the size of the estate, whether a Form 706 was required, and how much risk the personal representative is willing to carry personally.

Florida-specific: If the estate holds Florida real property, ask whether a DR-312 affidavit of no Florida estate tax due should be recorded in the county where the property sits — title examiners look for it. Also consider whether the estate faces a Medicaid estate recovery claim from AHCA, a Department of Children and Families claim, or a child support or federal tax lien — any of which has to be dealt with before distribution.

For the broader tax picture, see does Florida have an inheritance tax.

Closing a Summary Administration Is Different

Summary administration is not closed the way a formal administration is closed. There is no personal representative in the ordinary sense, so there is generally nothing to discharge — the proceeding is concluded by the order of summary administration itself, which directs who receives what.

That produces a trade-off people do not always appreciate: summary administration is faster and cheaper, but the recipients of the assets carry a continuing exposure to estate creditors that a properly closed formal administration resolves. If the estate has any real creditor risk, the speed can be expensive.

Confirmed: a summary administration requires no final accounting, no petition for discharge and no order of discharge. In most summary administrations no personal representative is appointed at all, so there is nobody to discharge. The proceeding begins with a petition under § 735.203 and ends with an order of summary administration under § 735.206 directing immediate distribution.

The threshold is $150,000, not $75,000. Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, raised § 735.201(2) from $75,000 to $150,000 effective 1 July 2026, and Florida Probate Rule 5.530(a)(7) was conformed to $150,000 by Supreme Court opinion effective 16 July 2026. A great many pages — and some court forms and local administrative orders — still show $75,000. Two further points most sources miss: the section has two independent grounds, value not exceeding $150,000 or the decedent dead more than two years, and the second carries no value limit at all; and the value tested is the estate subject to Florida administration less property exempt from creditors’ claims, so protected homestead comes out of the calculation entirely.

One caution nobody should paper over: the 2026 act says only that it takes effect 1 July 2026, with no clause tying the new threshold to the date of death. Several firm pages state confidently that the old limit governs pre-July-2026 deaths. That is not settled law, and the filing-date reading is textually the stronger of the two. Do not plan around either reading without advice on your specific estate.

The trade-off. Recipients under an order of summary administration are personally liable for a pro rata share of lawful claims, limited to the value each actually received, exclusive of exempt property (§ 735.206(e)). Non-exempt property in their hands stays liable until claims are barred (§ 735.206(d)), and after two years from death neither the estate nor those it passed to is liable absent enforcement proceedings (§ 735.206(f)). A known or reasonably ascertainable creditor who got no notice can enforce the claim and, if it prevails, recover attorney’s fees against those who joined in the petition. One underused option: § 735.2063 lets a summary administration publish notice to creditors, cutting unknown creditors off three months after first publication instead of at two years. Almost nobody does it.

See also when probate is not necessary in Florida.

Closing an Ancillary Florida Estate

When a non-resident dies owning Florida property, the Florida proceeding is an ancillary administration running alongside the domiciliary estate in the decedent’s home state. Closing one raises a question that trips people up: does the remaining Florida property go to the beneficiaries directly, or back to the domiciliary personal representative for distribution there?

The Florida ancillary personal representative still has to account for what came in and went out in Florida, still has to deal with Florida creditors, and still needs a Florida discharge. Coordinating the two proceedings so neither closes before the other is ready is most of the work.

Rule 5.400 applies in full. Section 734.102(4) requires that proceedings for the appointment and administration of an ancillary estate be as similar to those in an original administration as possible, so the ancillary personal representative files a final accounting and a petition for discharge, serves interested persons, and obtains a separate Florida order of discharge from the Florida circuit court.

Where the Florida residue goes. Under § 734.102(6), after expenses of administration and claims are paid, the court may order the remaining Florida property either transferred to the foreign personal representative or distributed to the beneficiaries. It is a choice, not a rule — it turns on the will, what the parties want, and what the court thinks appropriate. Note the sequencing: expenses and claims are paid before transfer or distribution, and Florida courts have surcharged ancillary personal representatives who got that backwards.

The short form. Section 734.1025 offers a shortcut for a testate nonresident whose Florida property has a gross value not exceeding $50,000 at the date of death: the foreign personal representative files an authenticated transcript of the domiciliary proceedings, before two years after the death, without opening a full ancillary administration. Rule 5.475 supplies the mechanics. If no claim is filed, no Florida personal representative is appointed and no discharge order is entered. If a claim is filed, one must be appointed. Note that the $50,000 short-form ceiling has not moved since 2003 and now sits far below the $150,000 summary administration threshold.

Reopening a Closed Estate in Florida

A closed Florida estate can be reopened. The mechanism is subsequent administration, and it exists precisely because assets and documents surface after everyone has gone home.

The usual triggers:

• After-discovered assets — an old bank account, an unclaimed property record, a forgotten life insurance policy, a mineral interest, a class-action settlement, a refund check arriving years later.
• A newly discovered will or codicil.
• An unresolved matter that was missed — an unsatisfied claim, an asset that was never actually transferred, a deed that was never recorded.
• A need for someone with authority — a buyer, title company or transfer agent requires a personal representative who no longer exists because the estate closed.

If the discovered asset is unclaimed property held by the state, start with unclaimed property in Florida — sometimes the answer is a claim rather than a reopened estate.

Section 733.903 says the final settlement of an estate and the discharge of the personal representative do not prevent further administration. Rule 5.460(a) supplies the vehicle: if additional property is discovered after the estate is closed, or if further administration is required for any other reason, any interested person may petition for further administration. The grounds are deliberately broad.

Practical answers to the questions that follow:

• Standing: any interested person.
• Time limit: none stated in the statute or the rule. But § 733.710 keeps barring new creditor claims two years after the death whether or not the estate is reopened.
• Is the discharge undone? Usually not. Rule 5.460(c) lets the court enter such orders as are appropriate and provides that, unless required, it need not revoke the order of discharge, reissue letters, or require bond.
• Does the creditor period reopen? No. The two-year repose runs from death and reopening does not restart it.
• Is a second discharge needed? Where the court proceeds without revoking the discharge or reissuing letters, no. Where letters are reissued and real administration follows, the estate is re-closed the ordinary way — petition and order for discharge.
• A later will is the exception. Section 733.903 provides that the order of discharge may not be revoked based on the discovery of a will or a later will. That surprises people, and it is worth knowing before a family spends money chasing it. Note the word discovery: a Florida court has distinguished a will that turned up after discharge from one that was already sitting in the court file months before it. Gilbert v. Riley, 431 So. 3d 588 (Fla. 3d DCA 2026).

Fraud, bad faith and procedural irregularity

Beyond after-discovered assets, Florida allows an estate to be reopened after discharge where there were procedural irregularities or facts constituting fraud or bad faith. Carraway v. Carraway, 883 So. 2d 834, 835 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). A court erred in refusing to reopen where a beneficiary alleged the personal representative had withheld material information it had a duty to disclose — in that case about a surviving spouse’s rights. Udell v. Udell, 397 So. 3d 1050, 1053 (Fla. 4th DCA 2024). The decision is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and the trial court’s discretion to reopen is broad. Loftis v. Loftis, 208 So. 3d 824, 826 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017).

But fraud has to actually be alleged. In the 2026 case above, the objecting heir complained that the wrong will had been probated and never expressly pleaded fraud — and lost on that ground among others. If you are asking a court to undo a discharge, the pleading has to say what was concealed and by whom.

A Late Creditor Claim After the Estate Closed

A late creditor claim surfacing after distribution is the scenario that keeps careful personal representatives awake, and no competing Florida page addresses it properly.

Three separate questions arise, and they have different answers:

1. Is the claim still alive at all? Florida’s outside repose bars claims not presented within a fixed period after death, with narrow exceptions.
2. Is the personal representative personally liable? That depends on when distribution happened relative to the claim periods and on what the personal representative knew.
3. Can the creditor chase the beneficiaries? Florida does allow recovery from distributees in defined circumstances, which is why a beneficiary who spent the money is not automatically safe.

The protections available to a personal representative before closing are a reserve held back in the plan of distribution, a refunding agreement from the distributees, or a settlement agreement among the interested persons. Each has limits.

Taking those in order.

Is the personal representative personally on the hook? Generally not, where the claims procedures in §§ 733.702 and 733.705 were followed and distribution was made under the plan of distribution. Section 733.619(2) makes a personal representative individually liable for obligations arising from ownership or control of the estate, or for torts in the course of administration, only if personally at fault.

Can the creditor chase the beneficiaries? Yes, within limits. Under § 733.812 a distributee who was improperly paid must return the assets or funds plus the income on them or interest since distribution — or, if the property is gone, its value at the date of disposition plus any gain — unless the distribution cannot be questioned because of adjudication, estoppel or limitations. This is the creditor’s main route once the estate is closed and the personal representative is discharged. Section 733.811 is the other side of it: a distributee who receives assets succeeds to the estate’s interest as against all persons interested in the estate, though the fiduciary may recover them if the distribution was improper.

One recent decision narrows what even counts as a “claim.” Where a company’s equipment was in the decedent’s permissive possession at death and the personal representative asserted ownership of it only after the death, the Fifth District held the company’s replevin action to get its own property back was not a claim subject to the three-month filing requirement — the claim arose after the death and sought return of property, not payment out of estate assets. Brillium, Inc. v. Oles-Dugre, No. 5D2024-1892, 2026 WL 1699566 (Fla. 5th DCA June 12, 2026). If someone surfaces after closing demanding property that was never the decedent’s, the claim clocks may not be the answer at all.

All three protections are real. A reserve — under § 733.705(7) the court may require assets adequate to pay unmatured claims to be reserved before discharge, with a parallel mechanism in (8) for contingent claims. A refunding agreement taken from the distributees as a condition of distribution. And a private contract among interested persons under § 733.815, by which they agree in writing to alter their interests or shares, subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities; the personal representative must abide by its terms.

When a Beneficiary Will Not Sign

A beneficiary who refuses to sign a waiver or a receipt is not a dead end, and it is not a reason to leave the estate open for years. It is a fork in the road.

• They will not sign the waiver of accounting. Prepare the accounting. Serve it. Let the objection window run. This is the formal route, and it works whether or not they cooperate.
• They will not sign the receipt but have been paid. The receipt is evidence, not a precondition. Proof of payment — the cleared check, the wire confirmation, the recorded deed — establishes the same fact. Document it and put it in front of the court.
• They will not accept the distribution at all. Depositing the share with the clerk may be available, and a formal disclaimer may be what they actually want.
• They will not sign and will not say why. Serve everything properly and let the clock run. Silence is not an objection.

An uncooperative beneficiary is a scheduling problem, not a legal wall. What does not work is negotiating indefinitely. Every month the estate stays open costs the estate money, and a personal representative who lets one beneficiary hold the administration hostage is exposed to the others.

The routes above are described as practice. What a particular judge will accept as proof of distribution in place of a signed receipt, and whether a refusing distributee’s share may be deposited with the clerk, are both worth confirming in your circuit before you rely on either.

When a Beneficiary Cannot Be Found

A missing beneficiary requires a documented, diligent search — not a Google check. Skip tracing, last known addresses, relatives, employers, the postal service, public records. Document everything, because the court will want to see the effort before it authorizes an alternative.

Where the search fails, the usual routes are a deposit of the share with the clerk of court, a determination of beneficiaries proceeding, or — eventually — escheat. None of them requires leaving the estate open forever.

The routes above are described as practice. The diligent search standard, the mechanics of depositing a distributive share with the clerk, and the treatment of unclaimed property held by a personal representative should each be confirmed against current authority and local practice before you proceed.

When a Beneficiary Is a Minor or Incapacitated

A distribution to a minor beneficiary cannot be handled by simply writing a check to the child. Above a threshold, a distribution to a minor requires a guardianship of the property, and the money is protected by a restricted depository that will not release funds without a court order. Below that threshold, a distribution may be made to a parent or other person on the minor’s behalf.

Alternatives worth considering before defaulting to a guardianship: a Florida UTMA custodianship, a trust created for the minor, or a court-approved arrangement. A guardianship of the property is expensive, and it lasts until the child turns eighteen — at which point the entire fund is handed over at once.

An incapacitated adult beneficiary raises the same problem with a different answer, and the existing guardianship (if there is one) usually controls.

The number is $15,000. Under § 744.301(2) a natural guardian — a parent — may collect, receive, manage and dispose of property distributed from an estate on a minor child’s behalf, without court appointment, authority or bond, so long as the amounts received in the aggregate do not exceed $15,000. Above that, § 744.387(2) requires a guardianship of the property. That threshold was set in 2023 and was not changed by any 2025 or 2026 legislation.

The receipt has to be signed by the right person. At or below $15,000, the natural guardian signs. Above it, the court-appointed guardian of the property signs. For an incapacitated adult, the guardian of the property signs. A receipt signed by the minor personally is not legally effective — which is the trap, because a seventeen-year-old will sign whatever is put in front of them.

Does a pending guardianship hold up the closing? It can, because the court will not discharge without evidence that the estate was properly distributed, and a distribution to a minor is not proper until there is someone who can validly receive it. There are two ways around the delay: a Rule 5.380 partial distribution order releasing the other beneficiaries’ shares while the guardianship is pending, or a Rule 5.400(c) extension of the closing deadline.

What Delays Closing a Florida Estate: Ten Real Causes

The delay	What it usually takes to clear it
Real property that has not sold	Reduce the price, or distribute it in kind by personal representative’s deed
An unresolved creditor claim	Pay it, settle it, or object and force the claimant to file an independent action
Homestead never determined	File the petition and get the order
Tax position unsettled	File the final returns; decide whether to hold or reserve
One beneficiary will not sign	Switch to the formal route and let the objection window run
A beneficiary cannot be located	Documented diligent search, then deposit with the clerk or a determination of beneficiaries
Pending litigation involving the estate	Resolve it, or consider whether the claim can be assigned or reserved against
A minor or incapacitated distributee	Guardianship of the property, restricted depository, or an approved alternative
Accounting that will not reconcile	Rebuild it from the bank records rather than patching it
The personal representative has stopped responding	Compel, or move to remove and appoint a successor

How Long Does It Take to Close an Estate in Florida?

Closing is the last phase, not the whole administration. Measured from the point at which the estate is fully administered, here is what the closing phase itself realistically takes.

Scenario	Realistic closing-phase timeline
Full-waiver route, cooperative beneficiaries	Weeks — limited mainly by how fast documents come back signed
Formal route, no objection filed	The objection window plus the court’s turnaround on the order
Objection filed and resolved by agreement	Add a few months
Objection litigated	Add six months to well over a year
Estate held open for a tax position	Governed by the IRS timelines in the table above, not by the court

For the whole administration rather than the closing phase, see how long probate takes in Florida.

What Does It Cost to Close an Estate?

The closing phase has three cost components: the professional time to prepare and file the closing documents, court costs and certified copies, and — where a formal accounting is required — the time to build the accounting itself.

The accounting is the swing item. An estate with one bank account and two beneficiaries is a different exercise from an estate with a business interest, three properties and eighteen months of transactions. It is also why the waiver route saves real money when it is genuinely available, and why it is false economy when it is not.

Filing fees are set by the clerk in the county where the estate is pending and are published on each clerk’s fee schedule. Filing fees move, so check the current schedule for the county where your estate is pending rather than a figure quoted on a law firm page.

If You Are a Beneficiary and the Estate Will Not Close

Most pages on this subject are written for the personal representative. This section is for the other side, because a large share of the people searching “what happens if an estate is not closed” are beneficiaries who have been waiting and have stopped getting answers.

You have real remedies, and you do not have to wait for the personal representative to feel like acting.

• Demand an accounting. An interested person has a right to information about the administration. A written demand is the first step and it starts a record.
• Petition to compel distribution. Florida has a proceeding for compulsory payment of a devise or distributive interest where the estate is in a position to pay and the personal representative will not.
• Object to the accounting or the discharge when it is served — within the window, with particularity.
• Seek removal of the personal representative. Failure to administer, failure to account, and waste are recognized grounds.
• Seek a surcharge for losses caused by a breach of duty.

What you should not do is sign a waiver of accounting to “move things along.” That is the one document that gives away the leverage you have. And do not wait for a conversation that may not happen — see the case below.

A cautionary case, and what it should teach you

A 2026 Third District decision is the clearest illustration in recent Florida law of how fast a beneficiary can lose. The personal representative filed a petition to administer his mother’s estate in February 2024 using a copy of a 2000 will that named him the sole beneficiary, offered as lost or destroyed. A week later a 2014 will naming all of the decedent’s children as equal beneficiaries was placed on the court docket. Over the next twelve weeks the personal representative took clerk’s defaults against six family members, obtained an order admitting the 2000 will, obtained an order determining homestead in his own favor, and — on 7 May — filed a petition for discharge. The order of discharge was signed the next day. From filing to discharge: under three months.

The daughter objected on 17 May, nine days too late, and then let seven months pass before petitioning to reopen. She missed a court deadline to set a hearing by ten days. She never expressly alleged fraud. There was no transcript of the hearing she finally got. The Third District affirmed every ruling against her. Gilbert v. Riley, 431 So. 3d 588 (Fla. 3d DCA 2026).

Read that sequence again, because none of it required anyone to do anything unusual. The lessons are unglamorous and they are the whole ballgame: a served notice starts a clock whether or not you understand it; a default entered against you is not a formality; an objection has to be filed inside the window and in writing; if your complaint is that someone concealed something, the pleading has to say so; and a hearing without a transcript is a hearing you cannot appeal. If you are a beneficiary who thinks something is wrong with an estate, the expensive mistake is waiting to be invited.

Here is what each of those actually requires.

Compelling payment. Under § 733.802(1) and Rule 5.380, before final distribution a personal representative cannot be compelled to pay a devise, deliver specific property, pay a distributive share or surrender land unless the beneficiary establishes that the property will not be required for debts, family allowance, estate and inheritance taxes, claims, the elective share, charges or expenses of administration. So the burden is on you, and it is a real one. If the court is satisfied, it may order payment or delivery before final settlement of the accounts — and it may require you to post a bond first.

Getting an accounting. Rule 5.345 lets the court require an interim or supplemental accounting, and Rule 5.400 requires the final accounting to be served on all interested persons. Note that accountings are confidential and exempt under § 733.604(1) — an interested person is entitled to access; a stranger is not.

Removal. Section 733.504 lists twelve causes, and two of them are squarely about this problem: (3) failure to comply with any court order and (4) failure to account for the sale of property or to produce and exhibit the assets of the estate when required. Any interested person may petition, and the court may act on its own motion (Rule 5.440). A removed personal representative must file an accounting within 30 days and hand over all records and property to the successor, on pain of contempt.

Surcharge. The standard is breach of fiduciary duty under § 733.609(1) — liability to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from the breach. Three Florida decisions shape how it plays out. Admitted misadministration invokes the presumption that applies to a trustee of an express trust and shifts the burden of going forward with the evidence to the personal representative — in that case a conclusory affidavit was not enough to carry it. Rich v. Narog, 366 So. 3d 1111 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022). Liability is limited to the actual damage or loss caused by the breach, not the whole of some judgment the estate could not pay. Brush v. Coppelli, 407 So. 3d 518 (Fla. 5th DCA 2025). And a testamentary trust beneficiary is an interested person with standing to seek surcharge and to contest the discharge. Carmel v. Fleischer, 391 So. 3d 907 (Fla. 4th DCA 2024). A surcharge action against the personal representative individually — and a proceeding to claw back compensation already paid — is an adversary proceeding requiring formal service of process on the personal representative individually. Simmons v. Estate of Baranowitz, 189 So. 3d 819 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015); Kozinski v. Stabenow, 152 So. 3d 650 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).

One expectation to set. The 12-month closing period is directory, not jurisdictional — a court does not lose power over an estate that runs long. What the deadline gives you is leverage and a clean basis to ask the court to act, not an automatic remedy.

If you believe the problem runs deeper than delay, see Florida probate litigation.

Closing an Estate Without a Lawyer

People ask whether they can close a Florida estate themselves, and the honest answer depends on which estate.

Where it goes wrong is almost never the filing. It is the judgment calls around the filing:

• Downloaded documents. A petition for discharge pulled off the internet is the single most common cause of a rejected closing. Circuits differ in what they expect, forms circulating online are frequently out of date or drawn from another state, and a document that looks right can still omit a required statement — which means service was ineffective, the objection window never properly ran, and the closing has to be redone. I do not provide fill-in documents on this site for exactly that reason: the document is the smallest part of the job, and getting it “close enough” produces a discharge you cannot rely on.
• Distributing too early. Distributing before the claim period closes feels efficient and transfers the risk onto you personally.
• Waivers obtained without disclosure. A waiver signed by a beneficiary who was never shown the numbers is the waiver most likely to be attacked later.
• Compensation taken without approval or disclosure. This is what objections are made of.
• Stopping at distribution. Paying everyone and never obtaining the order of discharge leaves you a fiduciary indefinitely.

See also do I need a Florida probate attorney.

On the two questions people ask most: Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires a personal representative to be represented by counsel, with two textual exceptions — a personal representative who is the sole interested person, and a personal representative who is a member of The Florida Bar. There is no carve-out for summary administration or disposition without administration; those are available pro se because no personal representative is appointed in the first place.

And on forms: there is no statewide Florida Supreme Court approved form set for probate closing documents. The forms appended to the Florida Probate Rules cover guardianship and incapacity matters. What circulates online as a “Florida petition for discharge form” is a circuit-created document, a commercial product, or another state’s paperwork — which is why the failure mode described above is so common.

Closing an Estate Anywhere in Florida

I close estates in every county in Florida. Rule 5.400 and Rule 5.401 are statewide, Florida probate is e-filed through the statewide portal, and an uncontested closing rarely requires anyone to appear. Neither you nor I need to live in the county where the estate is pending — and you do not need to live in Florida at all. If the estate is open in a Florida circuit court, I can take it to discharge.

What does change from one circuit to the next is the practical experience of closing: what the probate division expects to see in a discharge package, how quickly orders come back, and whether an uncontested closing gets a hearing. Below are the circuits where that local texture matters most in my practice. It is not a list of where I practice — that is the whole state.

Miami-Dade County (Eleventh Judicial Circuit)

Miami-Dade’s probate division is high volume, which cuts both ways: uncontested discharge packages that are complete tend to move, and packages missing a document tend to sit. Homestead is the recurring issue here more than anywhere else in the state, and an estate that reaches the closing stage without an order determining homestead usually has to go back a step. My Coral Gables office is at 2850 Douglas Rd., Suite 303. More on Miami probate.

Broward County (Seventeenth Judicial Circuit)

Broward publishes detailed expectations for what a discharge filing should contain, and searchers look specifically for a “Broward County petition for discharge checklist” — which tells you how much the local practice shapes the filing. Broward estates in my experience are the ones most likely to involve an out-of-state personal representative, which adds a coordination step at closing. My Fort Lauderdale office is at 12 SE 7th St., Suite 701. More on Broward probate.

Palm Beach County (Fifteenth Judicial Circuit)

Palm Beach estates skew toward larger asset bases, which means the closing phase is more often governed by the tax timeline than by the court’s. These are the estates where the decision to hold open for a closing letter versus close with a reserve actually has to be made rather than assumed.

Collier and Lee Counties (Twentieth Judicial Circuit)

Southwest Florida generates more searches for a county probate discharge checklist than almost anywhere else in the state — people look specifically for a “Collier County probate discharge checklist” and a “Lee County probate discharge checklist,” and the reason is that both counties sit in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, where a great deal of closing practice is local habit rather than published rule. Two other things make closings here distinctive: a high share of seasonal and out-of-state decedents, which raises the ancillary question early, and condominium and deed-restricted property, which slows distribution in kind more than a single-family house would.

Orlando and Central Florida (Ninth Judicial Circuit and neighbors)

Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake see a steady volume of estates where the decedent owned one home and a bank account, which are exactly the estates that should close on the waiver route and often do not, because nobody asked the beneficiaries to sign. See Orlando probate and the Orange County probate court.

Every other Florida county

Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Duval, St. Johns, Alachua, Leon, Escambia, Marion, Volusia, Brevard, Polk, Monroe, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter — all routine. If your estate is pending somewhere not named on this page, that is not a reason to call someone else. It is a Florida circuit court, the rules are the same, and the filing is electronic.

How I Handle a Closing

I am a solo practitioner. That is a deliberate choice and it matters most at this stage of a probate, because closing an estate is where files get handed around and where the person signing the petition for discharge is often not the person who knows what happened in month four. The attorney you speak to on the first call is the attorney who prepares your final accounting and stands behind the petition for discharge — the same lawyer from the first call to the order of discharge.

If you are taking over an estate someone else started, or your current counsel has gone quiet at the closing stage, that is a normal thing to fix and a common reason people call me. Bring what you have: the letters of administration, the inventory, the bank statements, and whatever was filed last. That first conversation is free — it usually takes one call to work out whether the estate closes on waivers or has to go the formal route, and that answer drives everything else.

Comparing Florida probate attorneys for a closing? Ask each one two questions: who will actually prepare the accounting, and what happens if a beneficiary refuses to sign. The answers will tell you most of what you need to know.

Frequently Asked Questions About Closing an Estate in Florida

How do you officially close an estate?

By obtaining a court order. In a Florida formal administration you file a final accounting (or beneficiary waivers of it) and a petition for discharge containing a plan of distribution, serve them on interested persons, distribute the remaining assets, file the signed receipts, and ask the court to enter an order of discharge. The estate is closed when the judge signs that order.

How long does it take to close an estate in Florida?

The closing phase itself can run a few weeks where every beneficiary signs waivers and receipts promptly, or several months on the formal route where the accounting has to be prepared and the objection window has to run. An objection that is litigated adds six months or more. The overall administration is a separate question.

How long does an executor have to settle an estate in Florida?

Florida sets an outside period for filing the final accounting and petition for discharge, measured from the issuance of letters, with a longer period for an estate that must file a federal estate tax return and a mechanism for extension. It is 12 months from the issuance of letters, or 12 months from the date a federal estate tax return is due where one is required, extendable by the court for cause. The period is directory rather than jurisdictional — an estate that runs past it is not void, but the personal representative is exposed to removal and to surcharge if the delay causes loss.

What happens if an estate is never closed?

The personal representative stays a fiduciary, the bond stays in place, the estate keeps incurring costs, and beneficiaries keep waiting. Nothing about it becomes final. An interested person can petition to compel distribution, to compel an accounting, or to remove the personal representative.

How long can an estate be left open?

Longer than it should be. The 12-month deadline is not self-executing — nothing automatically closes an estate that blows it, and a court does not lose jurisdiction over one that runs long. What the deadline does is give beneficiaries a clear basis to go to the court, and expose the personal representative to removal and to surcharge if the delay costs the estate money.

How to close out an estate: what is required?

The creditor period run and claims resolved; taxes addressed; homestead and exempt property determined; a final accounting or signed waivers of it; a petition for discharge with a plan of distribution; distribution actually made; signed receipts on file; and the order of discharge.

Does the executor have to provide a final accounting?

Yes, unless the beneficiaries waive it. The final accounting is served on interested persons, who have a limited period to examine it and object. A waiver of accounting gives that up.

What does an estate final accounting look like?

A starting balance, a schedule of receipts, a schedule of disbursements, capital transactions with gains and losses, a schedule of distributions already made, and the assets remaining on hand — with compensation and fees disclosed. It has to reconcile.

Does an executor have to show the accounting to beneficiaries in Florida?

Interested persons are entitled to it, which is why it is served rather than just filed. A beneficiary who has not received it and has not waived it should ask for it in writing.

What is a waiver of accounting in Florida probate?

A signed document in which a beneficiary gives up the right to receive and review the final accounting and consents to the personal representative being discharged. It saves the estate the cost of preparing the accounting — and it gives up the beneficiary’s clearest look at the administration.

Should I sign a waiver of accounting?

Not before you have seen what the estate took in and paid out, what the personal representative and the attorney are being paid, and what you are being distributed. In a small, harmonious estate a waiver is sensible. Where shares are unequal, the personal representative is also a beneficiary, or assets were sold, ask for the numbers first.

What happens if a beneficiary refuses to sign a waiver?

The estate closes the formal way instead: prepare the accounting, serve it, let the objection window run. One refusal changes the route and the cost; it does not stop the closing.

What is a receipt of beneficiary?

A signed acknowledgment that a beneficiary received their distribution. It is what proves to the court that the plan of distribution was actually carried out. It is a different document from a waiver of accounting, and an estate often uses both.

Does an executor have to provide receipts?

The personal representative obtains receipts from the distributees as proof of distribution. Separately, the disbursements shown in the accounting should be supported by records, which an interested person may ask to examine.

What is a plan of distribution in probate?

The part of the petition for discharge that states who receives what — what has already been distributed, what remains on hand, how it will be divided, what is being held back and why, and what compensation and fees will be paid.

What is final distribution in probate?

The transfer of the remaining estate assets to the beneficiaries under the plan of distribution. It happens before discharge. Final distribution is not the same as the estate being closed.

When can an executor start distributing assets?

Safely, after the creditor claim period has closed and claims have been resolved. Distributions made earlier are possible but shift risk onto the personal representative personally if a claim or expense later appears.

Can I distribute some assets now and close later?

Yes — a partial distribution. It helps beneficiaries who need money, and it is a judgment call about risk, because what has gone out is difficult to get back.

Can a beneficiary object to a petition for discharge?

Yes. An interested person has a limited window after service to file and serve a written objection stating the items objected to and the grounds with particularity. A general complaint is not an objection. An interested person has 30 days from service of the later of the petition for discharge or the final accounting, and a hearing must be noticed within 90 days of the objection or it is deemed abandoned.

What happens if someone objects?

A hearing has to be noticed within a defined period or the objection is treated as abandoned. If it is heard, the court sustains or overrules it and determines the plan of distribution. An interested person has 30 days from service of the later of the petition for discharge or the final accounting, and a hearing must be noticed within 90 days of the objection or it is deemed abandoned.

What is an order of discharge?

The court order ending the administration and releasing the personal representative, and releasing the surety on any bond. It is the document that actually closes a Florida estate.

Does the order of discharge protect me personally?

It is the protection, which is why obtaining it matters more than finishing the distributions. The discharge bars actions against the personal representative both as such and individually, and releases the surety on any bond. What it does not reach is fraud by concealment — a personal representative who hid what it did with an estate asset does not get the benefit of it.

Can I be sued after I am discharged?

The discharge is intended to close the question and usually does. It is not absolute: it does not bar a claim for fraud by concealment, and how long someone has to bring one is genuinely unsettled in Florida. An accounting that was merely inaccurate is generally barred; one that hid a disposition is not.

Can a closed estate be reopened in Florida?

Yes — through subsequent administration under § 733.903 and Rule 5.460, most often when an asset surfaces after the estate closed. The court need not revoke the discharge or reissue letters. One counterintuitive limit: the order of discharge may not be revoked merely because a later will is discovered.

What if I find another bank account after the estate closed?

That is the classic after-discovered asset. Depending on what it is and what it is worth, the answer may be subsequent administration, or it may be a claim through Florida’s unclaimed property process.

What if a creditor shows up after the estate is closed?

Three separate questions, with different answers: whether the claim is barred at all, whether the personal representative is personally exposed, and whether the creditor can pursue the beneficiaries. The two-year repose in § 733.710 runs from the date of death regardless, and a creditor’s main route after closing is § 733.812 against the distributees.

How long do creditors have to come after an estate in Florida?

Two clocks run at once. A claim must be filed by the later of three months after first publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days after service on a creditor entitled to be served. And in all events, the two-year repose measured from the date of death bars claims regardless.

Who gets paid first out of an estate?

Florida sets a statutory order of payment for expenses and obligations, and beneficiaries come last — after administration expenses and creditors. Preferred funeral expenses are capped at $6,000 in the aggregate. The full priority ladder is set by statute, so ask before assuming where a particular obligation sits in it.

How much does a personal representative get paid in Florida?

Section 733.617(2) sets a presumptively reasonable commission on the compensable value of the estate: 3% of the first $1,000,000, then 2.5%, 2% and 1.5% on the tiers above it, with further compensation available for extraordinary services. It is disclosed in the petition for discharge and any interested person may ask the court to increase or decrease it.

What are typical attorney’s fees for probate in Florida?

Section 733.6171(3) sets a presumptively reasonable fee for ordinary services, starting at $1,500 for an estate of $40,000 or less and running on a declining percentage scale above $100,000. It is not a mandatory fee. An attorney charging on the schedule must disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory fee, that the fee is negotiable, and that the personal representative is not required to use the attorney who prepared the will — and must obtain a signature acknowledging it.

Can I pay myself before the estate closes?

Yes — the commission is payable from estate assets without a court order. But every dollar has to be disclosed in the petition for discharge, and it is subject to objection and to court review in which you carry the burden of showing it was reasonable. Taking it early without disclosure is one of the most reliable ways to attract an objection.

Does an estate have to file a final Form 1041?

An estate with sufficient income files Form 1041 for each year it exists, and the last one is marked as the final return. Calendar-year estates file by April 15 of the following year; fiscal-year estates by the 15th day of the fourth month after the year closes.

Do I need an IRS estate tax closing letter before I close?

Only a small number of estates file a Form 706 at all. Where one was filed, the IRS asks that a closing letter not be requested until at least nine months after filing, and an account transcript showing the return was accepted can be used instead of the letter.

When can I close the estate bank account?

After the final distributions have cleared and any last fee, filing cost or tax payment has been paid. The bank will usually want identification and often a certified copy of the order of discharge.

What happens if a beneficiary is a minor?

Up to $15,000 in the aggregate, a parent as natural guardian may receive it without a court appointment or bond. Above $15,000 the share requires a guardianship of the property — with a restricted depository — or an approved alternative such as a Florida UTMA custodianship or a trust. A receipt signed by the minor personally is not effective.

What if a beneficiary cannot be found?

A documented diligent search comes first — skip tracing, last known addresses, relatives, employers, public records — because the court will want to see the effort before authorizing anything else. Where the search fails, the usual routes are a deposit of the share with the clerk of court or a determination of beneficiaries proceeding. The precise standard and the mechanics vary in practice, so confirm both in the circuit where the estate is pending.

Can I close the estate if the house has not sold?

Often yes — by distributing the property in kind to the beneficiaries by personal representative’s deed rather than waiting for a sale. Whether that is the right move depends on the will, the beneficiaries, and any encumbrance.

Can an estate close while a lawsuit is still pending?

A pending claim belonging to or against the estate usually has to be resolved or otherwise provided for before the personal representative can represent that the estate is fully administered.

Does a summary administration need a petition for discharge?

No. Summary administration is concluded by the order of summary administration rather than by a discharge, because there is generally no personal representative to discharge. Note also that the current threshold is $150,000, not the $75,000 many sources — including some court forms and local administrative orders — still show.

Can I close a Florida estate from out of state?

Yes. Florida probate is e-filed, closing an uncontested estate rarely requires an appearance, and an out-of-state personal representative can complete the closing remotely. See serving as an out-of-state executor in Florida.

Do you charge for the first call?

No. The initial consultation is free. For a stalled closing that is usually all it takes to identify what is actually blocking the discharge — an unresolved claim, a missing homestead order, a beneficiary who has not signed, or an accounting that will not reconcile.

Do you need a lawyer to close an estate in Florida?

Generally yes. Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires a personal representative to be represented by counsel, with two exceptions — a personal representative who is the sole interested person, and one who is a member of The Florida Bar. The closing stage is also where the consequences of getting it wrong are least recoverable.

Record retention: how long should I keep the estate records after closing?

Keep the accounting, the receipts, the bank records, the tax returns and a certified copy of the order of discharge. They are what you produce if anyone ever questions the administration, and they are difficult to reconstruct once accounts are closed.

How do I force an executor to close an estate?

Demand an accounting in writing first, because it starts a record. Then petition the court: Florida provides a proceeding to compel payment of a devise or distributive interest under § 733.802 and Rule 5.380, and removal under § 733.504 is available for failure to comply with a court order or failure to account.

What is the difference between the estate being closed and the case being closed?

“Closed” on the clerk’s docket is an administrative status. The legally meaningful event is the order of discharge. If you are checking whether an estate is finished, look for the discharge order, not the docket status.

Get the Estate Closed

If you are a personal representative who has done the work and cannot get to the finish line, or a beneficiary who has been waiting without answers, the closing stage is usually fixable in weeks rather than years once someone takes hold of it.

The first consultation is free. A short call is normally enough to tell you which route your estate should close on, what is actually holding it up, and what the next filing is. Call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact page.

A Note on the Authority Cited Here

Rule text on this page is quoted as restyled by the Florida Supreme Court’s 2026 amendments to the Florida Probate Rules, effective 1 October 2026, which restated Rules 5.400 and 5.401 — replacing “shall” with “must” and updating cross-references — without changing what either rule requires. If you are reading an older version of a rule elsewhere, the wording will differ and the substance will not.

Statutory figures reflect chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, effective 1 July 2026. Two of them move frequently and are worth checking against the current statute before you rely on them: the summary administration threshold and the fee schedules.

Written and reviewed by Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Esq. — Florida Bar No. 107002. Lorenzo Law, Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale, serving clients throughout Florida. Last reviewed 12 September 2026. This page is general information about Florida probate procedure and is not legal advice for your matter.