Yes, wills are public record in Florida, but only after the testator dies and the original will is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Before that, a will is a private document with no legal effect. After filing, almost anyone can request a copy, though Florida does not let you pull the document itself off the clerk’s website.
When a Florida Will Becomes Public
A will stays private during the testator’s lifetime. It enters the public record when the person holding the original deposits it with the Clerk of the Circuit Court after the testator’s death. Florida law gives the custodian 10 days from learning of the death to file the will in the county where the decedent lived, along with the date of death or the last four digits of the decedent’s Social Security number.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 732.901 – Production of Wills
Venue follows domicile. If the decedent was not domiciled in Florida, the will is filed in any Florida county where they owned property.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 733.101 – Venue of Probate Proceedings The deposit requirement applies whether or not anyone opens a full probate case right away. Once the will is on file, it is a court record open to the public.
How to Find a Will on File
You need the decedent’s full legal name and the county where they lived. A date of death helps when the name is common. If you already have the probate case number, you can skip straight to requesting the document.
Searching the Court Docket Online
Most Florida county Clerk of Court offices run online portals where you can search probate cases by the decedent’s name. The docket will show the case number, filing date, and parties.3Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers. How Do I Access Probate Records? Older cases, generally those filed before the early 2000s, may not be indexed online and may require a separate records request.
The online search confirms the case exists and gives you its number. It will not show you the will itself. Florida law prohibits clerks from posting images or copies of any probate court file on a publicly available website.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 28.2221 – Electronic Access to Official Records
Getting the Actual Document
Two options. Visit the records department at the county courthouse in person, or send a written request to the Clerk of Court. Either way, bring the decedent’s name and, if you have it, the case number. Clerks charge a per-page copy fee that varies by county, and certified copies cost more than standard ones.
What You Can Read, and What You Cannot
Once the will is in the public file, its contents are open. A Florida will typically identifies:
- The personal representative appointed to manage the estate (the role other states call executor).
- The beneficiaries, often with their relationship to the testator.
- Distribution instructions, including specific bequests of particular items or property.
- The witness signatures the court relies on to validate the will.
What you will not get from the will alone is a full financial picture of the estate. The estate inventory and accountings are confidential under Florida law and are available only to the personal representative, their attorney, and parties with a legally recognized interest in the estate. A member of the public can read who inherits what but cannot look up the dollar value of each asset. Death certificates filed in the probate record also receive partial protection: the cause-of-death section is not open to public inspection.3Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers. How Do I Access Probate Records?
Summary Administration Does Not Keep a Will Private
Florida offers a shorter probate track called summary administration when the estate’s value (minus exempt property) does not exceed $75,000, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years.5Justia Law. Florida Code 735.201 – Summary Administration; Nature of Proceedings The streamlined process still requires filing the will and the petition with the court, and both become public record. Summary administration is faster, not more private.
How to Keep an Estate Plan Out of the Public Record
The usual tool is a revocable living trust. The trust holds title to assets you transfer into it during your lifetime, and at your death the trust controls how those assets pass. Because the trust owns the property, there is nothing to probate for those assets and no trust document gets filed with the court.
Privacy through a trust is real but not absolute. Real estate transfers into or out of the trust appear in the county’s public property records, so the trust’s ownership of a specific house is visible. Once the trust becomes irrevocable, which generally happens at the creator’s death, the trustee must notify beneficiaries of the trust’s existence within 60 days and provide a complete copy of the trust document to any qualified beneficiary who asks.6Justia Law. Florida Code 736.0813 – Duty to Inform and Account If a trust dispute reaches court, the document can end up in a public filing.
Most trust-based plans also include a pour-over will that catches any assets never retitled into the trust. That will still goes through probate and still becomes public. The point of the trust is not secrecy but keeping the bulk of the estate, and its detailed financial picture, off the public docket.