Florida Probate Rules

Florida Probate Rule 5.171

“Evidence of Death”

The Probate Rules Committee published a proposal in late 2025 to delete this rule as duplicative of §731.103. No deletion has been adopted — Rule 5.171 remains in force in the July 2026 official rules.

What it means

Before a probate court acts on a death, the death must be proved. Rule 5.171 tracks §731.103 and accepts three forms of proof. An authenticated death certificate — issued where the death occurred, or by a United States official or agency — is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the decedent's identity.

A record or report of any government agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is dead, missing, or presumed dead is prima facie evidence of what it discloses. And absence from a person's last known domicile for a continuous 5 years, unexplained after diligent search, raises a presumption of death — dated to the end of the period unless evidence establishes an earlier date.

— What it says

An authenticated death certificate from the place of death — or from a U.S. official or agency — is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date, time, and identity.
The U.S.-agency option covers deaths abroad — a federal certificate can substitute for a foreign registrar's.
A domestic or foreign government record that a person is dead, alive, missing, detained, or presumed dead is prima facie evidence of what it shows.
A continuous 5-year absence from the last known domicile, unexplained after diligent search and inquiry, creates a presumption of death.
Death is presumed to occur at the end of the 5-year period unless evidence establishes an earlier date.
Prima facie proof is rebuttable — contrary evidence can still overcome it.

— In a real probate

How it plays out

Most estates prove death with a certificate and never think about this rule. It matters in the hard files: a death overseas with no certificate a Florida clerk will recognize, or a disappearance. For deaths abroad, the rule's allowance for a certificate from a U.S. official or agency — the State Department's consular report of death is the usual example — is often the cleanest path. In presumed-death cases we build the diligent-search record first, because the 5-year presumption only works when the absence is genuinely unexplained.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where Rule 5.171 does real work:

The presumption of death

Related sections

§ 731.103Evidence as to death or status § 382.012Presumptive death certificate Rule 5.205Filing Evidence of Death § 90.301Presumption defined; inferences § 90.304Presumption affecting the burden of proof defined

Questions people ask

How long before a missing person can be declared dead in Florida?

Florida presumes death after a continuous 5-year absence from the person's last known domicile that diligent search and inquiry cannot explain. Death is presumed to occur at the end of the 5 years unless evidence establishes an earlier date — under Florida Probate Rule 5.171 and §731.103.

How do you prove death in a Florida probate?

An authenticated copy of the death certificate is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the decedent's identity. A government agency record — domestic or foreign — showing death also works, and Rule 5.171 accepts certificates issued by U.S. officials for deaths abroad.

The official text

This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the Florida Probate Rules (2026) — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.

Read Rule 5.171