Sell Probate Property in Florida

Who has the right to sell

When a Florida house was in the deceased owner's name alone, nobody can sign a deed for it until a court says who may. In formal administration that is the personal representative, whose duties and powers begin on appointment. Florida also gives earlier steps by the same person the same effect, as long as they benefited the estate. Talking to buyers before the letters arrive is fine, but nobody can close until they do.

A competent adult who was a Florida resident when the owner died can generally serve as personal representative, subject to the limits in the probate code. Someone who lives in another state can serve only within set family relationships: a parent, child, grandchild, or other direct-line relative, an adoptive parent or adopted child, a spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece, a direct-line relative of any of those people, or the spouse of anyone on the list. An out-of-state friend does not qualify.

This page is written from the side of the person running the estate. If you are an heir trying to understand how the house passed to you, what a lady bird deed or trust changes, or what to do when siblings disagree, see selling an inherited house in Florida. For how probate works in general, read what happens when a property goes into probate.

Opening probate and getting letters of administration

The case is opened with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the deceased person was domiciled. If they lived outside Florida, it can be opened in any Florida county where they owned property. If a will exists, it has to be admitted to probate before it can prove anyone's title to the house, so it is offered for probate along with the petition.

The court then appoints the personal representative and decides whether a bond is needed. A bond is required unless the will or the court waives it. Once any bond, oath, and designation of a resident agent are filed, letters of administration are issued. Those letters are the first thing a title company will ask to see.

Within 60 days after letters issue, the personal representative files an inventory listing estate property with its estimated value at the date of death. A house that appears to be protected homestead is listed and labelled as such, without a value.

Summary or formal administration: what each needs before a sale can close

Summary administration is available when the will, if there is one, does not direct formal administration, and either the Florida estate subject to administration, less property exempt from creditors' claims, is worth no more than $150,000 or the owner has been dead for more than two years. The limit was $75,000 until July 1, 2026, when Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, doubled it. Because the test subtracts property exempt from creditors, a house that qualifies as protected homestead generally does not count toward it.

No personal representative is appointed in summary administration. The petition must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and the beneficiaries. A beneficiary who will receive a full share under the proposed distribution does not have to join, but must be served with formal notice. Before the court signs the order, the petitioners must make a diligent search for creditors, serve them with the petition, and provide for paying them to the extent assets allow.

The order of summary administration assigns the house to named people, and they are the ones who sign the deed. A buyer who pays value in good faith afterwards takes the house free of the deceased owner's creditors and of any claims by the surviving spouse and other beneficiaries. So the closing waits for the order, and after that it runs like any other sale.

Formal administration covers every other estate. The closing waits for letters and, where the will gives no usable power of sale, for a court order. The personal representative signs, and the estate receives the money.

Power of sale or court order: section 733.613

Florida lists many things a personal representative can do without a court order, but buying or selling real property is expressly carved out of that general list. The authority to sell a house comes from section 733.613 instead, and it works in one of two ways.

If the will gives a specific power to sell real property, or a general power to sell any estate asset, the personal representative can sell the house without the court authorizing or confirming it, and without having to show the sale is necessary. Look for that language in the will before anything else, because it decides whether a court hearing is needed at all.

If there is no will, the will grants no power of sale, or the power is so limited that it cannot be conveniently used, the personal representative can still agree a private sale, but no title passes until the court authorizes or confirms it. The probate rules require a verified petition giving the reasons for the sale, a description of the property, and the price and terms, and an order authorizing a private sale must state that price and those terms. In practice that means the contract comes first and is attached to the petition. The rules' committee notes add that notice of the hearing on a sale petition is required unless it is waived, so collecting written waivers from the beneficiaries can shorten the wait.

A buyer who purchases under a will's specific power to sell real property, or under a court order, takes title free of claims by estate creditors and of beneficiaries' entitlements. That protection is tied to those two sources of authority, so if the will grants only a general power to sell estate assets, ask the estate's attorney what the title company will accept. Existing mortgages and other liens on the house are not wiped out; they are paid from the proceeds at closing.

One caution: a sale to the personal representative, their spouse, agent, or attorney, or to a business or trust in which one of them has a substantial interest, is a conflict-of-interest transaction. Any interested person who did not consent after fair disclosure can have it set aside, unless the will or a contract the owner signed expressly authorized it, or the court approved it after notice to interested persons. Selling to an unrelated buyer avoids that question.

Who signs the deed and what the title company will want

The closing agent or the title insurer sets the exact list, and it varies with how the house passed. Expect some combination of the following, and gather what you can before you sign a contract:

• The case number and the county where the estate is open
• A certified copy of the letters of administration, which show the personal representative's authority
• The will and the order admitting it to probate, so the title examiner can read any power of sale
• An order authorizing or confirming the sale, if the will has no workable power of sale
• For summary administration, the order of summary administration, with the deed signed by the people it assigns the house to
• For protected homestead, an order determining homestead status, with the deed signed by the people that order names, including a surviving spouse who holds a life estate or a half interest
• A certified copy of the death certificate
• Mortgage payoff figures, the tax collector's amount for any unpaid taxes, and, for a condominium or HOA community, the association's estoppel certificate
• For an older estate, possibly the Department of Revenue's Form DR-312, the affidavit that no Florida estate tax is due; Florida estate tax does not apply to deaths on or after January 1, 2005, and the affidavit is no longer required for probate cases opened on or after July 1, 2023

Protected homestead usually sits outside the estate

Florida's probate code defines protected homestead as the owner's homestead on which the constitutional protection from forced sale passes at death to the surviving spouse or heirs. A house the owner held with a spouse as tenants by the entireties, or jointly with a right of survivorship, is not protected homestead; it belongs to the survivor.

Protected homestead is expressly excluded from the property a personal representative takes possession of and administers. That has two consequences at closing. A power of sale in the will generally does not let the personal representative convey it, because it is not an estate asset in their hands. And the people who inherited it sign the deed, so the title company needs to know who they are and what share each holds.

Any interested person can petition the probate court to determine homestead status. The petition covers facts such as whether the owner left a spouse or minor children and how the house was titled, it is served on interested persons by formal notice, and the order names each person entitled to the house and defines each interest. That order is usually what lets a title company insure the sale. Whether a will can even control who inherits a homestead is an heir's question, covered on our inherited house page.

If an apparently protected homestead is empty, the personal representative may take possession just to preserve, insure, and protect it until its status is decided, but does not have to. Money the personal representative spends doing that becomes a debt secured by a lien on the house, and when the house is sold the court can move that lien onto the sale proceeds, or the parties can agree to hold the amount in escrow, so the sale does not have to wait for the reimbursement to be settled.

The creditor period and how it affects timing

In formal administration the personal representative must promptly publish a notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper in the county, and serve a copy on every creditor that a diligent search can reasonably identify. If the deceased was 55 or older, the notice and a copy of the death certificate must also go to the Agency for Health Care Administration within three months after first publication, unless the agency has already filed a claim.

A creditor's claim is barred unless it is filed by the later of three months after first publication or, for a creditor who had to be served, 30 days after service. Separately, Florida cuts off nearly all claims against a deceased person two years after the death, whether or not anyone opened probate.

The creditor period does not have to hold up the sale. A buyer under a will's specific power to sell real property, or under a court order, takes title free of estate creditors' claims, so the house can close while the claim window is still open, and the personal representative holds the money in the estate. What the creditor period delays is paying the beneficiaries. It also does not protect the house from its mortgage: a lender's lien survives both the three-month deadline and the two-year cut-off, so the payoff is settled at closing.

Paying the mortgage, taxes, and insurance while the estate is open

The personal representative must take reasonable steps to manage, protect, and preserve estate property until it is distributed, and can insure estate assets and pay taxes, assessments, and other administration expenses without a court order. In practice that means keeping a policy on the house, keeping the property tax bill from going delinquent, and keeping track of the mortgage.

Insurance is often the first problem, because coverage on an empty house can shrink or lapse. Our guide to Florida home insurance when you sell explains why that matters for any buyer who needs a loan. The owner's homestead exemption usually ends with their death, and the Florida property tax guide explains what happens to the next bill and to unpaid taxes.

Selling when the estate has no cash

Many estates are made up almost entirely of the house. The estate account starts empty, the mortgage keeps accruing, and the house needs work nobody can pay for. That is a reason to sell, not a barrier to it. Mortgage arrears, unpaid taxes, association balances, and recorded liens are paid from the proceeds at closing, and our article on what a title search finds before you sell shows how they surface.

If the personal representative has been carrying an empty homestead, the homestead lien described above secures repayment, and it can include amounts paid after the death but before appointment once the personal representative ratifies them in the probate case. For property inside the estate, administration expenses are paid from estate assets, which after a sale means the proceeds, before anything is distributed.

We buy houses, condos, land, and mobile or manufactured homes as-is, so the estate does not have to repair, clean, or clear anything out, and there are no commissions. We can sign a contract while probate is open and set closing for when the personal representative has authority to sign, whether that comes from letters and a power of sale, a court order, or a homestead determination. After the title clears, the sale can close in as little as 10 days, on whatever date suits the estate. We have been buying as-is property for more than ten years. Our inherited property sale calculator helps compare a sale now with holding the house, and what to do with belongings left in a house covers the contents.

When the owner lived outside Florida: ancillary administration

If a nonresident dies owning a Florida house, the Florida property needs ancillary administration in addition to the probate at home. It is opened in a Florida county where the property is located, and the petition must include authenticated copies of the home-state proceedings showing the will, if any, and the authority of the personal representative there.

Ancillary letters go first to a personal representative the will names for the Florida property, then to the home-state personal representative, as long as that person is qualified to act in Florida. An ancillary personal representative has the same powers as any Florida personal representative to sell local property, must publish and serve a Florida notice to creditors, and is bound by the same bond rules.

Florida also offers a short-form ancillary procedure, but only for a testate nonresident whose Florida property is worth no more than $50,000 gross, which rules out most houses. Summary administration, by contrast, is open to a nonresident's estate on the same terms as a resident's. Our page on selling a Florida property from out of state covers signing and closing from a distance.

Where Florida probate cases are filed

Each Florida county's clerk of the circuit court takes probate filings, and the case belongs in the county where the deceased person was domiciled. The Orange County clerk, for example, lists the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal as one way to file. In Central Florida:

• Seminole County, including Sanford, Lake Mary, Oviedo, Casselberry, and Longwood: the Seminole County Clerk of the Circuit Court's office in Sanford, in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, which Seminole shares with Brevard County
• Volusia County, including Deltona, DeBary, DeLand, Daytona Beach, and Orange City: the Clerk's Probate & Guardianship division at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand, in the Seventh Judicial Circuit
• Orange County, including Orlando, Ocoee, Apopka, Winter Garden, and Winter Park: the Clerk of Courts Probate Division at 425 N. Orange Ave., Suite 335, Orlando, in the Ninth Judicial Circuit with Osceola County

How long probate takes in Florida

There is no fixed total, but the rules set the milestones that pace a formal administration:

• Letters: issued after the petition is filed, the will admitted, and any bond posted, so the first weeks depend on the county's docket
• Notice of administration: served on the surviving spouse and beneficiaries, who then have 3 months to object to the will's validity, the venue, or the court's jurisdiction
• Notice to creditors: published in two consecutive weeks, with claims due 3 months after first publication or 30 days after service on a known creditor, whichever is later
• Inventory: due within 60 days after letters issue
• Sale: possible as soon as the personal representative has authority, and a court-ordered sale needs a hearing date or waivers on top of that
• Closing the estate: the final accounting and petition for discharge are due within 12 months after letters for an estate that does not file a federal estate tax return, unless the court extends the time
• Outside limit: most claims against the deceased are barred two years after death

When to involve a Florida probate attorney

The Florida Probate Rules require every personal representative to be represented by a lawyer admitted in Florida, unless the personal representative is the only interested person or is a Florida lawyer acting for themselves. The Orange County clerk states that a formal administration must be filed by a Florida-licensed attorney, and that summary administration does not require one, although legal guidance is recommended.

There is no mandatory statutory attorney fee for a Florida estate. A lawyer who intends to bill from the statutory schedule must tell the personal representative in writing that the fee is negotiable and that the personal representative does not have to hire the lawyer who drafted the will.

Bring a lawyer in early if the will has no power of sale, a spouse or minor child survived the owner, the house may be protected homestead, the owner lived outside Florida, a beneficiary objects, or the estate owes more than it holds. This page is general information, not legal advice. When you contact us, send the case number, the county, and a copy of the letters or the summary administration order if you have them, and we will build the contract around what the court still needs to do.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information about selling property in Florida, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws change and every situation is different, so talk with a qualified Florida professional about yours.