Florida Small Estate Affidavit (2026): Summary Administration Now Up to $150,000

People searching for a Florida small estate affidavit are often surprised to learn that Florida does not have one in the form most states do. There is no sworn statement you can hand a bank to collect $50,000 without going near the courthouse. Instead, Florida channels small estates through summary administration, a shorter court case, plus a few narrow paperwork-only options.

Then July 1, 2026 came around. Chapter 2026-57 (CS/HB 1337) doubled the summary administration cap to $150,000 and raised the other three dollar limits in Chapter 735 as well. We’ll walk through each route below and help you find yours. A caution before we start. The act itself says only that it takes effect July 1, 2026, and it carves out no exception for earlier deaths or for cases already filed. If a death or a filing sits close to that date, a Florida attorney can tell you which figure applies.

Florida’s small estate options at a glance

Summary administration: the main Florida shortcut

Summary administration is available under section 735.201 when two things are true:

1. If there is a will, it does not direct administration as required by Chapter 733 (the general administration chapter); and
2. The value of the entire estate subject to administration in Florida, minus property exempt from creditors, is $150,000 or less, or the person has been dead for more than two years.

The two-year rule is easy to miss. When a family discovers an old bank account or a house still titled to a parent who died years ago, the second condition is met whatever the estate is worth.

What doesn’t count toward the $150,000?

• Protected homestead. A personal representative does not hold a protected homestead as an estate asset (section 733.608). The Florida Constitution also exempts a homestead from forced sale for most debts and passes that protection to the surviving spouse or heirs (Art. X, section 4). If the estate includes real property claimed as homestead, the Fifteenth Circuit’s packet asks the petitioner to confirm that a Petition to Determine Homestead has been filed, and the Eighteenth Circuit’s checklist lists that petition under Probate Rule 5.405.
• Exempt property under section 732.402. This means household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the home, up to $20,000 net value at death. It also covers up to two personal-use motor vehicles titled in the decedent’s name, each under 15,000 pounds gross weight, and Florida 529 plans. The right belongs to the surviving spouse, or to the children if there is no spouse.
• Assets outside the estate. The test looks at property that is the subject of administration (section 731.201). A payable-on-death or survivor designation, joint ownership with survivorship, or a named beneficiary on a policy can each move an asset outside the estate. Look at the paperwork on every account, deed and policy. The Florida Bar’s Uniform Title Standards describe the enhanced life estate deed, often called a Lady Bird deed, as one used, among other purposes, to avoid probate.

Who files and signs

Any beneficiary, or the person nominated as personal representative in the will, can file the petition. It must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and the beneficiaries. A beneficiary receiving a full share under the proposed distribution does not have to join. Anyone who does not join must be formally served. If there is a will, it is admitted to probate as part of the same case.

The order of summary administration hands the assets directly to the people it names. Rule 5.530 lists what the petition must contain and ends with an order distributing the assets. People do file on their own: the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) publishes summary administration packets for “persons seeking to represent themselves.” The rule that requires a lawyer, Probate Rule 5.030(a), covers every guardian and every personal representative, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person. The Palm Beach checklist also has the petitioner acknowledge that a hearing may be required.

What the petition must say, and where to find forms

The petition must be verified. Rule 5.530(a) says it must describe all assets and the estimated value of each, and describe any protected homestead and exempt property separately. It must state either that all creditors’ claims are barred or that a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors has been made. It must also include a schedule of proposed distribution.

The Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) posts summary administration packets, revised July 2026, with a checklist, a petition, joinder and consent forms and a proposed order. There is one packet for an estate with a will (testate packet, as of October 2026) and one for an estate without a will (intestate packet, as of October 2026). Other circuits post their own checklists, such as the Eighteenth Circuit’s for Brevard and Seminole counties, so look on your circuit court or clerk website.

The creditor step

Before the court signs the order, the petitioner must make a diligent search for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors. The petitioner serves them with the petition and provides for payment as far as assets allow (section 735.206).

Afterward, a person who obtained the order may publish a notice to creditors. If proof of publication is filed, creditors who are not known or reasonably ascertainable are barred unless they file within 3 months after the first publication (section 735.2063).

Skipping the search has teeth. A known or reasonably ascertainable creditor who got no notice, and for whom nothing was set aside, can still enforce the claim. If the creditor wins, the court awards reasonable attorney’s fees against those who joined in the petition.

What the order does

The order of summary administration assigns specific assets to specific people. Banks and others who hold the decedent’s property or securities may then pay or transfer to those named. They are not accountable to anyone else for it.

A good-faith buyer who pays value for property from a person named in the order takes it free of all creditors’ claims and of the rights of the spouse and other beneficiaries.

The people who receive property are personally liable for a pro rata share of lawful claims, up to the value each actually received (not counting exempt property). Two years after the death, neither the estate nor those who received property are liable for a claim unless enforcement proceedings were started within that time.

What it costs

Florida law caps what the clerk may charge. The limit is up to $340 to open a summary administration for an estate of $1,000 or more, plus a $4 service charge on the petition, and up to $230 for disposition without administration (section 28.2401). A court can approve more in an extraordinary case. Check your county clerk’s current fee list for the total you will pay.

Before you file: check for Medicaid estate recovery

Did the person receive Medicaid after age 55? Then Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) can file a claim against the estate for what Medicaid paid after that age (section 409.9101). Three situations stop the debt from being enforced: the person left a spouse, or a child under 21, or a child who is blind or permanently and totally disabled. Exempt property is off limits to the claim as well.

The personal representative or any heir can ask AHCA to waive recovery when it would create a hardship. If the person was on Medicaid, ask whether AHCA has a claim before you sign anything. An AHCA claim is a claim against the estate, and the petition must show a diligent search for creditors (section 735.206). Medicaid recovery questions go to AHCA’s Third Party Liability program.

Disposition without administration: the paperwork-only options

Florida has two versions of disposition without administration, and 2026 doubled the dollar figure in one of them. Both cover personal property only.

For estates with no will, after one year (section 735.304)

This route needs a death with no will more than one year ago and no administration pending. The estate may hold only exempt property plus non-exempt personal property worth no more than $20,000, with the funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness added on top. Real estate does not qualify. The 2026 law is what moved the base figure from $10,000 to $20,000.

It starts with an affidavit from an heir at law asking for distribution. The surviving spouse and the other heirs sign and verify it. An heir who will get a full intestate share does not have to join.

Before the affidavit is filed, the affiant must make a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for any known or reasonably ascertainable creditors. The proposed distribution must make provision for payment of those creditors to the extent that assets are available, or the creditors must consent. The affidavit is then served, in the manner of formal notice, on heirs who did not join, on known creditors and, if the person was over 55, on the Agency for Health Care Administration. If the court is satisfied, it authorizes the transfer by letter under its seal.

For final expenses (section 735.301)

This route covers personal property only. When the estate holds only exempt property plus non-exempt personal property worth no more than the funeral expenses and last-60-day medical costs, any interested person can apply informally, by affidavit, letter or otherwise. If the court agrees, it issues a letter authorizing the transfer, and anyone who pays or delivers under it is discharged.

The $2,000 bank affidavit and the $5,000 tax refund

Two provisions skip the court entirely.

Small bank accounts (section 735.303). A bank or other Florida financial institution may pay a family member the combined funds in all “qualified accounts” the person held there, up to $2,000, without any court proceeding, order or judgment. A qualified account is a deposit account or certificate of deposit in the decedent’s sole name with no payable-on-death or other survivor designation. The institution cannot pay until six months after the death.

Who signs? The spouse comes first. With no spouse it is an adult child, then an adult descendant, then a parent. That person gives the institution a certified death certificate and a sworn affidavit. In it they swear that the person’s qualified accounts at every financial institution they know of add up to no more than $2,000. Until July 1, 2026, this route stopped at $1,000.

Read the affidavit’s other statements before you sign. It must say that no personal representative has been appointed and that no probate proceeding or summary administration has been started. It must also say the affiant has no knowledge of any last will and testament or other document about how the estate is to be distributed, so if you know of a will, you cannot truthfully sign it. The family member who withdraws the funds is personally liable to the decedent’s creditors and any other person rightfully entitled to the funds, to the extent the amount paid exceeds the family member’s share. And a person who knowingly makes a false statement in the affidavit commits theft punishable as provided in section 812.014.

A federal tax refund (section 735.302). Say the U.S. Treasury determines that a federal income tax overpayment exists for a person who has died. Up to $5,000 of it can go directly to the surviving spouse. With no spouse, it can go to a child designated in a verified application signed by all of the decedent’s children over age 14. The application has to show one of three things: the decedent had no debts, debts are provided for, or the whole estate is exempt from creditors. It must also show that no administration has been started or is planned. On the IRS side, Form 1310 is the form for claiming a refund due a deceased taxpayer.

Which route fits: 4 common Florida situations

• A parent died owning a homestead and a $90,000 bank account in their name alone. Summary administration fits. The protected homestead stays out of the count, which leaves $90,000, well under $150,000.
• A widow’s estate is a car, some furniture and $1,500 in checking. The car and furniture are likely exempt property for the family, and the $1,500 fits the bank affidavit after six months.
• An uncle died without a will 18 months ago leaving $14,000 in a credit union. Disposition without administration under section 735.304 now covers it if it is all personal property.
• A house is still titled to a grandparent who died in 2019. Summary administration under the two-year rule, whatever the house is worth, as long as no will directs administration.

If none of these fit, formal administration follows, with a court-appointed personal representative. Our probate cost estimator shows the typical costs.

How Florida compares

At $150,000, Florida’s summary administration limit is one of seven in our table at $150,000 or higher. In 28 jurisdictions the affidavit goes straight to the bank or other holder. Eleven require a filing with a court office, eleven are short court petitions, and Texas requires a judge to approve the affidavit. Florida is one of the eleven short court petitions. Compare every state in our small estate affidavit limits by state table, and see how Texas and California handle the same problem. If you land in a state that does use an affidavit, our small estate affidavit template guide walks through the form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a small estate affidavit in Florida?

Not a general one. Florida’s closest equivalents are the sworn affidavit a family member can give a bank for up to $2,000 in accounts after six months, if you know of no will, and the affidavit used for disposition without administration of small estates with no will. Most small estates go through summary administration, which requires a court petition and order.

How much can an estate be worth for Florida summary administration in 2026?

The limit is $150,000 now, up from $75,000 as of July 1, 2026 (Chapter 2026-57). The test counts the estate subject to administration in Florida after subtracting exempt property, and a protected homestead stays out. Summary administration is also available at any value if the person has been dead for more than two years.

How long does summary administration take in Florida?

Chapter 735 sets no fixed timeline for the order. The pace depends on the court’s calendar and on how fast the creditor search and service get done. The circuit court clerk’s office can tell you what the local wait looks like.

Do I need a lawyer for summary administration in Florida?

Not always. The Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) publishes summary administration packets for people who file on their own, and its checklist has petitioners acknowledge that a hearing may be required. Probate Rule 5.030(a) says every personal representative must be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person. If you are unsure which applies to you, talk to a Florida attorney before you sign.

Does a Florida homestead count toward the $150,000 limit?

No, when it is protected homestead. A protected homestead is not among the assets a personal representative holds for the estate (section 733.608), and exempt property is subtracted from the $150,000 test. The rules on who can receive a homestead are strict. If the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child, the Constitution does not allow the homestead to be left by will, meaning devised, except to the spouse when there is no minor child (Art. X, section 4). When real property is claimed as homestead, the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Circuit checklists list a separate petition to determine homestead status (Probate Rule 5.405).

Can I get money out of a Florida bank account without probate?

Yes, in one narrow case: the person’s sole-name accounts with no payable-on-death beneficiary total $2,000 or less across all financial institutions you know of, six months have passed, and you know of no will. The family member signs a sworn affidavit and brings a certified death certificate. Anything bigger needs a court route such as summary administration, unless the account passes to a named beneficiary.

ClearLegalTips

ClearLegalTips is an independent publisher of plain-English legal guides, free document templates, and cost calculators for common U.S. legal tasks. Every article is reviewed by founder and editor Fatih Öztürk and fact-checked against official sources: statutes, court fee schedules, and government filing pages. Not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice.