Probate Lawyer in Homestead, Florida
Lorenzo Law is a probate lawyer in Homestead, FL, representing families across Florida City and south Miami-Dade. Free consultation: (305) 224-6811.
In short. A probate case for someone who lived in Homestead is filed in Miami-Dade County and heard downtown, not at the courthouse on 211th Street. Most of the work runs by electronic filing, so you rarely travel. What drives cost and timeline is who survived and whether anyone disagrees.
Looking for the law rather than a lawyer? This page is about hiring a probate attorney in the City of Homestead. If you are researching Florida homestead property law — the constitutional protection on a deceased person’s residence, who inherits it, and how creditors are blocked — read our statewide guide to Florida homestead property in probate.
Where do you file probate for someone who lived in Homestead?
In short. Probate for a Homestead resident is filed in Miami-Dade County and heard by the Probate Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Those judges sit at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center downtown. The South Dade Justice Center on 211th Street does not hear probate, which surprises nearly every family.
Venue follows the decedent’s county of residence at the date of death — not where the property sits, and not where the family lives now. Someone who lived in Homestead, Florida City, Leisure City, Naranja, Princeton or Goulds is a Miami-Dade case.
The part that catches people is which courthouse. Miami-Dade has courthouses scattered across the county, and the South Dade Justice Center at 10710 SW 211th Street is the closest one to Homestead. Probate is not heard there. The Eleventh Circuit’s Probate Division judges and general magistrates sit at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 N.W. 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 33128.
| Your situation | Where the case goes |
|---|---|
| Decedent lived in Homestead, Florida City or Leisure City | Miami-Dade County — Probate Division, Eleventh Judicial Circuit |
| Decedent lived in Broward but owned a house in Homestead | Broward County; the Homestead property is administered from there |
| Decedent lived in another state and owned Homestead property | Miami-Dade ancillary administration, alongside the home-state estate |
| Decedent lived in Homestead, family now lives out of state | Still Miami-Dade. Where you live does not move the case |
You will not spend much time at that address. Florida probate runs through the statewide E-Filing Portal, and an uncontested administration is handled almost entirely by filing and correspondence.
What a Homestead probate attorney actually handles
In short. Most south Miami-Dade files fall into five shapes: a formal administration, a summary administration, an ancillary case for an out-of-state decedent, a title problem on an inherited house, or a dispute among heirs. Which one you are in is usually clear within the first phone call.
Formal administration
The standard path when the estate exceeds the summary threshold, or when somebody needs legal authority to act — to sell property, close accounts, or deal with a lawsuit. A personal representative is appointed, creditors are noticed, assets are gathered and the estate is distributed.
Summary administration
The shorter route, available where the qualifying estate value falls under the statutory limit or the death was more than two years ago. No personal representative is appointed. Our guide to summary administration in Florida explains which estates qualify.
Ancillary administration for out-of-state decedents
Common here, because so many Homestead properties belong to families who moved north or never lived in Florida full time. The Florida case runs alongside the home-state estate and deals only with the Florida property.
Heirship and title problems
The old deed. The heir nobody can locate. The sibling who will not sign. The relative who has been living in the house since the funeral and is not leaving. These are the calls we take most often from Homestead and Florida City.
Probate litigation
Will contests, undue influence claims, removal of a personal representative, accountings, and partition where co-owners cannot agree. Chapter 64 governs a partition action among siblings who inherited a house in undivided shares.
How long does probate take in Miami-Dade County?
In short. An uncontested summary administration is the fastest route available. A formal administration runs longer because of the creditor claim period. A contested matter runs as long as the dispute does. Nobody can promise a date, and a lawyer who gives you one on a first call is guessing.
Here is the honest sequence for an uncontested formal administration:
- Gather documents — death certificate, original will, deeds, account statements. This is usually the family’s bottleneck, not the court’s.
- File the petition for administration and the will through the E-Filing Portal.
- Letters of administration issue. This is the moment the personal representative gains authority. Nothing can be sold or closed before it.
- Notice to creditors is published and served, opening the claim period. This is the longest fixed step and it cannot be shortened.
- Inventory is filed, listing the estate’s assets.
- Claims are paid or objected to, and disputes resolved.
- Distribution and discharge — assets transfer and the estate closes.
Summary administration skips steps 3 through 6 almost entirely, which is why it is dramatically faster when the estate qualifies.
How much does a probate lawyer cost in Homestead, FL?
In short. Florida probate fees are governed by statute and by what the work genuinely requires. Facts drive the number, not the value of the house: whether a spouse survived, whether a minor child survived, how many heirs there are, and whether anybody contests. Uncontested files are modest; contested ones are litigation.
We do not publish a flat fee, because the scope is not knowable before we know who survived. What we will do on the first call is tell you which path your file is on and what would push it into the expensive category.
Our guide to the cost of probate in Florida sets out how the presumptive statutory schedule works. Ask any firm you speak with for a written engagement letter stating plainly what triggers additional charges — that one document prevents most fee disputes.
The consultation is free. Call (305) 224-6811.
What happens to a house in Homestead when the owner dies?
In short. Title passes at the moment of death, but the public record still shows a dead owner, and no title underwriter will insure a sale on a guess. That gap is why inherited-home closings in south Miami-Dade collapse. Closing it is court work, not paperwork you file at the property appraiser.
This is the most common reason a Homestead family calls. The house is the estate, everyone agrees on what to do, and the closing still falls apart because nothing in the record proves who owns it.
The full legal picture — the constitutional protection, who inherits, how creditors are blocked, and how a court order clears title — is on our statewide page, Florida homestead property in probate. If you are trying to understand your rights, start there. If you need someone to do it, call.
Related: selling a house during probate and the Florida quit claim deed guide.
Agricultural land, groves and acreage in the Redland
In short. South Miami-Dade probate files carry problems a downtown practice rarely sees. Agricultural classification does not automatically survive a change in ownership or use. Groves, packing houses, equipment and water arrangements are estate assets that need valuing, and somebody has to keep them running while the estate is open.
The Redland and the land west of Homestead are a working agricultural economy, and that changes a file in concrete ways.
Agricultural classification is assessed annually and tied to actual use. A change in ownership or a season of non-use can put it at risk, and losing it on acreage is not a small tax consequence.
Operating assets — equipment, packing facilities, standing crops, leases to growers — have to be inventoried and valued, and frequently have to keep operating during administration. That means someone needs authority quickly.
Recorded restrictions. Land adjoining the Everglades or Biscayne National Park boundaries, or sitting inside the Urban Development Boundary, may carry conservation easements or development restrictions a buyer’s underwriter will find even if the family has forgotten them.
None of that is exotic. It is also not a routine condominium file, and it is worth raising at the first meeting rather than at the closing table.
Myths we hear in south Miami-Dade
In short. Local myths cost families real money, usually by convincing them to wait. These five come up most often on calls from Homestead, Florida City and the Redland, and each has a straightforward answer that is much easier to hear before a closing date is set than after.
Myth: I can file probate at the South Dade Justice Center
Reality. The Eleventh Circuit’s Probate Division sits at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center downtown. South Dade handles other divisions. In practice this matters less than it sounds, because filing is electronic.
Myth: I have to live in Florida to serve as personal representative
Reality. Florida allows certain out-of-state relatives to serve, subject to statutory qualification rules. Whether you qualify turns on your relationship to the decedent. Do not assume you are disqualified because you live in New York or Georgia.
Myth: The house automatically goes to the kids, so we can skip probate
Reality. Title may pass at death, but the record does not show it, and a buyer’s title underwriter will not insure the sale without a court order naming the heirs.
Myth: The homestead tax exemption transfers with the house
Reality. It does not travel with the building. Entitlement is measured as of January 1 and belongs to the person who qualified. A new owner establishes it again.
Myth: A small estate does not need anything filed
Reality. Small estates often qualify for summary administration, which is faster and cheaper — but it is still a court proceeding, and the order is what clears the title.
Do you need a lawyer, or can you handle it yourself?
In short. Some Florida probate matters can be self-filed. Most involving real property cannot, both because the rules require counsel in a formal administration and because the title underwriter is the real audience for the paperwork. The table shows honestly which side of the line you are on.
| Your situation | Realistic path |
|---|---|
| No real estate, small bank account, everyone agrees | You may be able to self-file a summary administration |
| A house in Homestead that has to be sold | Retain counsel. The order is what makes the closing possible |
| Formal administration of any size | Florida practice generally requires the personal representative to appear through counsel |
| A surviving spouse and children from a prior marriage | Retain counsel. This is the most litigated fact pattern there is |
| A minor child inherits an interest | Retain counsel. A guardianship of the property is usually required before a sale |
| Any heir has hired a lawyer | Retain counsel. You are already in a contested matter |
| An heir cannot be located | Retain counsel. Service by publication has strict requirements |
What to bring to the first call
In short. Bring what you have and do not wait until the file feels complete. Half of what families think they need turns out to be unnecessary, and the two pieces that genuinely matter — the original will and the exact wording of the deed — are usually the ones nobody has looked at closely yet.
- The death certificate, if it has been issued
- The original will, not a photocopy
- The deed to any Florida real estate
- A list of accounts, vehicles and other assets
- The names and addresses of the surviving spouse and every child
If you are missing several of these, call anyway. Assembling the file is part of the work you are hiring us for.
Talk to a probate attorney in Homestead
Lorenzo Law · (305) 224-6811 · Free consultation
We represent families throughout Homestead and Florida City — ZIP codes 33030, 33031, 33032, 33033, 33034 and 33035 — and across south Miami-Dade including Leisure City, Naranja, Princeton, Goulds, the Redland, Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay and Kendall.
Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Esq. is a Florida probate and trust litigation attorney, Florida Bar No. 107002, admitted in 2013.
We also represent families in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. For probate elsewhere in Florida, see our Florida probate page.