Tampa Bay & SW FL · Circuit 20

Glades County probate help.

We serve Glades County (including Moore Haven, Buckhead Ridge, Lakeport, and surrounding areas) under the 20th Judicial Circuit, with the county seat in Moore Haven. Probate, estate planning, and trust administration — all on flat fees, all remote-friendly.

Call 941.352.1006 Join the waitlist

Glades County wraps the western shore of Lake Okeechobee, bordered by Highlands, Okeechobee, Hendry, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. Moore Haven is the seat. About 12,000 residents — one of Florida's smallest counties by population — almost entirely rural and agricultural, under the 20th Judicial Circuit.

— A probate attorney near you

Looking for a probate or estate planning attorney near you in Glades County?

We serve all of Glades County — Moore Haven, Buckhead Ridge, Lakeport, Palmdale — with flat-fee probate, estate planning, wills, and trusts. Most of it happens by phone, email, and e-signature, so “near me” really means wherever you are in Glades County.New-client intake is closed until late October 2026; the Glades County filing details on this page stay free to use.

— At a glance

Where you'll go. What you'll need.

The courthouse

Glades County Courthouse

Address500 Avenue J, Suite 102, Moore Haven, FL 33471Phone(863) 946-6010HoursMonday–Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm

Probate & Guardianship in the Moore Haven courthouse. Small clerk's office; calls usually reach a person directly. E-filing via myflcourtaccess.com.

Clerk's website ↗E-file portal ↗

Death certificates

FL Department of Health in Glades · Vital Statistics

Address1021 Health Park Dr, Moore Haven, FL 33471Phone(863) 946-0707HoursMonday–Friday, 8:00am – 4:30pm

Cost · Local DOH fees vary — call ahead. Order 8–12 certified copies for an estate.

Order 8–12 certified copies — banks, title companies, the IRS, and the court each need their own. Ordering more upfront saves trips back later.

Order online ↗

— Local notes

Probate in Glades County, as we see it.

Glades is small. The whole county fits roughly 12,000 residents into about 1,000 square miles, much of it pasture, cane field, and wetland. Probate work here is correspondingly low-volume — but every case still gets the same calm process and flat-fee handling we'd give a Sarasota matter.

Filings go to the Glades County Courthouse in Moore Haven under the 20th Judicial Circuit (same circuit as Charlotte/Lee/Collier/Hendry). The clerk's office is small and personable; turnaround is generally quick on clean filings.

Property work in Glades skews toward cattle ranches, sugar-cane and vegetable land, fish camps along the lake, and mobile-home parks — Lake Okeechobee defines a meaningful share of the property profile. Disposition without administration and summary administration cover the bulk of cases.

— What's different about probate here

Local quirks worth knowing.

Smallest population in the 20th Circuit. Same court system as Charlotte/Lee/Collier/Hendry; lower volume but identical rules.
Lake Okeechobee shapes everything. Fish camps, RV parks, lakefront mobile homes — non-traditional residential property is common, with non-standard titling.
Agricultural / ranch land. Cattle ranches and sugar-cane fields; greenbelt classifications and multi-generational ownership are everyday matters.
Disposition without administration is frequent. Many estates are small enough that the full summary process isn't needed.
Hurricane impact (Ian 2022, Milton 2024). Inland flooding and wind damage to ranches and lakefront properties shape some current cases.

— Cities & neighborhoods