Probate Lawyer West Palm Beach, Florida

How does probate work in Palm Beach County?

Palm Beach County probate cases are filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller and heard in the 15th Judicial Circuit Probate Division. Most hearings happen at the Main Courthouse at 205 N. Dixie Highway in downtown West Palm Beach.

The basic sequence is the same in every Florida case:

1. File the petition. The personal representative (or their attorney) files a petition for administration with the Clerk, along with the original will if there is one.
2. Letters of administration issue. The court formally appoints the personal representative.
3. Notify creditors. A Notice to Creditors is published in a Palm Beach County newspaper of general circulation, and known creditors are served directly.
4. Inventory and appraise the estate. The personal representative files an inventory listing all probate assets and their values within 60 days of letters issuing.
5. Resolve creditor claims. Creditors have 90 days from publication (or 30 days from direct service, whichever is later) to file claims.
6. File estate tax returns if required. Most Florida estates owe no tax (there's no Florida estate tax), but federal returns may apply for larger estates.
7. Distribute remaining assets. After debts and expenses are paid, the personal representative distributes assets to beneficiaries.
8. Close the estate. Final accounting is filed with the court, and the personal representative is discharged.

Our full walkthrough of the first 30 days is in how to start the probate process in Florida after a loved one passes.

Formal vs. summary administration: which one applies?

Florida has two main probate paths. The right one depends on the size of the estate and how long ago the decedent passed.

Our full guide on summary administration in Florida walks through qualifying criteria, required documents, and the process in detail. A third path, disposition without administration, is available for very small estates where the only assets are exempt property and reasonable funeral expenses.

How long does Palm Beach County probate take, and how much does it cost?

Court filing fees and publication costs typically run a few hundred dollars combined. Attorney and personal representative fees are governed by Florida Statute 733.6171 and 733.617, which set presumptively reasonable percentages of estate value. Most attorneys negotiate flat or hourly fees below the statutory percentages for routine cases.

What are the duties of a personal representative in Florida?

The personal representative (Florida's term for executor) is a fiduciary, personally liable for breaching their duties. The major obligations under Chapter 733 of the Florida Statutes:

• Marshaling the estate's assets and protecting them from loss
• Notifying known creditors and publishing notice to unknown creditors
• Filing an inventory with the court within 60 days of letters issuing
• Paying valid debts, taxes, and expenses of administration
• Distributing remaining assets to beneficiaries per the will (or under intestacy if there's no will)
• Filing accountings with the court and a final accounting at closing
• Acting impartially among beneficiaries and avoiding self-dealing

Our breakdown of what Florida personal representatives are legally required to do covers each duty, including the deadlines that most often trip up first-time PRs.

Florida law also restricts who can serve. A non-resident PR must be a close relative (spouse, sibling, parent, child, or other lineal kin), or be appointed alongside a Florida resident co-PR. Convicted felons cannot serve.

Which assets skip probate in Florida?

Several categories transfer directly to beneficiaries by operation of law or contract, bypassing the court process entirely:

• Assets in a revocable living trust. The trust itself owns the property, so there's nothing to probate.
• Jointly titled property with right of survivorship. Passes automatically to the surviving owner.
• Tenancy by the entireties property (between married couples). Passes to the surviving spouse.
• Beneficiary-designated accounts. Retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k)), life insurance, annuities, and accounts with payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designations.
• Florida homestead, treated specially (see callout below).

Full breakdown in probate vs non-probate assets in Florida.

What happens if a Palm Beach County resident dies without a will?

This is called dying intestate. Florida Statute 732 governs how the estate gets distributed, and the order is fixed.

The basic Florida intestate hierarchy:

• Spouse and no descendants: entire estate to spouse
• Spouse and descendants, all common to both: entire estate to spouse
• Spouse and decedent's descendants from a prior relationship: 50% to spouse, 50% to descendants
• Spouse and spouse's descendants from a prior relationship: 50% to spouse, 50% to decedent's descendants
• Descendants but no spouse: entire estate to descendants per stirpes
• No spouse or descendants: parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives

The full hierarchy and the surprises it produces (especially for blended families and unmarried partners, who get nothing under intestacy) are covered in our guide to Florida intestacy laws.

If you want to prevent intestacy for your own family, see our West Palm Beach estate planning page.

Can out-of-state heirs handle Palm Beach County probate?

Yes. We handle a high volume of probate cases for beneficiaries and personal representatives who live outside Florida, often the children of snowbirds who maintained dual residency or retired full-time to Palm Beach County.

Out-of-state PRs face a few additional requirements:

• The non-resident PR must be a qualifying relative under Florida Statute 733.304, or serve alongside a Florida resident co-PR
• If the decedent owned real estate in Florida but lived elsewhere, the case may proceed as ancillary administration alongside the primary probate in the home state
• Florida courts allow most filings to be handled by Florida counsel without the PR appearing in person; in-person appearances are rare and usually only for contested hearings

Our full guide on how out-of-state heirs can navigate a Florida probate case covers the qualifying-relative rules, ancillary administration, and the practical logistics of handling a Florida estate from another state.

When does probate become contested?

Most Florida probate cases close without litigation. The ones that go contested usually involve one of four scenarios:

Will contests. A potential heir challenges the validity of the will on grounds of lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution. Florida has a fairly short statute of limitations on will contests, and the burden is generally on the challenger.

Breach of fiduciary duty claims. Beneficiaries allege the PR is mismanaging the estate, self-dealing, failing to communicate, or distributing assets improperly. These cases often involve forced accountings and PR removal petitions.

Creditor disputes. The PR objects to a claim and the creditor files an independent action to enforce it, or vice versa.

Asset characterization disputes. Family members fight over whether an asset is part of the probate estate or passes outside (homestead determinations, joint account ownership challenges, claims that lifetime gifts were really loans).

Probate litigation in Palm Beach County is heard in the 15th Judicial Circuit's Probate Division. Cases are assigned to probate judges with specialized experience, which generally produces faster, more predictable outcomes than general civil litigation.

Why work with Kelley, Grant & Tanis, P.A.

Brett Halperin leads the firm's probate, estate planning, trust administration, elder law, and asset protection practice. Brett earned his JD from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and his Bachelor's in Economics from the University of Florida, where he was a member of Florida Blue Key. He volunteers with the Mission United Veterans Pro-Bono Legal Project and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. He's a member in good standing of the Florida Bar.

Full attorney bios on our attorneys page.

The firm has two offices in South Florida:

• West Palm Beach Office: 1645 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd, Suite #1200-3, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
• Boca Raton Office: 370 Camino Gardens Blvd., Suite #301, Boca Raton, FL 33432

Probate often touches the firm's other practice areas. Estates with rental property may need eviction support for problem tenants. Estates with title issues benefit from in-house title insurance work. Estates passing through HOA-governed properties may need association law guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions