Florida probate is the court-supervised process of identifying a deceased person’s assets, paying their valid debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries named in the will or, if there is no will, to the heirs set by Florida law. It runs through the circuit court in the county where the decedent lived, follows the rules in Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Statutes, and almost always requires a licensed attorney. For a beneficiary, it is the legal machinery that stands between you and the inheritance you’ve been told is coming.
If you are waiting on a distribution from a Palm Beach County estate, the most useful thing you can do is understand the sequence. Probate is not one event. It is a chain of filings, deadlines, and waiting periods, and each link has to hold before the money moves. Below is how the process actually unfolds, written from the perspective of someone who has shepherded hundreds of estates through the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.
The two main types of Florida probate
Before walking through the steps, it helps to know which road the estate is on, because the timeline is dramatically different.
- Formal administration — The standard, full process under Chapter 733. Used for most estates, especially those worth more than $75,000 or where a personal representative needs real authority to act. This is what most people picture when they hear “probate.”
- Summary administration — A streamlined path under Chapter 735, available when the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less (excluding exempt property like the homestead) or when the person has been dead for more than two years. There is no personal representative; the court enters an order directing distribution.
There is also disposition without administration, a rarely used option for tiny estates where the only assets are exempt or do not exceed final illness and funeral expenses. As a beneficiary, knowing which type applies tells you a great deal: summary administration can wrap in a few weeks, while formal administration typically runs five months to a year, and longer if anything is contested.
Step 1: Determine what actually has to go through probate
Not everything a person owned passes through probate. This surprises beneficiaries constantly. Probate only governs assets titled in the decedent’s sole name with no automatic transfer mechanism. The following usually bypass probate entirely and reach their recipients on a separate, faster track:
- Life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary
- Bank or brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation
- Property held in a living trust
- Real estate owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship or as tenants by the entirety (between spouses)
So if you are a named life-insurance beneficiary, you may receive that money long before the probate estate closes. The assets that do require probate are the ones held in the decedent’s name alone, and those are the focus of everything that follows.
Step 2: File the will and petition to open the estate
Florida law (Section 732.901) requires the original will to be deposited with the clerk of court within ten days of learning of the death. Probate formally begins when an interested person files a Petition for Administration in the circuit court of the county where the decedent was domiciled — for our clients, typically the Probate Division in West Palm Beach.
The petition asks the court to recognize the will (if there is one) and to appoint a personal representative, Florida’s term for the executor. If the will names someone, that person usually has priority. If there is no will, Florida’s statute sets the order of preference, generally starting with the surviving spouse.
Step 3: The court appoints the personal representative
Once the judge is satisfied the will is valid and the nominee qualifies, the court issues Letters of Administration. These letters are the personal representative’s badge of authority — banks, title companies, and brokerages will not release a dime without them.
The personal representative now owes fiduciary duties to the estate and to every beneficiary. That is a legal obligation to act honestly, prudently, and in the beneficiaries’ interest. If you are a beneficiary and you sense the representative is dragging, self-dealing, or hiding the ball, that fiduciary duty is the lever you can pull. Florida estates require a licensed Florida attorney to handle a formal administration in nearly all cases, which gives beneficiaries a professional point of contact even when the representative is a relative.
Step 4: Inventory the assets and notify creditors
Within 60 days of appointment, the personal representative must file a verified inventory listing the estate’s assets and their date-of-death values. This is a milestone document for beneficiaries — it is your first real look at what the estate contains.
At the same time, the representative must deal with creditors. Florida’s process here is precise and time-driven:
- Notice to Creditors is published in a local newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks, and served directly on known or reasonably ascertainable creditors.
- Creditors then have a window to file a claim — generally three months from first publication, or 30 days from being served, whichever is later (Section 733.702).
- The representative reviews each claim and either pays it or files an objection.
This creditor period is the single biggest reason beneficiaries wait. The estate cannot safely distribute until the claims window closes, because money paid out early may have to be clawed back to cover a valid debt. There is no skipping it in a formal administration.
Step 5: Pay debts, taxes, and expenses — in the right order
Florida law dictates the priority in which claims get paid (Section 733.707). Costs of administration and funeral expenses come first; general creditors come last. The personal representative also files any required tax returns. Most Florida estates owe no state estate tax — Florida has none — and the federal estate tax only applies to very large estates above the federal exemption, so for the vast majority of families this step is about income taxes and ordinary bills, not a giant tax check.
Beneficiaries inherit what remains after this step. That ordering is non-negotiable, and it is why an estate that looked large on paper can shrink before distribution.
Step 6: Distribute to beneficiaries and close the estate
Once creditors are satisfied and expenses are paid, the personal representative petitions for discharge, files a final accounting, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or Florida’s intestacy statute (Chapter 732). Beneficiaries typically sign a receipt and, often, a waiver and consent acknowledging their share. When the court enters the order of discharge, the estate is officially closed and the personal representative is released from duty.
For most uncontested Palm Beach County estates, the entire arc from filing to distribution runs roughly six months to a year. Complex assets, out-of-state property, or family disputes push it longer.
What can stall a distribution — and what beneficiaries can do
The slowest estates are almost never slow because of the court. They are slow because of conflict. A will contest — a challenge to the document’s validity based on lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution — can freeze distributions for a year or more. The mechanics of challenging a will vary by state; for a sense of how a neighboring jurisdiction handles it, this overview of illustrates the kinds of grounds and procedures involved, many of which mirror Florida’s framework.
If you are a beneficiary feeling shut out, you are not powerless. You have the right to receive notice of the administration, to see the inventory and accounting, to question expenditures, and to petition the court if the personal representative breaches a fiduciary duty. Estate administration is a structured process with built-in checkpoints, as this primer on explains; Florida’s version simply runs under Chapters 733 and 735. A beneficiary who understands those checkpoints can hold a representative accountable without resorting to litigation.
For Florida-specific representation, the firm’s handles formal and summary administration across the state. And if you are weighing how to keep your own future estate out of this process altogether, our pages on wills and estate planning and Florida probate basics are good starting points. If you have an active matter, you can reach our team through our contact page.
A realistic timeline for beneficiaries
To set expectations, here is how the calendar generally lays out for a routine formal administration:
- Weeks 1–3: Petition filed, letters issued, personal representative appointed.
- Months 1–2: Inventory filed; notice to creditors published.
- Months 3–5: Creditor claims period runs and closes; debts and taxes addressed.
- Months 5–8: Final accounting prepared, distributions made, estate petitioned for discharge.
Knowing where an estate sits on that timeline is usually enough to tell whether a delay is normal or a warning sign. When the creditor period has long closed and you still have not received notice of a distribution, that is the moment to ask hard questions — and, if needed, to bring in counsel.
The bottom line
Florida probate is methodical by design. It exists to make sure debts are paid honestly before heirs are paid, and to give every interested party a chance to be heard before assets change hands. For a beneficiary, the process can feel opaque and slow, but each delay traces back to a specific statutory step. Understand the steps, watch the checkpoints, and you will know exactly where your inheritance is in the pipeline — and what to do if it stops moving.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does probate take in Florida?
A routine, uncontested formal administration in Palm Beach County typically takes about six months to a year. The single biggest factor is the creditor claims period, which generally runs three months from the first newspaper publication and must close before assets are safely distributed. Summary administration can finish in a few weeks, while will contests or complex assets can extend the process well beyond a year.
As a beneficiary, when will I actually receive my inheritance?
Beneficiaries are paid only after creditors, taxes, and administration expenses are satisfied, and after the creditor claims period closes. In most formal administrations that means distribution happens in roughly the fifth to eighth month. Assets with named beneficiaries or payable-on-death designations, like life insurance or retirement accounts, often reach you much sooner because they bypass probate entirely.
Does every estate have to go through Florida probate?
No. Probate only governs assets titled in the decedent’s sole name with no automatic transfer mechanism. Property in a living trust, jointly held real estate with right of survivorship, and accounts with beneficiary or payable-on-death designations pass outside probate. Small estates may also qualify for summary administration under Chapter 735 if the probate assets are worth $75,000 or less or the person died more than two years ago.
What can I do if the personal representative is delaying my distribution?
The personal representative owes you a fiduciary duty to act honestly and in the beneficiaries’ interest. You have the right to receive notice, review the inventory and accounting, and question expenditures. If the creditor period has closed and there is still no movement, you can petition the probate court to compel an accounting or, in serious cases, seek removal of the representative. Consulting a Florida probate attorney is the practical first step.
Do I need a lawyer for Florida probate?
In nearly all formal administrations, Florida requires the personal representative to be represented by a licensed Florida attorney. Even where the law might not strictly require one, beneficiaries benefit from independent counsel to verify the inventory, monitor distributions, and protect their share if a dispute arises.
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For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of probate in Palm Beach. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
