What Assets Must Go Through Probate in Florida (and What Skips It)

In Florida, an asset must go through probate when it was owned solely in the decedent’s name with no surviving co-owner and no built-in transfer mechanism such as a beneficiary designation, payable-on-death clause, or right of survivorship. Assets that already name a living recipient, are held jointly, or sit inside a properly funded trust skip probate entirely and pass to the new owner without court involvement. Knowing which category each asset falls into is the single most useful thing a beneficiary can do while waiting for a distribution, because it tells you whether you are waiting on a judge or simply waiting on a form.

If you are a beneficiary in Palm Beach County wondering why some of your loved one’s property reached you within weeks while the rest is tangled in a court file, you are not imagining things. Florida law treats these two buckets of property very differently, and the dividing line is rarely intuitive to families. Below is how an experienced Florida probate attorney sorts it out.

What Probate Actually Decides in Florida

Probate is the court-supervised process of identifying a deceased person’s assets, paying valid debts and taxes, and transferring what remains to the rightful heirs or beneficiaries. In Florida it is governed primarily by Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes, and most cases run through the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent lived — for Palm Beach residents, the Probate Division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach.

The reason probate exists is simple: when property is titled only in a dead person’s name, no living human has legal authority to sign it over. The court fills that gap by appointing a personal representative (Florida’s term for an executor or administrator) who receives letters of administration — the document that finally lets someone act on the estate’s behalf. Until those letters issue, even a named beneficiary in a will cannot lawfully touch the probate property.

This is exactly why distributions stall. A beneficiary’s patience is not being tested by the family or the lawyer; it is being tested by a statutory sequence that requires creditor notice, an inventory, and judicial sign-off before money moves.

Assets That Must Go Through Probate

The probate estate is made up of solely owned assets with no automatic transfer feature. If the only name on the title is the decedent’s and nothing on the document says where the asset goes at death, it almost certainly belongs in probate. Common examples include:

• Real estate titled in the decedent’s name alone — a Palm Beach condo or single-family home owned individually, with no co-owner holding survivorship rights.
• Bank and brokerage accounts in the decedent’s sole name with no payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation.
• Vehicles, boats, and aircraft titled to the decedent individually.
• Personal property — jewelry, furniture, art, collections, and other tangible items not assigned through a trust.
• Business interests held individually, such as a sole-proprietor’s assets or shares with no survivorship or operating-agreement transfer clause.
• Money owed to the decedent, including final wages, refunds, or a personal-injury or wrongful-death claim that survives the death.

A frequent surprise: a life insurance policy or retirement account that should have skipped probate gets dragged into it because the named beneficiary predeceased the owner, or the only beneficiary listed was “my estate.” When the designation fails, the asset falls back into the probate estate by default. The same thing happens to a POD account where every named recipient has already died.

Homestead Is Its Own Animal

Florida’s homestead property deserves special mention. Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes section 732.401, a decedent’s primary residence is shielded from most creditors and passes under constitutional and statutory rules that can override the will. Homestead frequently still requires a probate proceeding to confirm who inherits and to clear title — but the protections and the line of descent are unique. If your loved one’s home is the asset you are waiting on, do not assume it follows the same path as a bank account. It often takes a separate petition determining homestead status, and that step alone can add time.

Assets That Skip Probate in Florida

The flip side is the non-probate estate — property that already knows where it is going the moment the owner dies. These assets transfer by operation of law or by contract, not by court order, which is why beneficiaries often receive them first. They include:

1. Jointly held property with right of survivorship. Real estate or accounts owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship, or by a married couple as tenants by the entireties, pass automatically to the surviving co-owner. (Note: a plain “tenancy in common” does not survive — that share is probate property.)
2. Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts. Bank accounts with a POD beneficiary and brokerage accounts with a TOD registration move directly to the named person upon presentation of a death certificate.
3. Life insurance and annuities with a living named beneficiary. The proceeds are a contract between the insurer and the beneficiary; the estate never touches them.
4. Retirement accounts — IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar plans with a valid surviving beneficiary on file.
5. Assets held in a funded revocable living trust. Property that was actually retitled into the trust before death is controlled by the trustee under the trust document, governed by Florida’s Trust Code in Chapter 736, and bypasses probate altogether.
6. Florida “Lady Bird” (enhanced life estate) deeds and TOD vehicle registrations, which let real estate and cars pass to a remainder beneficiary at death without a probate transfer.

The recurring theme is that a living recipient is already named on the asset itself. When that is true, the asset does not need a judge to find its owner.

The Trust Catch: “Funded” Is the Key Word

Beneficiaries are often told “there’s a trust, so we’ll avoid probate,” only to learn the trust was never actually funded. A revocable trust skips probate only for the assets that were retitled into it during the grantor’s lifetime. A house still deeded to the person individually — even with a trust sitting in a drawer — is a probate asset. This single oversight forces more unnecessary probate cases in Florida than almost anything else.

Shortcuts Florida Offers Smaller Estates

Even when assets are technically probate property, Florida provides two faster routes that can spare beneficiaries the full formal process:

• Summary administration (Florida Statutes section 735.201) is available when the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less (excluding exempt and homestead property), or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. It skips the appointment of a personal representative and can resolve in weeks rather than months.
• Disposition without administration (Florida Statutes section 735.301) applies to very small estates with no real property, where final expenses essentially consume the assets. It lets a family member recover reimbursement without opening a formal case.

If your distribution is small and uncomplicated, ask whether one of these shortcuts applies before assuming you face a year of waiting. The threshold and two-year rule catch many families off guard in a good way.

Why This Distinction Matters to a Beneficiary Waiting on Distribution

For someone awaiting an inheritance, the probate/non-probate line is the practical map of your timeline:

• Non-probate assets you can pursue now. If you are the named beneficiary of an insurance policy, IRA, or POD account, you do not have to wait for the estate to close. You claim those directly from the institution with a certified death certificate and a claim form.
• Probate assets follow the statutory clock. Florida requires the personal representative to notice creditors, who generally have three months from publication (or thirty days from direct service) to file claims under Chapter 733. Distributions of probate property typically wait until that window closes and debts are resolved — which is why “why is it taking so long” almost always traces back to creditor and tax timing, not foot-dragging.

Understanding which bucket your share lives in turns anxiety into a checklist. It also tells you when to push and when patience is genuinely the right move. If a personal representative is sitting on a clearly non-probate asset, or if probate assets remain undistributed long after the creditor period closed, those are signs worth raising with a probate attorney.

Disputes can complicate either path. When the validity of the will itself is in question, the entire distribution may pause while the court resolves it. The mechanics of a contest vary by state — our colleagues at Morgan Legal explain the process in their guide to , and the same core principles of standing, grounds, and burden of proof inform Florida challenges. For a broader look at how court-supervised estate transfers work, their overview of is a useful companion read.

When You Should Talk to a Palm Beach Probate Attorney

You should get advice if any of the following describe your situation: a distribution has stalled with no clear explanation, you are unsure whether a particular asset is probate or non-probate, a beneficiary designation appears to have failed, homestead property is involved, or you suspect the estate qualifies for summary administration but no one has filed for it. A short consultation often clarifies in minutes what could otherwise cost months of guessing.

Our firm focuses on guiding Palm Beach beneficiaries through exactly these questions — confirming what must be probated, claiming what can pass outside of court, and holding personal representatives to their statutory duties. You can learn more about how Florida estates are administered through Morgan Legal’s , and you can review related guidance on our own Florida probate page or in our material on wills and beneficiary planning.

If you are waiting on a distribution and want to know where your share stands, reach out to our West Palm Beach office for a clear, plain-English read on your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a specific asset has to go through probate in Florida?

Look at the title and any beneficiary designation. If the asset was owned in the decedent’s sole name with no co-owner holding survivorship rights and no payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, or beneficiary designation naming a living person, it is almost certainly a probate asset. If a living recipient is already named on the asset or it is held in a funded trust, it skips probate.

Does having a will mean my loved one's assets avoid probate?

No. A will is actually the instruction sheet for probate, not a way around it. Solely owned assets covered only by a will still go through the court process. The assets that truly skip probate are those with survivorship co-owners, beneficiary or POD/TOD designations, or property properly retitled into a living trust before death.

I'm the named beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Do I have to wait for probate to close?

Generally no. Life insurance with a living named beneficiary is a contract that pays out directly, outside the estate. You can usually file a claim with the insurer using a certified death certificate without waiting on the probate case, as long as the beneficiary designation is valid and the named person survived the decedent.

Why is my probate distribution taking so long in Palm Beach County?

Florida law requires the personal representative to notify creditors, who generally have up to three months from publication to file claims, and to resolve debts and taxes before distributing. Most delays trace to this statutory creditor and tax timing rather than to the family or attorney. Distributions of probate property typically follow only after that window closes.

Can a small Florida estate avoid the full probate process?

Often yes. Florida offers summary administration when the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less (excluding exempt and homestead property) or the person has been deceased more than two years, plus disposition without administration for very small estates with no real property. These routes can resolve in weeks instead of months.