Settle a small estate in Florida without probate
In Florida this is called: Summary administration; disposition of personal property without administration; payment to successor without court proceedings (bank accounts up to $2,000). Florida has no small estate affidavit that you hand to a bank for a large amount. Small estates usually go through summary administration, a short court case that ends with a court order telling banks and others to hand over the property.
12 months after the death, filed with a court.
Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.
Not about a small estate? Unclaimed money → Owed Map · Debt collectors → Debt Collector Map · Other problems → robinclaim.com
Free tools
Small estate checker
Add up the estate and compare it with the Florida limit for the date of death.
Letter to a bank
Present your signed affidavit to a bank or other holder in Florida.
Balance request letter
Ask a bank or holder for the balance on the date of death.
What-to-gather checklist
Papers, steps, forms and fees for Florida, by procedure.
Car, bank, house in Florida
Car or other vehicle
An heir can get a new Florida title without a probate court order. If there was no will, the heir files an affidavit that the estate is not indebted and that the spouse and heirs have agreed on dividing the estate.
Bank accounts
A payable-on-death (POD) account goes to the named beneficiary, and a joint account with survivorship goes to the surviving owner, without probate.
Related pages
Summary Administration
A short probate case in the circuit court. No personal representative is appointed. The judge signs an order that lets the people who inherit collect and transfer the property.
- Limit
Up to $150,000
The estate subject to administration in Florida, minus property exempt from creditors, cannot be more than $150,000. This limit took effect July 1, 2026; before that it was $75,000. If the person has been dead for more than 2 years, the estate can use summary administration whatever its value. In either case the will (if any) must not require formal administration.
- What counts
The value of the whole estate subject to administration in Florida, minus the value of property that is exempt from creditors' claims (such as protected homestead and exempt property). Property that passes outside probate is not part of it. Alternatively, there is no dollar limit if the person has been dead for more than 2 years.
- Waiting period
The law sets no waiting period. The petition can be filed at any stage of an estate if the estate qualifies when it is filed.
- Who can use it
Any beneficiary, or the person named as personal representative in the will. The petition must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and by the beneficiaries, except a beneficiary who will receive a full share under the proposed distribution. A beneficiary who does not join must receive formal notice. A guardian, a personal representative of a beneficiary who has died, or a person who received a beneficiary's interest may sign for that beneficiary.
- Court or where to file
Circuit court (probate division) in the county where the person lived. If the person did not live in Florida, any county where the person's property is.
- Notary
The petition is verified: signed under oath or under penalty of perjury as the law requires.
- Papers to attach
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- The original will, if there is one (it must be admitted to probate)
- A list of all assets with the estimated value of each, with any protected homestead and exempt property listed separately
- Names and addresses of the surviving spouse and beneficiaries
- A statement about creditors: that claims are barred, that the estate owes nothing, or a list of each creditor and how the debt will be paid
- A schedule of who will receive each asset
- Proof of formal notice to beneficiaries and known creditors who did not join the petition
- Steps
- Make a diligent search for the person's creditors (unless the person has been dead more than 2 years and all claims are barred).
- Fill in the petition for summary administration and a proposed order, listing each asset and who receives it.
- Have the surviving spouse and beneficiaries sign and verify the petition.
- Serve formal notice of the petition on any beneficiary who did not sign and on known creditors.
- File the petition, the will (if any), the death certificate and the fee with the clerk of the circuit court.
- When the judge signs the order, get certified copies and give one to each bank or holder named in it.
- Fee
Clerks may charge up to $340 to file summary administration for an estate worth $1,000 or more, or up to $230 for an estate worth less than $1,000, plus a $4 service charge. Certified copies cost extra. Ask the clerk for the exact total.
- If you can't pay
If you cannot afford the fee, ask the clerk about applying for civil indigent status.
- Debts and responsibility
The people who receive property under the order are personally liable for a share of all lawful claims against the estate, but only up to the value of what each received (not counting exempt property). A known creditor who was not notified and not provided for can still collect and be awarded attorney's fees. After 2 years from the death, no claim can be enforced unless a proceeding was started. An heir left out of the order can sue the people who got the order. If an order is entered, you may publish a notice to creditors; unknown creditors then have 3 months to file claims.
- What the bank or holder must do
The order authorizes banks, debtors and others holding the person's property to pay or transfer it to the people named in the order. A holder who does so is not accountable to anyone else for that property. The people named in the order may sue to enforce their right to collect it.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201-735.2063 (as amended by ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.); Fla. Prob. R. 5.530; Fla. Stat. 28.2401
Source: Official page
Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration
For an estate with only exempt personal property and a little other personal property, the court can send a letter authorizing banks and others to pay or transfer it, without opening a full case.
- Limit
There is no fixed dollar amount. The non-exempt personal property cannot be worth more than the funeral expenses plus the medical and hospital bills of the last 60 days of the person's last illness.
- What counts
Only personal property. The estate may have only exempt property (such as household furniture up to $20,000 and two family cars, when there is a spouse or children) and other personal property worth no more than the preferred funeral expenses plus reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness.
- Waiting period
The law sets no waiting period.
- Who can use it
Any interested person may apply. If there is exempt property, everyone entitled to it must also sign the application.
- Court or where to file
Circuit court (probate division) in the county where the person lived.
- Notary
The application is signed by the applicant. The clerk must help prepare it on request.
- Papers to attach
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Description and value of the exempt property and of all other assets
- Bills or paid receipts for the funeral and for medical and hospital care in the last 60 days of the last illness
- A list of each payment or transfer you are asking for
- Steps
- List all of the person's personal property and its value.
- Gather the funeral bill and the medical and hospital bills for the last 60 days.
- Fill in the application (the clerk will help on request) and have everyone entitled to exempt property sign it.
- File it with the clerk of the circuit court.
- If the judge approves, the court issues a letter under seal authorizing the payment or transfer; give it to the holder.
- Fee
Clerks may charge up to $230 for disposition of personal property without administration. Ask the clerk for the exact amount.
- If you can't pay
If you cannot afford the fee, ask the clerk about applying for civil indigent status.
- What the bank or holder must do
A person or company that pays, delivers or transfers property under the court's authorization is forever discharged from liability for it.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.301; Fla. Prob. R. 5.420; Fla. Stat. 28.2401(1)(d)
Source: Official page
Disposition Without Administration of Intestate Property in Small Estates (heir's affidavit)
When there is no will and more than 1 year has passed, an heir can file an affidavit with the court asking it to authorize the transfer of a small amount of personal property.
- Limit
The non-exempt personal property cannot be worth more than $20,000 plus the funeral expenses and the medical and hospital bills of the last 60 days of the last illness. The $20,000 amount took effect July 1, 2026; before that it was $10,000. It applies only if there is no will.
- What counts
Only personal property. Exempt property and property exempt under the Florida Constitution are left out. The other (non-exempt) personal property cannot be worth more than $20,000 plus the preferred funeral expenses and the reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness.
- Waiting period
The person must have been dead for more than 1 year, and no probate case can be pending in Florida.
- Who can use it
Any heir entitled to a share under Florida's inheritance law when there is no will. The affidavit must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and the heirs, except an heir who will receive a full share under the proposed distribution.
- Court or where to file
Circuit court (probate division) in the county where the person lived.
- Notary
The affidavit is signed and verified (sworn).
- Papers to attach
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Description and value of all the assets to be distributed
- Amount of the funeral expenses and the medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days
- Names, addresses and relationship of the spouse and heirs
- A statement about creditors and how they will be paid, or their consent
- Proof of formal notice to heirs who did not sign, to known creditors and, if the person was older than 55, to the Agency for Health Care Administration
- Steps
- Wait until more than 1 year after the death.
- Make a diligent search for the person's creditors and provide for paying them (or get their consent).
- Fill in the affidavit with the statements rule 5.425 requires; the spouse and heirs sign and verify it.
- Serve it by formal notice on heirs who did not sign, on known creditors and, if the person was older than 55, on the Agency for Health Care Administration.
- File it with the clerk of the circuit court.
- If the judge approves, the court issues a letter under seal authorizing the transfer.
- Fee
The clerk's fee for disposition of personal property without administration is up to $230. Ask the clerk for the exact amount.
- If you can't pay
If you cannot afford the fee, ask the clerk about applying for civil indigent status.
- Debts and responsibility
People who receive property this way are personally liable for a share of all lawful claims against the estate, up to the value of what each received on the date of distribution (not counting exempt property). A known creditor who did not consent and was not provided for can still collect, with costs and attorney's fees. After 2 years from the death, claims are generally barred. An heir left out can sue the people who signed the affidavit.
- What the bank or holder must do
Anyone who pays, transfers or delivers property under the court's authorization is forever discharged from liability for it. Good-faith buyers from the people who received it take it free of creditors' claims.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.304 (as amended by ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.); Fla. Prob. R. 5.425
Source: Official page
Payment to Successor Without Court Proceedings (bank accounts up to $2,000)
A close family member can get up to $2,000 from the person's bank accounts in their name alone by giving the bank a sworn affidavit and a death certificate, without going to court.
- Limit
Up to $2,000 Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.
The total in all such accounts at all banks known to you cannot be more than $2,000. This amount took effect July 1, 2026; before that it was $1,000.
- What counts
All deposit accounts and certificates of deposit in the person's sole name, with no payable-on-death or other survivor designation, at all financial institutions known to you, added together.
- Waiting period
The bank cannot pay earlier than 6 months after the death.
- Who can use it
Only one family member, in this order: the surviving spouse; if no spouse, an adult child; if no spouse or adult child, an adult descendant; if none of these, a parent. No personal representative may have been appointed, no probate or summary administration may have been started, and you must not know of any will.
- Court or where to file
Given to the bank or credit union.
- Notary
The affidavit is sworn before a notary public.
- Papers to attach
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Sworn affidavit with the statements in Fla. Stat. 735.303(3)
- Steps
- Wait until at least 6 months after the death.
- Check that the total in all the person's sole-name accounts at all banks you know of is $2,000 or less.
- Fill in the affidavit in Fla. Stat. 735.303(4) and sign it before a notary.
- Give the affidavit and a certified death certificate to the bank.
- Fee
No court fee; nothing is filed with the court.
- Debts and responsibility
You are personally liable to the person's creditors and to anyone else entitled to the money, to the extent the payment is more than your proper share. Knowingly making a false statement in the affidavit is theft.
- What the bank or holder must do
The bank may pay but is not required to. It does not have to check whether the affidavit is true, and payment fully releases it for the amount paid.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.303 (as amended by ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.)
Source: Official page
What counts toward the limit in Florida
For summary administration, add up the value of everything the person owned in Florida that would go through probate. Then subtract property that is exempt from creditors, such as protected homestead and exempt property. Property that passes outside probate (joint accounts, payable-on-death accounts, trust property, life insurance to a named beneficiary) is not part of the estate. If the person has been dead more than 2 years, there is no dollar limit.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201, 732.402; Fla. Prob. R. 5.530(a)(7)
| Kind of property | How it is treated | Details |
|---|---|---|
Bank accounts in the person's name alone | Counts | Bank accounts in the person's name alone, with no payable-on-death beneficiary, count. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts | Left out | Payable-on-death accounts go to the named beneficiary, and joint accounts with survivorship go to the surviving owner, so they are not part of the probate estate. Law: Fla. Stat. 655.82; Fla. Stat. 655.79 |
Cars and other vehicles | Has its own procedure | A car can be retitled at the tax collector's office without a court order if the heirs sign an affidavit that the estate owes no debts. Up to two family cars are also exempt property when there is a surviving spouse or children, and exempt property is subtracted from the summary administration total. Law: Fla. Stat. 319.28(1)(b); Fla. Stat. 732.402(2)(b) |
Boats and mobile or manufactured homes | Counts | A mobile home or boat in the person's name counts as part of the estate, unless it is exempt from creditors. A mobile home can also be retitled through the motor vehicle agency under the same heir-affidavit rule as cars. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2); Fla. Stat. 319.28(1) |
Real estate in Florida | Counts | Florida real estate in the person's name that is not protected homestead counts. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Main home (primary residence) | Left out | Protected homestead (the person's home that goes to the spouse or heirs) is exempt from creditors, so it is subtracted from the total. The court can determine the homestead in the summary administration case. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2); Fla. Stat. 732.401; Fla. Const. art. X, sec. 4 |
Real estate in another state | Left out | Only property subject to administration in Florida is counted. Real estate in another state is handled under that state's law. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Unpaid wages owed to the person | Counts | Unpaid wages owed to the person are part of the estate. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Military pay owed to the person | Not clear | Money owed by the U.S. military may be paid to a beneficiary named with the military, outside probate. Ask the clerk or a self-help center how to count it. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to a named person | Left out | Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary goes to that beneficiary and is exempt from the person's creditors, so it is not part of the estate. Law: Fla. Stat. 222.13(1) |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to the estate | Counts | Life insurance payable to the person's estate becomes part of the estate and counts. Some retirement money is exempt from creditors under Florida law; property exempt from creditors is subtracted from the summary administration total. Law: Fla. Stat. 222.13(1); Fla. Stat. 222.21; Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Property in a living trust | Left out | Property in a trust passes under the trust, not through the probate estate. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2) |
Property owned jointly with right of survivorship | Left out | Property held with right of survivorship passes to the surviving owner and is not part of the estate. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2); Fla. Stat. 319.22(2) |
Property going to a surviving spouse | Counts | Probate property left to the spouse by will or by inheritance law is still part of the estate. Property the spouse gets by survivorship or beneficiary designation is not. Protected homestead and exempt property are subtracted. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2); Fla. Stat. 732.402 |
Stocks, bonds and brokerage accounts | Counts | Stocks and brokerage accounts in the person's name alone count. Accounts registered 'transfer on death' (TOD) go to the beneficiary and are left out. Law: Fla. Stat. 735.201(2); Fla. Stat. 711.509 |
Furniture, jewelry and other belongings | Left out up to $20,000 | Household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the person's home are exempt property up to a net value of $20,000 when there is a surviving spouse or children, and are subtracted. Other belongings count. Law: Fla. Stat. 732.402(2)(a) |
Source: Official page
Car or vehicle title after a death in Florida
An heir can get a new Florida title without a probate court order. If there was no will, the heir files an affidavit that the estate is not indebted and that the spouse and heirs have agreed on dividing the estate. If there was a will that is not being probated, the heir files a sworn copy of the will and an affidavit that the estate is not indebted. Form HSMV 82040 has a section where the spouse or heirs release their interest to the applicant. A surviving spouse may also sign over the old title directly to a buyer. If the title is in two names joined by 'or', the survivor owns the car.
Law: Fla. Stat. 319.28(1)(b), (d); Fla. Stat. 319.22(2); Fla. Stat. 319.32(7)
Source: Application for Certificate of Title
- Agency
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), through county tax collector offices
- Fee
Title fees are set by Fla. Stat. 319.32; your county tax collector gives the total. There is no title fee (other than an expedited fee) to remove a deceased spouse who was a co-owner, or to change a title from a deceased spouse's name to the surviving spouse.
Source: Official page
Bank accounts after a death in Florida
A payable-on-death (POD) account goes to the named beneficiary, and a joint account with survivorship goes to the surviving owner, without probate. For accounts in the person's name alone, a spouse, adult child, adult descendant or parent can collect a total of up to $2,000 with a sworn affidavit after 6 months. Larger amounts need a court order, such as an order of summary administration.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.303; Fla. Stat. 655.82, 655.79, 735.303
Source: Official page
Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Florida
- Real estate (TOD deed)
No
Florida law has no transfer-on-death deed. Protected homestead passes to the spouse or heirs under the constitution and Fla. Stat. 732.401.
Law: Fla. Stat. ch. 689, 732
- Vehicle title (TOD)
No
Law: Fla. Stat. ch. 319
- Bank account (POD)
Yes
Law: Fla. Stat. 655.82
- Securities (TOD)
Yes
Law: Fla. Stat. 711.50-711.512
Source: Official page
Surviving spouse in Florida
A surviving spouse is first in line to collect up to $2,000 from sole-name bank accounts with an affidavit after 6 months. The spouse, or the children if there is no spouse, can claim exempt property: household furniture and appliances up to $20,000 net and two family cars. In a probate case the spouse and dependent family can get a family allowance of up to $18,000. A spouse pays no title fee to take a car out of the deceased spouse's name. If there are also descendants, the spouse takes a life estate in the homestead or may elect a one-half interest within 6 months of the death.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.303; Fla. Stat. 732.402; Fla. Stat. 732.403; Fla. Stat. 319.32(7); Fla. Stat. 732.401
Debts of the person in Florida
People who receive property through summary administration or the intestate heir's affidavit are personally liable for a share of the person's lawful debts, up to the value of what they received, not counting exempt property. A family member who collects bank money under Fla. Stat. 735.303 is liable to creditors to the extent it exceeds their share. Claims are generally barred 2 years after the death.
Law: Fla. Stat. 735.206(4)(e), 735.304(3)(d); Fla. Stat. 733.710
Medicaid estate recovery in Florida
Florida recovers Medicaid paid for a person after age 55 by filing a claim in the probate case. If the person was 55 or older, the personal representative must serve the notice to creditors and a death certificate on AHCA within 3 months after first publication of the notice; an heir using the small intestate affidavit must also serve AHCA if the person was older than 55. Recovery is not enforced if the person left a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child, and not against property exempt from creditors, such as protected homestead. The personal representative or any heir can ask for a hardship waiver. Notices go to Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, P.O. Box 12188, Tallahassee, FL 32317-2188. Florida recovers only through a claim against the probate estate.
Law: Fla. Stat. 409.9101, 733.2121(3)(d), 735.304(2)
- Agency
- Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (run by its contractor HMS, a Gainwell Technologies company)
- Official page
- Official page
Who inherits with no will in Florida
If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person had no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse gets one-half and the descendants share the other half. With no spouse, everything goes to the descendants; if none, to the parents; then to brothers and sisters and their descendants; then to grandparents, aunts, uncles and their descendants. Homestead follows special rules.
Law: Fla. Stat. 732.401; Fla. Stat. 732.102, 732.103, 732.401
Source: Official page
Death certificates in Florida
Anyone 18 or older can order a death certificate without the cause of death. Copies with the cause of death (for deaths less than 50 years ago) are limited to the spouse, parent, adult child, grandchild or sibling, someone with a will or insurance policy showing an interest in the estate, or their representative. By mail or walk-in from the state office, the fee is $5 for the search and one certified copy and $4 for each additional copy ordered at the same time; online orders and county offices charge more.
Law: Fla. Stat. 382.0255
- Where to get it
- Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics (Jacksonville), or a county health department
- Official page
- Official page
Where to file in Florida
Summary administration, disposition without administration and the intestate heir's affidavit are filed with the clerk of the circuit court (probate division) in the county where the person lived, or, if the person did not live in Florida, in a county where the person's property is. The $2,000 bank affidavit is not filed anywhere; you give it to the bank. A car is retitled at a county tax collector's office.
Good to know in Florida
- Since July 1, 2026, summary administration is available for estates up to $150,000 (after subtracting property exempt from creditors), up from $75,000.
- Summary administration is available for an estate of any size if the person has been dead for more than 2 years.
- A Florida probate case for summary administration ends with a court order, not a personal representative's letters; banks and others who follow the order are protected.
Changes in 2024–2026
Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, approved April 29, 2026, effective July 1, 2026: summary administration limit raised from $75,000 to $150,000; bank payment to a family member without court raised from $1,000 to $2,000; intestate small-estate affidavit amount raised from $10,000 to $20,000 plus funeral and last-illness expenses; federal tax refund to spouse or child raised from $2,500 to $5,000. Florida Probate Rules 5.530 and 5.425 updated to the new amounts (rules as of October 15, 2026).
Law: CS/HB 1337; s. 735.201; s. 735.303; s. 735.304; s. 735.302
National rules that apply in every state
Federal estate tax
- For a person who died in 2026, a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only if the gross estate, plus certain lifetime taxable gifts, is more than $15,000,000.
- Most estates owe no federal estate tax and do not need to file a federal estate tax return.
Law: 26 U.S.C. 2010(c)(3) (as amended by Pub. L. 119-21)
The final income tax return
- Report all income up to the date of death and claim all eligible credits and deductions.
- Someone must file the final federal income tax return of a person who died, the same way it would have been filed if they were alive.
- To claim a refund due to the person who died, attach Form 1310 (Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer).
Law: Form 1310 instructions (Rev. December 2025)
Social Security
- Social Security retirement benefits are paid through the month before the month the person died.
- If the person had enough Social Security work credits (was fully or currently insured), a one-time death payment of $255 (or three times the person's basic benefit, if that is smaller) can be paid to a surviving spouse who lived with the person.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 402(a), 402(i)
Savings bonds
- If the person's savings bonds and other Treasury securities held directly with the Treasury are worth more than $100,000 at the date of death, the Treasury requires a court-administered estate.
Law: 31 CFR 353.71; FS Form 5336 (Rev. April 2026)
Debts
- Debts are generally paid from the money and property the person left (the estate).
- If the estate cannot pay a debt and no one else shared responsibility for it, the debt may go unpaid.
- You may have to pay if you co-signed the loan, were a joint account holder on a credit card (not just an authorized user), or state law makes a spouse responsible for certain debts, such as in community property states or states with laws on necessary costs like health care.
Law: 12 CFR 1006.6(a)(4)
A house with a mortgage
- For a home with fewer than five units, a lender may not call the whole loan due just because the home passes to a relative after the borrower's death, to a spouse or children who become owners, or to a surviving joint owner.
- Https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-mortgage-information-about-a-home-i-inherited-en-217/
- Https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/i-recently-inherited-a-house-the-mortgage-lender-said-its-required-to-determine-my-ability-to-repay-before-it-will-let-me-take-over-the-mortgage-loan-is-this-true-en-1939/
Law: 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)(3), (5), (6); 12 CFR 1024.30(d), 1024.31
FDIC insurance on bank accounts
- After a deposit owner dies, FDIC insurance on the account stays the same for six months, unless the account is restructured.
Law: 12 CFR 330.3(j)
Medicaid estate recovery
- States must try to recover some Medicaid costs from the estate of a person who got benefits at age 55 or older: nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services.
- The 'estate' includes at least the property in the person's probate estate under state law.
- Https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/42/1396p?type=usc&year=mostrecent&link-type=html
Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)
Death certificates
- Certified copies of a death certificate come from the vital records office of the state where the death happened, not from the federal government.
Free help in Florida
A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.
- The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service · 800-342-8011
- Florida Law Help (legal aid directory)
- Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida (Miami-Dade): Probate Smart Forms and self-represented litigant packets
- The Florida Bar: Florida Probate Rules
- LawHelp.org
- Legal Services Corporation (LSC) - Find legal aid
- Eldercare Locator · 1-800-677-1116
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (debt collection and mortgage complaints) · (855) 411-2372
More help on our sister sites
Questions about small estates in Florida
What is a small estate affidavit called in Florida?
In Florida this is called: Summary administration; disposition of personal property without administration; payment to successor without court proceedings (bank accounts up to $2,000). Florida has no small estate affidavit that you hand to a bank for a large amount. Small estates usually go through summary administration, a short court case that ends with a court order telling banks and others to hand over the property.
How long do I wait in Florida?
The person must have been dead for more than 1 year, and no probate case can be pending in Florida.
Do I have to go to court in Florida?
Circuit court (probate division) in the county where the person lived.
How do I transfer a car after a death in Florida?
An heir can get a new Florida title without a probate court order. If there was no will, the heir files an affidavit that the estate is not indebted and that the spouse and heirs have agreed on dividing the estate.
What happens to a bank account after a death in Florida?
A payable-on-death (POD) account goes to the named beneficiary, and a joint account with survivorship goes to the surviving owner, without probate. For accounts in the person's name alone, a spouse, adult child, adult descendant or parent can collect a total of up to $2,000 with a sworn affidavit after 6 months.
Who inherits in Florida if there is no will?
If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person had no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse gets one-half and the descendants share the other half.
Do I owe the person's debts in Florida?
People who receive property through summary administration or the intestate heir's affidavit are personally liable for a share of the person's lawful debts, up to the value of what they received, not counting exempt property.
- The 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 735 (Florida Senate)
- Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida (Department of State)
- Florida Statutes 732.102, 732.103, 732.401, 732.402, 732.403 (2026)
- Florida Statutes 28.2401 (probate filing fees)
- Florida Statutes 319.28, 319.22, 319.32 (vehicle titles)
- Florida Statutes 409.9101 (Medicaid Estate Recovery Act)
- Florida Statutes 655.82 (pay-on-death accounts)
- Florida Probate Rules (The Florida Bar, October 15, 2026)
- Eleventh Judicial Circuit: Probate Smart Forms
- FLHSMV form HSMV 82040
- Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (AHCA contractor)
- Florida Department of Health: Death Certificates