Florida Probate - Formal Administration

When a person dies leaving a valid last will and testament, and there are assets that were owned by the deceased, there may be a necessity to 'probate' the will and begin the administration of the estate in the appropriate Florida court. Not all wills must be probated. If all the deceased assets were titled in such a way that title passed automatically by operation of law to the intended beneficiary, there may be no need to probate the will. However, Florida law does require that the will be 'deposited' with the Clerk of the Court for safekeeping.

Petition for Administration

The probate proceedings begin with the filing of a petition with the court to open the administration and prove the will to be the valid will of the deceased.

Proof of Wills

A document purporting to be a will is proved as provided in Florida law as follows:

733.201 Proof of wills.

(1) Self-proved wills executed in accordance with this code may be admitted to probate without further proof.
(2) A will may be admitted to probate upon the oath of any attesting witness taken before any circuit judge, commissioner appointed by the court, or clerk.
(3) If it appears to the court that the attesting witnesses cannot be found or that they have become incapacitated after the execution of the will or their testimony cannot be obtained within a reasonable time, a will may be admitted to probate upon the oath of the personal representative nominated by the will as provided in subsection (2), whether or not the nominated personal representative is interested in the estate, or upon the oath of any person having no interest in the estate under the will stating that the person believes the writing exhibited to be the true last will of the decedent.

Personal Representative

A personal representative, usually nominated in the will, is appointed by the court to manage the affairs of the estate. The deceased is allowed to nominate the persona he or she desires to act in this capacity, but the Court retains the ultimate control over who is appointed. The personal representative may be required to post a fiduciary bond, but the deceased can waive the bond by language in the will requesting that the bond be waived. Again, the court controls the making or not of a bond.

Powers of Personal Representative

The personal representative has broad powers to act without court order in and about the normal activities of gathering the assets of the estate, paying claims of creditors, hiring professionals, such as lawyers, accountants or appraisers, and other routine matters needed to settle the estate.

Creditors Claims

The personal representative must give notice to all known creditors and publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper in order to identify the claimants and amount of claims against the estate. Claims are normally required to be filed within three months of the publishing the notice to creditors.

Accountings and Final Distribution

After the assets are identified and gathered and all the claims are paid, the personal representative must file and accounting and make a proposal for the distribution of the remaining assets of the estate. Once the proposed distribution is approved, the balance of the estate is disbursed to the beneficiaries according to the provisions in the will.