How to File a Petition to Determine Homestead in Florida

To file a petition to determine homestead in Florida, you prepare a verified petition under Florida Probate Rule 5.405, file it with the Clerk of Court in the county where the estate is being administered, serve formal notice on every beneficiary and creditor entitled to receive it, and then record the signed order in the county where the property sits. The petition asks the probate judge to declare that the decedent’s real property was protected homestead, which shields it from most estate creditors and confirms who inherits.¹

Who Can File and When

Rule 5.405 allows any interested person to bring the petition. In practice that means the surviving spouse, an heir, or the personal representative of the estate. The petition is almost always filed inside an existing formal administration, not as a standalone case.

The rule also reaches property the decedent held in a revocable trust. If the deceased grantor was treated as the owner of a qualifying trust, the trustee’s real property can be the subject of the petition.¹

What the Petition Must Include

The petition has to be verified, meaning the person filing signs it under oath. Rule 5.405 requires each of the following:

The petitioner’s interest and standing to file.
The decedent’s date of death.
The county where the decedent was domiciled at death.
Whether the decedent was survived by a spouse, the spouse’s name, and whether the spouse waived homestead rights.
The names of all surviving descendants, with any minor children identified by name and year of birth.
A full legal description of the property, taken from the deed or the county property appraiser records.
Facts about residency: whether the property was the decedent’s domicile, or if it sits inside a municipality, whether it was the domicile of a family member.
How the property was titled at the time of death.
Any other facts that support the homestead claim.¹

Many circuit clerks publish fill-in-the-blank forms for self-represented filers. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade, for example, provides a template that walks through each required element.² Check the circuit court website for the county administering the estate before drafting from scratch.

Where to File and What It Costs

File with the Clerk of Court in the county where the estate is being administered. Because the petition normally lives inside an already-open formal administration, no separate filing fee is charged for it in most cases. The formal administration itself carries a filing fee of up to $395, which was paid when the estate was opened.³

Some circuits also require a checklist to be submitted alongside the petition, confirming that each required element has been addressed. The Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County publishes one such checklist, and other circuits use similar tools.⁴

Serving Notice on Interested Parties

After filing, formal notice has to go to every person and entity with a stake in the outcome. That means each homestead beneficiary (the people who stand to inherit the property) and any outstanding creditors of the estate. Anyone entitled to notice must either be formally served or file a written consent to the petition. A certificate of service then goes into the court file to prove notice was given.⁴

Getting notice right matters. If you skip a beneficiary or creditor who was entitled to be served, the order the judge later signs can be treated as void as to that person. Not reversible on appeal, void. That person can come back years later and force the whole determination to be relitigated.

What the Judge Does Next

When the petition is properly prepared, everyone has been served, and no one objects, many probate judges sign the order on the written submissions alone. No hearing, no in-person appearance. If someone objects, or if the judge has questions about the filing, a hearing is set and you present evidence supporting the homestead claim.

The final order has to describe the property and state whether it qualifies as protected homestead. If it does, the order identifies each person entitled to take the property and defines their interest, for example naming a surviving spouse as life estate holder and the children as remainder beneficiaries.¹

Recording the Order and What Happens If You Don’t

Once the judge signs, obtain a certified copy of the order and record it in the official public records of the county where the property is located. The order is the legal determination on its own. Recording is what puts third parties on notice and creates a clean chain of title.

Skip that step and problems compound. Title companies and future buyers will have trouble confirming that the property passed free of estate debts. Skip the petition entirely and the property sits in limbo, with no official record of its homestead status, and any later sale or refinance runs into a clouded title.

Property Tax Follow-Up After the Order

The probate determination and the homestead exemption on the tax bill are separate. Inheriting the property does not carry the tax exemption forward automatically, even for a family member.

The heir who now owns and occupies the property as a permanent residence has to file a new homestead exemption application with the county property appraiser. Applications are generally due by March 1, and the applicant must own and occupy the property as of January 1 of that tax year. Missing that window costs the exemption for the entire year.⁵

The Save Our Homes assessment cap, which limits annual increases in assessed value to 3% or inflation, also depends on who inherits. Transfers to a surviving spouse, minor child, or dependent under the descent rules do not trigger reassessment, and joint tenants with rights of survivorship who were already on the exemption keep the cap in place. An adult child who inherits outright with no surviving spouse should expect the assessed value to reset to market value on the following January 1.⁶

1
The Florida Bar. Florida Probate Rule 5.405 – Proceedings to Determine Protected Homestead Status of Real Property
2
Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. Petition to Determine Homestead Form
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Section 28.2401 – Probate Filing Fees
4
15th Judicial Circuit of Florida. Checklist for Petition to Determine Homestead
5
Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Information for Homestead Exemption
6
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Section 193.155 – Homestead Assessments