39 guides. Zero gatekeeping.

What to do in the first 72 hours after a death in Florida

The first three days after a death in Florida: who must be called, which deadlines the law sets (death certificate, will deposit), how to order certified copies, what a family may do with accounts and the home, and what can wait, each with its official source.

Do I need probate in Florida? Which assets and estates skip it

Probate applies to property owned in the decedent's sole name with no co-owner or beneficiary. This guide sorts each asset type by how it passes, then lists the Florida proceedings by size, with the 2026 small-estate amounts and every statute linked.

What happens to a bank account when someone dies in Florida

How a Florida bank account passes at death by account type: joint with survivorship, payable on death, sole name, convenience, trust and safe-deposit box. Each rule is tied to its statute, with the steps to claim the money.

Missing will in Florida: where to look, safe-deposit boxes and lost-will probate

Where a Florida will can be held, who may open a safe-deposit box, the 10-day deposit duty in § 732.901, how a lost or destroyed will is proved under § 733.207, and what happens when no will is found.

Florida probate timeline 2026: deadlines and steps from death to discharge

Every statutory and rule deadline in a Florida probate, in order, with the trigger date and the source: the 10-day will deposit, the 3-month claims period, the inventory, the elective share and the 12-month accounting. A dated example shows how the periods stack.

Florida personal representative duties: who can serve, a phased checklist from appointment to discharge, creditor and tax deadlines, compensation, liability, resignation and removal

What a Florida personal representative must do from appointment to discharge: who qualifies, a phased checklist with deadlines, creditor claims, taxes, pay, liability, resignation and removal, each tied to the statute or rule.

Digital assets after a death in Florida: email, cloud accounts and crypto under chapter 740

How a Florida personal representative gets a decedent's email, cloud, social media and crypto accounts under chapter 740, the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act: the order of authority, the documents a company needs, and its 60-day deadline.

Ancillary probate in Florida: when it is needed, who can serve, steps and alternatives

When a person who lived in another state dies owning Florida property, Florida ancillary administration may be required. This guide covers when it is needed, who can serve, the filing steps, the short-form and summary routes, the clerk's fees, and how to avoid it, each with its statute or rule.

Will contest in Florida: grounds, deadlines and the 3-month objection period

How a will contest works in Florida: who can file, the grounds in § 732.5165, the 3-month deadline after service of the notice of administration, caveats, revocation of probate, burden of proof and who pays costs. Each rule is cited.

Out-of-state heirs and Florida property: who can serve, what happens to title, taxes and selling

What an heir who lives outside Florida does in a Florida estate: who may serve as personal representative under § 733.304, when ancillary administration applies, property-tax reassessment, state and federal taxes, selling, and co-owned property, each with its official source.

Disposition without administration in Florida under § 735.301: who qualifies, limits and filing steps

Disposition without administration is Florida's court-letter route for a decedent who left only personal property. This page covers the § 735.301 test, the other small-estate paths in chapter 735 with their 2026 limits, the documents, the filing fee cap and the steps, each with its source.

Trust administration after death in Florida: successor trustee duties, notices and deadlines

What a successor trustee of a Florida revocable trust does after the settlor dies: the 60-day beneficiary notices, the notice of trust, creditor and tax duties, accountings and final distribution, each tied to the Florida Trust Code or an IRS page.

Florida probate costs in 2026: attorney fees, commissions and court fees

What a Florida probate costs under the 2026 statutes: the § 733.6171 attorney fee schedule, the § 733.617 personal representative commission, clerk filing fees under § 28.2401, publication, bond and other costs, each with its official source.

Executor and personal representative fees in Florida: the § 733.617 commission

How a Florida personal representative (executor) is paid: the § 733.617 commission schedule, extraordinary services, waiver, multiple representatives, court review and income tax treatment, apart from the attorney's fee. Each rule is cited.

Florida estate tax and federal estate tax in 2026: the $15,000,000 exclusion, portability and Form 706

Florida has no estate, inheritance or gift tax. Federal estate tax applies to estates above a $15,000,000 basic exclusion for 2026 deaths. This page covers the calculation, deductions, portability, Form 706 deadlines and planning tools, each with its official source.

Florida Medicaid planning: 2026 limits, the 60-month look-back and estate recovery

Florida long-term care Medicaid in 2026: the $2,000 asset limit, the $2,982 income cap, spousal protections, the 60-month transfer look-back and penalty, exempt transfers, and the estate recovery claim under § 409.9101.

Will vs. trust in Florida: what each does, how each is signed and what each avoids

A will directs property that goes through probate. A revocable trust holds title during life so funded assets pass without probate. This guide compares signing rules, probate, privacy, creditors, divorce, the elective share, homestead and tax, each with its Florida statute.

When to update a Florida estate plan: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a move, new assets and incapacity, what Florida law changes automatically and which documents to review after each event

The events that call for a new will, trust, power of attorney or beneficiary form in Florida: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a move, new assets and incapacity, with what Florida law changes automatically and what it leaves alone.

Probate vs trust administration in Florida: differences, steps and deadlines

Probate and trust administration after a death in Florida compared: what each covers, who is in charge, deadlines, creditor claims, court oversight and privacy, with the statute for each point and what to do when both apply.

Blended families and estate planning in Florida: homestead, elective share, stepchildren and trusts

How Florida law divides an estate when a spouse and children from different relationships survive: the homestead limits, the 30 percent elective share, intestate shares, stepchildren and adoption, spousal waivers and trust tools, each with its statute.

Florida snowbird estate planning: domicile, homestead, other-state taxes and ancillary probate

How a person who splits the year between Florida and another state establishes domicile, files for homestead, answers a second state's residency test, and avoids a probate in each state, with the statute or agency page for every step.

Power of attorney in Florida: execution rules, durable language, agent powers, bank acceptance and revocation

What Florida's Power of Attorney Act requires: who signs and who witnesses, the durable-power wording, powers that need separate initials, an agent's duties, how long a bank has to accept the document, and how a power of attorney ends.

Health care surrogate and living will in Florida: signing rules, powers, limits and who decides without one

How chapter 765 works: who signs a health care surrogate designation and a living will, when the surrogate's authority starts, what a surrogate cannot decide unless the document says so, who decides without a document, and how to revoke.

Pet trusts in Florida under § 736.0408: setup, funding, caregiver, trustee and enforcement

Florida's pet-trust statute, § 736.0408, lets a trust provide for an animal alive during the settlor's lifetime. This page covers how to create one, who enforces it, how to size the funding, what happens to leftover money and the mistakes the statute makes costly, each with its source.

Funding a revocable trust in Florida: deeds, accounts, retirement plans, insurance and what to leave out

A Florida revocable trust controls only the property titled in the trustee's name or assigned to it. This page lists how to fund each asset type, the deed and recording rules, what to leave out, and what happens to assets left unfunded, each with its source.

Special needs trusts in Florida: three types, SSI and Medicaid rules, and ABLE accounts

How a special needs trust keeps SSI and Medicaid eligibility when a person with a disability receives money: first-party, third-party and pooled trusts, payback, what the trust may pay for, and ABLE accounts ($20,000 limit in 2026).

Out-of-state wills in Florida: validity, moving to Florida and probate steps

Under § 732.502(2), Florida accepts a will signed by a nonresident if it was valid where it was signed, except holographic and nuncupative wills. This page covers moving to Florida, probating an out-of-state will, ancillary administration and out-of-state trusts, each with its statute.

What Florida homestead protects: tax exemption, creditor protection and inheritance rules

Florida homestead is three separate rules: a property tax exemption with an assessment cap, protection from forced sale by creditors, and limits on who can inherit the home. Each is explained with the constitutional text, the 2026 statute and the 2026 dollar amounts.

Selling an inherited Florida home: who can sign, probate steps, mortgage and taxes

Who has authority to sell an inherited Florida home, when a court order is required, what happens to the mortgage, how the federal basis rule and the home-sale exclusion apply, and what changes on the property tax bill, each with its official source.

Stepped-up basis in Florida: which inherited assets get it and how to document the value

Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014 an heir's basis in inherited property is its fair market value at the date of death. This guide covers which assets get that basis, which do not, how each asset is valued, and what the estate must report, with the IRS source for each rule.

Lady bird deed in Florida: how an enhanced life estate deed works

A Florida lady bird deed (enhanced life estate deed) lets the owner keep the home and the power to sell or mortgage it, with the remainder passing at death outside probate. Homestead, tax, mortgage and Medicaid rules, each cited.

Florida homestead exemption in 2026: amounts, March 1 deadline, Save Our Homes and death of the owner

The 2026 Florida homestead exemption is $25,000 on all property taxes plus $26,411 on non-school taxes, claimed from the county property appraiser by March 1. Covers Save Our Homes, portability, what happens when the owner dies, and the November 3, 2026 ballot measure.

Florida intestate succession: who inherits when there is no will, the spouse's share, descendants, parents, siblings and other relatives, the homestead, who is not an heir and steps to settle the estate

Who inherits under Florida law when someone dies without a will: the spouse's share, how descendants, parents, siblings and more distant relatives take, who is not an heir, how the homestead passes and the steps to settle the estate.

Florida spousal elective share: 30 percent of the elective estate, what the elective estate includes and leaves out, the filing deadline, waiver, the court process and a worked example

The surviving spouse of a person who dies domiciled in Florida may elect 30 percent of the elective estate. What the elective estate includes and leaves out, the election deadline, waiver, the court process and a worked example.

Family allowance and exempt property in Florida: amounts, eligibility and deadlines

What Florida pays a surviving spouse and dependent family from the estate: the family allowance, capped at $18,000 under § 732.403, and exempt property under § 732.402, with who qualifies, the 4-month deadline, how to petition, and how each ranks against creditors and the will.

Disinheriting a child in Florida: what the law allows, protected homestead and how to draft it

Florida lets a parent leave a child nothing by will, with limits: the homestead restrictions, after-born children, exempt property, the family allowance and assets that pass by beneficiary designation. Each rule below links to the statute, with the contest deadlines.

Inheriting an IRA or 401(k) in Florida: the 10-year rule, spouse choices, taxes and probate

How a Florida beneficiary takes an inherited IRA or 401(k): which distribution rule applies, the 10-year rule and annual withdrawals, spouse options, federal tax, disclaimers and creditor protection. Rules for owners who died after 2019.

Pretermitted spouse and child in Florida: the share owed when a will predates a marriage or birth

A spouse who married, or a child who was born or adopted, after the will was signed receives an intestate-equivalent share under §§ 732.301 and 732.302 unless the statute lists an exception. Exceptions, shares, case law and examples.

Florida will checklist: who may make a will, signing and witness rules under section 732.502, the self-proving affidavit, and decisions on beneficiaries, personal representative, guardian and homestead

A printable checklist for a Florida will: who may make one, how it must be signed and witnessed, what to decide about beneficiaries, a personal representative, a guardian and the homestead, and which companion documents to sign.