Summary Administration in Florida: Eligibility, Filing, and Creditors

Summary administration in Florida is a simplified probate process for estates where the non-exempt probate assets total $75,000 or less, or where the person has been dead for more than two years. No personal representative is appointed, court oversight is light, and the case usually ends in a single order that lets beneficiaries collect their shares directly.¹ Instead of the months a formal administration takes, a straightforward summary case can finish in a few weeks.

Who Qualifies

An estate qualifies under one of two paths. The first is value: the Florida probate estate, minus property that is exempt from creditor claims, must not exceed $75,000.¹ The second is time: if the person has been dead for more than two years, summary administration is available regardless of the estate’s size, because creditor claims are barred after that point.

There is one disqualifier tied to the will. If the will directs that the estate be administered under Chapter 733, formal administration is required and summary administration is not an option, even for a small estate.¹ Check the will for that language before drafting anything.

Florida residents and nonresidents who owned Florida property can both use the procedure.¹ For a nonresident, only the Florida assets count toward the $75,000 ceiling, not the person’s full estate elsewhere.

Which Assets Count Toward the $75,000 Cap

The cap looks only at probate assets that are not exempt from creditor claims. Everything else drops out of the calculation, which is why estates that seem large on paper can still qualify.

Exempt Property

Florida law treats several categories of property as exempt, and they do not count toward the threshold:

Homestead real property, which passes to the surviving spouse or heirs and is shielded from most creditor claims.²
Household furnishings in the person’s usual home, up to a net value of $20,000.³
Up to two motor vehicles regularly used by the person or their immediate family, provided neither exceeds 15,000 pounds gross weight.³
Qualified tuition programs under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, including Florida Prepaid College contracts.³

Non-Probate Assets

Assets that transfer automatically at death never enter the probate estate at all. Life insurance with a named beneficiary, IRAs and 401(k)s with beneficiary designations, bank accounts with payable-on-death instructions, and real estate held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship all pass outside the process. A jointly owned house worth $300,000 and a $50,000 payable-on-death account, for example, sit entirely outside the $75,000 calculation. Only property titled in the person’s name alone, with no built-in transfer, goes into the probate estate.

Filing the Petition

The case begins with a verified Petition for Summary Administration filed in the circuit court of the county where the person lived.⁴ Any beneficiary, or the person named as personal representative in the will, can file it.

Under Florida Probate Rule 5.530, the petition has to include:⁵

Each petitioner’s name, address, and relationship to the estate.
The person’s name, last known address, last four digits of their Social Security number, and date and place of death.
Names, addresses, and relationships of the surviving spouse and every beneficiary, plus the birth year of any minor.
An inventory of every probate asset with estimated values, and a separate description of any homestead or other exempt property.
A proposed distribution schedule showing who receives what.
A statement that the non-exempt estate is $75,000 or less, or that the person died more than two years ago.
A statement on creditors: either that all claims are barred, that a diligent search turned up no debts, or that specific debts have been provided for.

A certified copy of the death certificate goes in with the filing. If there is a will, the original has to be deposited as well.

Who Signs

The surviving spouse (if any) and all beneficiaries must sign and verify the petition.⁴ A beneficiary who will receive their full share under the proposed distribution is the one exception. Any beneficiary who does not sign has to be served with formal notice before the court will act, which is where an uncooperative or hard-to-locate heir can slow the case down.

If a beneficiary has died, is incapacitated, or is a minor, someone else can sign for them: their own personal representative, a guardian, or the person who received their interest through a transfer.⁴

Fees and the Court’s Order

Florida sets probate filing fees by statute. For summary administration of an estate valued at $1,000 or more, the filing fee is $340 plus a $4 service charge; estates under $1,000 pay $230 plus the same $4.⁶ Certified copies of the final order cost extra per page.

If there is a will, it has to be proved and admitted to probate as part of the process. The judge reviews the petition for eligibility, signatures, and creditor treatment, and if everything is in order, signs an Order of Summary Administration. That order names each beneficiary, approves the distribution plan, and specifies which assets each person takes. Banks, title companies, and other institutions accept it as authority to transfer accounts, deeds, and property.⁷

Handling Creditors

Before the court signs the order, the petitioner has to make a diligent search for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, serve a copy of the petition on each one, and arrange payment to the extent the estate can cover the debts.⁷ The petition itself has to describe how debts are being handled.

After the order is entered, the petitioner can choose to publish a notice to creditors in a local newspaper, using the same format as formal probate.⁸ If proof of publication is filed, unknown creditors who do not file a claim within three months of the first publication date are permanently barred. Publication is optional but useful. Skip it, and unknown creditors keep their rights until the two-year deadline runs out.

Medicaid Estate Recovery

Medicaid is one creditor families often miss. Federal law requires every state to seek reimbursement from the estates of Medicaid recipients who were 55 or older and received nursing facility care, home and community-based services, or related hospital and prescription drug services. Florida’s program applies to recipients who received benefits on or after August 31, 1993. Recovery is barred if the person is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age, and states must offer hardship waivers where recovery would cause undue hardship.⁹

In formal probate, the personal representative has to notify the Agency for Health Care Administration when the person was 55 or older at death.¹⁰ Summary administration has no personal representative, but the diligent search requirement still applies. If the person received Medicaid, treat it as a known debt and address it in the petition.

What Beneficiaries Owe After Distribution

Taking assets through summary administration does not wipe out the person’s debts. Each beneficiary who receives non-exempt property is personally liable for a proportional share of any valid claim, capped at the value of the non-exempt property that beneficiary actually received.⁷ Inherit $30,000 in non-exempt assets, and a later $50,000 claim exposes you to $30,000, not the full amount. Exempt property you received is left out of the calculation.

A creditor who was reasonably identifiable but was neither notified nor provided for can enforce the claim against the beneficiaries who signed the petition and can also recover reasonable attorney fees.⁷ That is why the diligent creditor search matters. Skipping it puts every petitioner on the hook for the debt plus the creditor’s legal costs.

Two years after the date of death, every claim against the estate and its beneficiaries is permanently barred, known or unknown.⁷ That absolute cutoff is what makes the two-year eligibility path work for larger estates in the first place.

An Even Simpler Option for Very Small Estates

Florida also offers disposition without administration for estates smaller than the summary threshold. It applies when the person left only exempt personal property and non-exempt personal property worth no more than the funeral expenses and medical bills from the last 60 days of the final illness.¹¹ It covers personal property only. If real estate has to go through probate, this path is not available.

An interested party submits an affidavit or letter to the court. If the court agrees the estate qualifies, it issues a written authorization under seal that lets the property transfer to whoever is entitled to it, and anyone who transfers property based on that authorization is discharged from further liability.¹¹ For families dealing with a small bank account and some household belongings, it avoids even the modest paperwork of summary administration.

1
Justia Law. Florida Code 735.201 – Summary Administration; Nature of Proceedings
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 732.401 – Descent of Homestead
3
FindLaw. Florida Code 732.402 – Exempt Property
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 735.203 – Petition for Summary Administration
5
Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Summary Administration Packet
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 28.2401 – Probate Filing Fees
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 735.206 – Summary Administration Distribution
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 735.2063 – Notice to Creditors
9
Medicaid.gov. Estate Recovery
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 733.2121 – Notice to Creditors; Filing of Claims
11
Justia Law. Florida Code 735.301 – Disposition Without Administration