What are Florida’s small estate rules?
Summary administration (Florida Statutes sections 735.201 to 735.2063) is open when the estate, less property exempt from creditors, is worth $150,000 or less, or when the person died more than two years ago, and the will doesn’t require full administration. Chapter 2026-57 raised the limit from $75,000 effective July 1, 2026. Smaller court-letter routes and a $2,000 bank-account affidavit are in sections 735.301 to 735.304.
Sources: Florida Statutes chapter 735, Small Estates (2026), checked October 19, 2026; CS/HB 1337 (2026), Estates, chapter 2026-57, checked October 19, 2026; 2026 Bill Summary, CS/HB 1337, checked October 19, 2026; Florida Probate Rules, October 15, 2026 edition, checked October 19, 2026; Florida Statutes section 28.2401, Probate filing fees, checked October 19, 2026.| Rule | Florida |
|---|---|
| Dollar limit | Summary administration: $150,000 less exempt property, or any amount after two years. Bank-account affidavit: $2,000 |
| Waiting period | Summary administration: none. Bank-account affidavit: the bank can’t pay before 6 months after the death |
| Where it goes | Summary administration: a petition to the circuit court, decided by a judge’s order. Bank-account affidavit: straight to the bank |
| Official form | No statewide summary administration form. The statute sets out the bank-account affidavit’s wording |
| Signing | Petition signed and verified under penalty of perjury by the surviving spouse and beneficiaries. Bank affidavit before a notary |
| Real estate | Summary administration can distribute real estate, including the homestead. The affidavits can’t |
What will Kin Papers fill in for Florida?
Kin Papers is building a Florida file that drafts the summary administration petition’s contents from your answers, or the $2,000 bank-account affidavit, writes the letters banks, Social Security and the credit bureaus ask for, prepares IRS Form 56, and keeps a dated deadline tracker. It won’t file anything for you or give legal advice.
Join the Florida waitlist
We’re building Florida’s small-estate form filled in from your answers, with the letters, IRS Form 56 and a deadline tracker. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you the day it opens.
Who files for summary administration?
Any beneficiary or the person the will names as personal representative can file the petition. Under section 735.203, it must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and the beneficiaries, under penalty of perjury. A beneficiary who receives a full share doesn’t have to join but must be formally notified. If there’s a will, it must be proved and admitted to probate.
What happens in summary administration?
The petition lists the assets, with the homestead and exempt property described separately, and how they’ll be distributed. The petitioner searches for creditors the family knows about or could reasonably find, serves them with the petition, and provides for paying them. The judge then enters an order naming who receives each asset, and banks and others transfer the property on that order. Publishing a notice to creditors is optional; it bars unknown creditors three months after it first runs.
What is the $2,000 bank-account affidavit?
Section 735.303 lets one family member, in order the spouse, an adult child, an adult descendant or a parent, collect money from a parent’s bank accounts with a notarized affidavit and a certified death certificate, with no court. It covers only deposit accounts in the parent’s sole name with no payable-on-death designation, totaling $2,000 or less, and the bank can’t pay until six months after the death. The statute sets out the affidavit’s wording, and a false one is punished as theft.
Is there an official form?
Not for summary administration. The Florida Probate Rules list what the petition must contain but don’t prescribe a form.
What if the estate is over $150,000?
Then summary administration isn’t available unless the person died more than two years ago. Otherwise the estate goes through formal administration with a personal representative. The circuit court clerk can explain the filings, and a lawyer can advise on your situation.
Is Kin Papers a law firm?
No. Kin Papers isn’t a law firm and doesn’t give legal advice. This page explains what Florida’s statutes and probate rules say, with links to each. It doesn’t say which route fits your parent’s estate.
Common questions about small estates in Florida
Does Florida have a small estate affidavit?
Not a general one. The only no-court affidavit is section 735.303, which lets a spouse, adult child, adult descendant or parent collect up to $2,000 in total from a parent’s sole-name bank accounts with no payable-on-death designation, six months after the death. Everything else goes through the court.
What is the Florida summary administration limit in 2026?
$150,000, less property exempt from creditors, since July 1, 2026 (chapter 2026-57). It was $75,000 before. There’s no limit if the person has been dead for more than two years.
Does summary administration need a judge?
Yes. The petition is filed with the circuit court, and a judge enters an order of summary administration that names who receives each asset. Before the order, the petitioner must search for known creditors and serve them with the petition.
How much does it cost to file?
Section 28.2401 sets the clerk’s maximum fee for summary administration at $340 for estates worth $1,000 or more and $230 for smaller ones, plus a $4 service charge.
What about estates under $20,000 with no will?
Section 735.304 lets the surviving spouse and heirs file an affidavit with the court when there’s no will, the personal property is worth no more than $20,000 plus funeral and last-illness costs, and the person died more than a year ago. The court then authorizes transfer by letter. If the person was over 55, the affidavit is served on the Agency for Health Care Administration.