The Nussbickel Law Firm, P.A. Legal Blog

An out of state heir Florida probate involves can usually handle the estate from home. A Fort Myers estate planning and probate attorney explains who may serve as personal representative from another state under section 733.304, how to sign and notarize papers without travel under sections 92.50 and 117.209, what the notice of administration starts, how to protect a vacant Southwest Florida house during hurricane season, how protected homestead passes and is reassessed, and why Florida imposes no inheritance tax.

An inherited house with mortgage Florida heirs receive can usually be kept on the existing loan. A Fort Myers estate planning and probate attorney explains why federal law (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3 and 12 C.F.R. § 191.5) bars most lenders from calling the loan after a death transfer to a spouse, child, or relative who lives there; how to become a confirmed successor in interest under Regulation X; why section 733.803 leaves the mortgage on the house unless the will says otherwise; the options to keep, assume, refinance, sell, or surrender the home; and how reverse mortgages and home equity lines differ.

A sibling refusing to share inheritance Florida law has already divided cannot change who inherits by holding the keys. With no will and no surviving spouse, Florida's intestacy statutes divide the estate equally among the children. This guide from a Fort Myers probate attorney explains what an excluded heir can do this week: file a caveat, open the estate, seek appointment as personal representative, ask for an emergency curator, and use the 60-day inventory. It also covers the 2026 rule that lets courts shift enforcement fees to the person who forced the fight, and why a sibling living in a homestead is a co-ownership question.

To disclaim inheritance Florida law gives every heir a way to refuse property before accepting it. A Fort Myers estate planning and probate attorney explains who takes the property next under a will, a trust, a beneficiary form, or intestacy; the formalities in section 739.104 (a writing signed before two witnesses and a notary, with the original delivered or filed); the four bars in section 739.402, including acceptance and insolvency; the federal nine-month rule for a qualified disclaimer; partial disclaimers and inherited IRAs; and why a disclaimer does not defeat creditors, Medicaid rules, or an IRS lien.

A durable power of attorney in Florida must be signed by the principal in front of two witnesses and a notary, and it must say the agent’s authority survives the principal’s later incapacity. This guide from a Fort Myers estate planning attorney explains the seven powers that need the principal’s initials under section 709.2202, why any power of attorney signed since October 1, 2011 that waits for a future event is ineffective, when a bank can refuse one, and how a valid document keeps a family out of guardianship court.

The ancillary administration Florida law requires is a second probate, held here, for the Florida property of someone who lived in another state or country. A Fort Myers probate attorney explains when section 734.102 is triggered, the three routes (full ancillary administration with letters, summary administration for estates up to $150,000 under section 735.201, and the $50,000 short form under section 734.1025), who can serve under the nonresident rule in section 733.304, the steps from the home-state court to a closing, the snowbird domicile question, and how a trust or Lady Bird deed avoids the whole process.

A deceased bank account Florida law treats as the owner’s property goes wherever its title sends it. Payable-on-death, joint survivorship, spouses’ entireties, and trust-titled accounts pass outside probate with a death certificate under sections 655.82, 655.79, and 736.1017. A sole account with no beneficiary needs authority: since July 1, 2026, a family member can collect up to $2,000 by affidavit under section 735.303, six months after death; larger balances need a court letter, summary administration, or letters of administration. A Fort Myers probate attorney explains each route and the traps families meet.

Trust administration after death Florida law requires is a real job with statutory deadlines, not a formality. When the person who created a revocable living trust dies, the successor trustee must file a notice of trust with the court under section 736.05055, send two notices to the beneficiaries within 60 days under section 736.0813, get a tax number, secure and value the assets, decide whether a probate is needed to cut off creditors, and account annually with the six-month limitation notice before distributing. A Fort Myers trust administration attorney walks a new trustee through the sequence, the fees the Trust Code allows, and the mistakes that create personal liability.

A lady bird deed Florida homeowners sign is an enhanced life estate deed: the owner keeps the home for life with the power to sell, mortgage, or revoke it without anyone’s consent, and the home passes to named beneficiaries at death without probate. Florida has no statute for it, yet the Department of Revenue, the Department of Children and Families, and title insurers all treat it as valid. A Fort Myers estate planning attorney explains how it keeps the homestead exemption, why it is not a gift or a Medicaid transfer, what it costs to record, and the seven situations where it is the wrong tool.

How much does probate cost in Florida depends on the type of administration and the value of the probate estate. A formal administration in Lee County carries a $400 clerk filing fee under section 28.2401, publication of the notice to creditors, an attorney fee that section 733.6171 presumes reasonable at $3,000 plus 3% of the value over $100,000, and a personal representative commission of 3% under section 733.617 that a family member can waive. Summary administration, now open to estates of $150,000 or less, skips the commission, the bond and the publication. A Fort Myers probate attorney adds up every line item, with worked examples at $150,000, $300,000 and $750,000.

Selling inherited property in Florida turns on who holds title. Protected homestead is excluded from the estate under section 733.608 and passes to the heirs at death, so every heir signs the deed and the personal representative does not sell it; ordinary estate property is sold by the personal representative under section 733.613 without the heirs’ consent. Title insurers usually require an order determining homestead status first. A minor heir needs a court-appointed guardian, and a refusing heir can be bought out or brought into partition under the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. Written by a Fort Myers probate attorney for Lee, Collier and Charlotte County families.

Florida probate creditor claims are paid by the estate, not the family, and only in the eight-class order set by Section 733.707. A Fort Myers probate attorney explains the three deadlines that govern every claim (three months from the published notice, 30 days from direct service, and the two-year bar of Section 733.710), what a creditor must file, how the personal representative objects, which assets creditors cannot reach (homestead, $20,000 of furnishings, two vehicles, the $18,000 family allowance), how Medicaid estate recovery ranks, and why children and spouses in Florida do not inherit debt.

For most Florida families the revocable trust is the right default and the irrevocable trust is a deliberate trade of control for one specific benefit. A Fort Myers estate planning attorney explains the revocable vs irrevocable trust Florida decision under the Florida Trust Code: why Section 736.0602 makes a trust revocable unless it says otherwise, why Section 736.0403(2)(b) requires two witnesses, what Section 736.0505 lets creditors reach, how the 2026 federal exemption and the step-up in basis change the tax math, how each trust handles a Florida homestead, and how the 60-month Medicaid look-back works.

The most common Florida estate planning mistakes are Florida rules, not national ones: devising the homestead to someone Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution will not allow, signing a will without the two attesting witnesses § 732.502 requires, leaving a revocable trust unfunded, and letting an old beneficiary designation override the plan. A Fort Myers estate planning attorney explains what goes wrong in each, the fix, the seven smaller traps that ride along (the power of attorney initials under § 709.2202, divorce, joint ownership, blended families, digital assets), and the life events that should send a Southwest Florida family back for a review.

Florida formal administration is the full court-supervised probate under Chapter 733, required whenever an estate does not qualify for summary administration under § 735.201 (non-exempt estate of $150,000 or less since July 1, 2026, or death more than two years ago) or disposition without administration under § 735.301. A Fort Myers probate attorney walks through the process in order: who may serve as personal representative, the petition and letters of administration, the notice of administration and the three-month creditor window, the 60-day inventory, paying claims in statutory order, distribution, and the petition for discharge, with every deadline tied to its statute or rule.

Letters of administration Florida courts issue are the court’s written grant of authority to a personal representative under Fla. Stat. § 731.201(24), and they are what banks, brokerages, and title companies require before releasing a decedent’s assets. Florida issues them in both testate and intestate estates and does not issue letters testamentary. A Fort Myers probate attorney explains who has priority under § 733.301, the nonresident rule in § 733.304 that lets an out-of-state child serve but not a friend, the petition, oath, resident-agent, and bond steps under Probate Rule 5.235, why summary administration issues no letters, and how ancillary letters work for seasonal residents.

A lost will Florida courts will still admit is one whose terms can be proved under Fla. Stat. § 733.207: two disinterested witnesses, or one disinterested witness plus a correct copy. The family must also rebut the presumption that a will last in the testator’s possession was destroyed with intent to revoke it, a rule the Fifth District Court of Appeal restated in February 2026. A Fort Myers probate attorney explains where to search first, what Florida Probate Rule 5.510 requires of the petition, how hurricane or fire damage rebuts the presumption, and what happens to the estate if the petition fails.

A Florida vehicle title transfer after death often requires no probate. Section 319.28 lets an heir apply by sworn affidavit instead of a court order, and a surviving spouse can usually get a free replacement title with form HSMV 82152. This guide explains which of four routes fits your facts, why the word "or" rather than "and" on a certificate of title can decide the whole question, how the two-vehicle exempt property rule works, and where to go in Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties.

Florida homestead probate is the court process that moves title to a deceased owner’s home, and Florida law usually decides who receives it rather than the will. This guide from a Fort Myers probate attorney separates the two things Florida calls homestead, the constitutional creditor protection and the property tax exemption, and explains the devise restrictions, the surviving spouse’s six month election deadline, and how a recorded order clears title for families in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties.

A living will and a living trust sound like variations on the same document. They are not. One is an advance directive under Chapter 765 that speaks only to medical care at the end of life. The other holds title to your property and can keep it out of probate. This guide answers the living will vs living trust Florida question with the Florida signing rules for each, what the notary is actually for, how homestead changes the picture, and why most Southwest Florida families end up needing both.

Florida law decides what happens to Florida property at death, no matter what a will signed abroad says. This guide covers the points where cross-border families get caught here: ancillary administration under Chapter 734 when a nonresident dies owning a Cape Coral or Naples home, why a handwritten will valid in Germany or Quebec can fail under section 732.502(2), who Florida actually allows to serve as personal representative, the $60,000 federal estate tax exposure for owners who are not U.S. citizens or domiciliaries, and qualified domestic trust planning when a surviving spouse holds another passport. Written for Southwest Florida owners with ties in more than one country.

What makes a will valid in Florida comes down to three things the statute will not bend on: the document must be written, signed by the testator at the end, and witnessed by two people who sign in the testator's presence and in each other's presence. Notarization is not one of them, which surprises nearly everyone. Florida rejects unwitnessed handwritten wills and oral wills outright, honors most out-of-state wills signed while the testator was a nonresident, and permits electronic wills only through a supervised online notarization session. This Fort Myers guide covers each requirement and what happens when a will fails.

There is no Florida inheritance tax and no Florida estate tax, so a beneficiary who inherits from a Florida resident owes this state nothing on the receipt itself. What still applies is federal and mostly deferred: a $15,000,000 per person exemption for 2026 deaths, capital gains tax when an inherited asset is sold above its stepped up basis, and ordinary income tax on inherited retirement account distributions. This Fort Myers attorney's guide also covers the five states that still tax beneficiaries, and the portability election Southwest Florida couples most often miss.

Florida sets no deadline for opening probate. The Probate Code contains no filing cutoff and no statute of limitations on admitting a will, so an estate can be opened one month after a death or ten years later. What Florida does impose is a 10-day duty on the custodian of an original will under section 732.901, a two-year bar on creditor claims under section 733.710 that applies whether or not anyone opened an estate, and a set of deadlines that only begin running once a case is filed. This guide explains which clock a Southwest Florida family is actually on.

A Florida house in probate can be sold before the estate closes, and most are. What changes is who signs the deed and whether a judge must approve the deal first. Where the will grants a power of sale, section 733.613(2) lets the personal representative sell without a court order; without one, no title passes until the court authorizes or confirms it. Protected homestead follows separate rules entirely, because it is not an estate asset and the family who inherited it must sign. Written for personal representatives and heirs in Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties.