Florida Probate Timeline

1. Filing for probate – 10-day deadline

The very first probate deadline you need to be mindful of in the Florida probate timeline is the 10-day deadline.

This specifies that the individual in possession of the deceased’s last will and testament must file for probate within 10 days from the date of death of the deceased in the same county where the deceased died.

The size of the estate to be probated does not affect these ten days.

2. Granting Letters of Administration

For a representative of the estate to fulfill his duties against the deceased, the probate court will formally recognize them as the executor of the estate.

This is done by issuing the letters of Administration. It will take the probate court between one to four weeks to send administrative letters to the estate’s executor.

3. Notifying the Creditors

Once the probate process has begun, the next stage in the Florida probate timeline is for the estate executor to publish a notice to creditors. While there is no clear timeframe for this, the law specifies to do it promptly.

Notices are usually published for 2 weeks.

To avoid delays in the timeline, creditors have 90 days from the date of notice to file their claims.

4. Proving death

Estates executor must provide evidence of the estate holder ‘s death to creditors within 3 months of the issuance of the notice if the probate process is carried out by formal administration or ancillary proceedings.

5. Verified Statement

After notice to creditors, a verified statement is to be submitted before the court within 4 months which states that all creditors who may have a claim against the Estate have been diligently checked for them.

6. The validity of the Will

The probate court has to determine the validity of the will if the deceased left it.

The time it takes to assess the validity of a Will can differ in every situation.

7. Objections

After the estate’s executor has taken the estate into account, they have to file their findings with the court.

All interested parties may dispute this Accounting Notice. Such interested parties then have 30 days to challenge the given accounting.

If the estate’s accounting is contested, the probate process can take a much longer period to come to an end.

8. Receipts

When the estate’s assets have been used to settle creditor claims and unpaid taxes, the estate’s executor then helps with the distribution of the estate’s assets.

Once this distribution has occurred the executor must then provide distribution receipts to the court.

This filing must be completed within one year of the letters of administration being issued.

9. Closing the Estate

After all of this is completed, the last step is for the estate executor to apply for the estate’s closure.

This signifies the closure of the probate process once it has been granted.