The Probate, Guardianship, and Trust Department maintain the files on probate estates, wills, trusts, and guardianships for both minors and incapacitated persons. The department monitors, files, and stores all pending case files and all wills that have been deposited with the Probate Department.
Probate is necessary whenever a deceased person leaves assets in their name alone. A party then files a petition for probate that allows distribution of the decedent's assets. Guardianships are filed for minors, incapacitated persons, veterans, and voluntary. However, all Guardianship matters in the State of Florida require an attorney (Rule 5.030). An individual, through their attorney, files for a guardian to be appointed for an adult person when they believe that person is not mentally capable of taking care of himself/herself. The Court appoints a committee to evaluate the person and make their report to the court. In some instances, the adult person may be only physically unable to care for himself/herself and may need a guardian. Guardians can be appointed as guardian of the person only, property only, or person and property.
Guardianships are also filed for minors when the minor child has inherited money or property in excess of $15,000, or received money from a settlement in excess of $15,000. In this case, a guardian of the property is all that is needed if the minor child's parents are living. If a minor child's parents are deceased or unable to be appointed guardian, he/she may need a guardian of the person and property.
Probate also handles Petitions to Appoint a Successor Trustee. This is a court appointed individual who is responsible for managing another's property. If there is a request for a new trustee, probate screens the request to insure that all the trust beneficiaries have agreed to the new trustee. As in all probate proceedings, a hearing MAY be necessary since all probate, guardianship and trust cases are presented to the court for consideration of all orders.
A Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration may be filed without the assistance of an attorney and is handled by the Clerks in the probate department. The Clerk assists the public and court by processing the forms, verifying the assets of the decedent and preparing the Order allowing for distribution. This type of proceeding is used to request release of the assets of the deceased to the heirs or other qualified parties. Under Section 735.301 , Florida Statutes, the estate must consist of personal property exempt from claim of creditors (see Section 732.402 Florida Statutes), and nonexempt personal property that does not exceed the sum of preferred funeral expenses (which are now $6,000) and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses from the last 60 days of the last illness. There cannot be any real estate in the estate.
The filing fee for the Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration fee can be found on our fees schedule. You must provide:
| (a) A certified copy of the death certificate. |
| (b) The funeral bill showing who paid the funeral bill. |
| (c) If the paid funeral bill is less than the value of the assets, paid medical bills from the last 60 days, not covered by insurance, may be provided to make up the difference between the funeral bill and the value of the assets. Paid medical bills must show the name of the person who paid them. |
| (d) Specific information on accounts that are to be disbursed, i.e., numbers of the accounts, location & addresses of institutions, and amounts in the accounts. |
If the decedent has a will, it must be deposited with the Clerk's office
(see Section 732.901 , Florida Statutes) by paying a indexing fee. Please refer to our fees schedule for the cost.
After the paperwork is filed with the Clerk's office, the Judge will review the information and an order will be issued disbursing the property to the proper person. A certified copy of the order will be mailed to the petitioner or facility to release funds to proper heirs.
