How long does probate take from start to finish in Florida? Three timelines run from a few weeks to 12 months, and summary administration now covers $150,000.
How long does probate take from start to finish? In Florida the probate court process runs on three timelines. Disposition without administration takes days to a couple of weeks, summary administration takes a few weeks to two or three months, and formal administration usually takes 6 to 12 months. Summary administration got easier on July 1, 2026, when the limit rose from $75,000 to $150,000.
Formal administration runs long because creditors have three months from first publication to file a claim under section 733.702, and anyone served with the notice of administration has three months to challenge the will under section 733.212. Those two windows set the probate court timeline, and a will contest, ancillary administration in another state or a slow personal representative add months on top.
How probate court works depends on the size of the estate and the date of death. Anyone here done a lady bird deed? A lady bird deed on the homestead passes outside probate if it is signed before death. The StepUpLaw guide covers all three paths.
Transcript
Someone found out this week that their mother’s estate qualifies for summary administration, and the first question out of their mouth was how long that actually takes compared to the horror stories they’d heard from a friend’s formal probate. The answer splits into three numbers depending on which door the estate walks through, and one of those doors got a lot wider on July 1 of this year.
Here’s where this is going. First, the three timelines and which one applies to a given estate. Second, the one thing that sets the clock on the slow one, because it isn’t paperwork, it’s a waiting period nobody can skip. Third, what actually stretches formal administration past a year, and how to keep an estate out of probate entirely.
Start with the fastest lane. Disposition without administration is for a tiny estate with no real property, mainly used to get reimbursed for funeral and last-illness expenses out of what’s left. It runs days to a couple of weeks because there’s no personal representative to appoint and nothing to wait on.
Summary administration is the one that just got easier to qualify for. As of July 1, 2026, it’s available when the probate estate is $150,000 or less, up from $75,000, or when the person died more than two years ago regardless of size. No personal representative gets appointed. A judge signs one order distributing the assets, and the whole thing typically runs a few weeks to two or three months.
Formal administration is the default for anything larger or more recent, and it usually runs 6 to 12 months. That’s not the paperwork. Once the personal representative publishes the notice to creditors, Florida Statute 733.702 gives every creditor three months from that first publication to file a claim, and the personal representative can’t even be compelled to pay a claim until five months have passed under section 733.705. Nothing closes before that window runs.
There’s a second clock running at the same time. Anyone served with the notice of administration has three months from service to challenge the will’s validity, the venue, or the court’s jurisdiction under section 733.212. Miss it and the objection is barred for good. That’s the mechanism, not a guess. Two separate three-month windows, both measured from service or publication, both have to close before the estate can wrap up.
Past that floor, what actually adds months is specific and mostly foreseeable. A will contest filed inside that three-month window stops distribution until it’s resolved. A business or a piece of real estate that needs an appraisal takes time to value. Out-of-state real estate needs its own ancillary administration opened in that state under chapter 734, on top of the Florida case. Estate or income tax returns add their own timeline. A slow personal representative adds delay that has nothing to do with the law at all.
The estate that finishes fastest is the one that skips this process altogether. A lady bird deed on the homestead, a funded revocable trust, and beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance all pass outside probate by their own terms, whether the estate would have qualified for summary administration or not. The catch is timing. Those have to be signed and, for a trust, actually funded before death. None of it works retroactively.
So if you’re looking at an estate right now, the first question is which of the three timelines it falls into, and that comes down to size and how long ago the death was. If you’re planning ahead for your own estate, the question is different. Which of your assets are sitting in probate today that don’t need to be. That’s a conversation worth having with a Florida probate attorney before the three-month clock starts running instead of after.
Read the full guide at stepuplaw.com/how-long-does-probate-take-florida
Related reading and listening at StepUpLaw
- Florida Summary Administration: Do You Qualify? (2026)
- How to Avoid Probate in Florida (2026): The 6 Ways
- Florida Lady Bird Deed: $399 Flat Fee, Avoid Probate
- Episode 25, Power of Attorney After Death in Florida: It Ends. Now What?
- Episode 15, Does Your Florida Estate Qualify for Summary Administration
- Episode 21, Does a Beneficiary Form Override Your Will?
Related guides
- Florida Summary Administration: Do You Qualify? (2026)
- How to Avoid Probate in Florida (2026): The 6 Ways
- Florida Lady Bird Deed: $399 Flat Fee, Avoid Probate
Stepping Up is hosted by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. Episodes are general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and listening does not create an attorney-client relationship.
