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

Florida law sets a few time limits in the first days after a death, and most belong to someone other than the family: the funeral director files the death certificate within 5 days (§ 382.008(1), Fla. Stat. (2026)), the physician or medical examiner completes the cause-of-death section within 72 hours after receiving the certificate (§ 382.008(3)), and whoever holds the original will must deposit it with the clerk of court within 10 days after learning of the death (§ 732.901(1)).

The family decides who handles the body, orders certified copies of the death certificate, and secures the home and papers. The statutes cited on this page set a deadline for depositing a will, not for opening an estate, notifying a bank or paying a creditor. Opening probate, tax filings and creditor matters follow later, and the timeline guide lists each date.

This page is general information drawn from the sources listed at the end. It is not legal advice for a particular estate, and official text controls. Last checked: October 17, 2026.

Deadlines in the first days

Table 1 separates what the law times from what it does not.

Pronouncement, the funeral home and who decides

Who to call. A death with hospice involved starts with the hospice agency. A death at a hospital or care facility starts with the staff, who contact the funeral home the family chooses. A death at home without hospice, or in unusual circumstances, starts with 911. The medical examiner must determine the cause of death when a person dies by accident, suicide or violence, suddenly while in apparent good health, unattended by a practitioner, or in any suspicious or unusual circumstance (§ 406.11(1)(a)).

Who decides on the funeral and cremation. Florida ranks the people who may direct disposition. A written direction by the decedent comes first, then the person designated on the decedent's Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data (DD Form 93) if the decedent died in military service, then the surviving spouse, an adult son or daughter, a parent, an adult brother or sister, an adult grandchild, a grandparent, and the next degree of kin (§ 497.005, Fla. Stat. (2026), definition of “legally authorized person”). A cremation cannot go forward without that person's written authorization (§ 497.607(1)).

Federal Funeral Rule. The FTC's Funeral Rule gives the family the right to price information by telephone, an itemized General Price List to keep, a written statement of the items chosen before payment, and the choice to buy only the goods and services wanted. No state or local law requires a casket for cremation, and no state law requires routine embalming for every death, per the FTC. The funeral home must accept a casket or urn bought elsewhere.

Who pays. Whoever pays the funeral bill can be reimbursed from the estate. Reasonable funeral, interment and grave marker expenses are a Class 2 obligation, capped at $6,000 in total under § 733.707(1)(b), paid after costs and fees of administration. Keep the receipts.

• Do: call hospice, the facility or 911; choose a funeral home; tell immediate family; ask the funeral home for its General Price List before agreeing to anything.
• Wait: banking, probate, insurance claims and tax matters. None has a deadline in these first hours.
• Check first: a signed cremation authorization is required, and the legally authorized person named in § 497.005 is the one who signs it. Confirm who that is before the funeral home asks.

Death certificates: how many, what they cost, who can get them

The funeral director files the certificate (§ 382.008(2)); the family orders certified copies. Anyone age 18 or older may order a certified copy that omits the cause of death. A copy with the cause of death and the full Social Security number is confidential for 50 years and may be issued to the decedent's spouse or parent, to an adult child, grandchild or sibling, to a person who provides a will, insurance policy or other document showing an interest in the estate, to someone acting for those persons, or by court order (§ 382.025; Florida Department of Health, accessed October 17, 2026).

The Department of Health's Bureau of Vital Statistics charges $5 for the search and one certified copy, and $4 for each additional certified copy ordered at that time. Ordering online through the department's contracted vendor costs $15 for the first certificate plus a $7 processing fee, and $4 for each additional certificate. The $15 includes a $5 search fee and a $10 rush fee. County health department fees vary. State law sets the fee range in § 382.0255.

How many to order. The statutes set no number. Each institution sets its own requirement, so make a list of the places that will ask (life insurers, retirement plan custodians, banks, the title company for any real property, vehicle title offices, pension payers) and ask each whether it accepts a copy or needs a certified original. A second order costs $4 per copy at the Bureau of Vital Statistics, so a short list now can be extended later.

Reports to make and benefits to claim

Debt calls. The FTC states that a debt does not disappear at death but that the estate, not the family, usually owes it, with exceptions such as a co-signer. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collectors may discuss the debt only with the spouse, a parent of a minor decedent, a legal guardian, a lawyer, the executor, administrator or personal representative with the power to pay debts from the estate, or a confirmed successor in interest (FTC, Debts and Deceased Relatives). They may not imply that relatives owe it personally. A family member can send a written dispute within 30 days of the validation notice (FTC, Dealing with a deceased relative's debt, July 6, 2022). Debts are paid from the estate in the order set by § 733.707(1).

Money and accounts: what a family may and may not do

Authority over a decedent's property depends on how the property is titled. The duties and powers of a personal representative begin on appointment by the court (§ 733.601). A power of attorney ends at the principal's death (§ 709.2109(1)(a)), so an agent under a power of attorney cannot use it after the death. Table 3 sorts the common situations.

Practical limit. A family member who withdraws from a sole-name account before appointment has no authority under the Probate Code, and the money belongs to the estate and its creditors and beneficiaries. Use joint and payable-on-death funds to pay immediate bills, and keep records of every payment. Funeral costs paid personally can be reimbursed from the estate (§ 733.707(1)(b)).

The will and the safe-deposit box

Finding the will. Check where the decedent kept important papers, ask the attorney who drafted it, and look in any safe-deposit box. The custodian of an original will must deposit it with the clerk of the circuit court of the county with venue over the estate within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead, and must supply the date of death or the last four digits of the Social Security number. If the custodian does not, a court can compel production and shift costs, damages and a reasonable attorney's fee to the custodian who had no reasonable cause (§ 732.901(1)-(2)). The clerk keeps the original for at least 20 years (§ 732.901(4)). If no will can be found, see finding a missing will.

Opening a box without a court order. A box leased only by the decedent can be searched by a court-ordered person or, with no order, by the decedent's spouse, a parent, an adult descendant, or a person named as personal representative in a copy of a will. The search takes place in the presence of a bank officer, and the bank officer delivers only three things: a will (to the court with probate jurisdiction in the county), a burial deed or burial instructions (to the person searching), and a life insurance policy (to the named beneficiary). The bank copies each document and leaves the copy in the box (§ 655.935). A court-appointed personal representative with letters of administration has fuller access under § 655.936, and the first opening by the personal representative follows § 733.6065. A co-lessee keeps separate access rights under § 655.937. Ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla., amended §§ 655.933 and 655.936, effective July 1, 2026.

Which will controls. A later will or codicil revokes an earlier one to the extent it is inconsistent, and a later will that declares revocation, signed with the formalities required of a will, revokes the earlier will entirely (§ 732.505). Keep every version found and give all of them to the attorney handling the estate. An old will remains valid until revoked as the statute provides; age alone does not end it.

What can wait

• Opening probate. No filing deadline in the statutes cited here. Claims against the decedent's estate are barred 2 years after death (§ 733.710(1)); the timeline guide lists every period once an estate is open.
• Tax filings. The final individual return is due April 15 of the year after death (IRS Pub. 559). A federal estate tax return (Form 706) applies only to an estate over the filing threshold, which is $15,000,000 for 2026 deaths, and is due 9 months after death (IRS, Estate tax; Instructions for Form 706, rev. July 2026). Florida has no estate tax for deaths after December 31, 2004 (Florida DOR).
• Selling property or distributing belongings. Authority comes from letters of administration or a court order. See selling an inherited Florida home.
• Canceling accounts. Keep insurance, utilities and security service active until the property is resolved. Closing a sole-name account is for the personal representative.
• Offers to buy the house or "handle" the estate. No deadline requires a response. Read anything offered and have it reviewed before signing.