Probate in Florida: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

When someone dies without a will in Florida, the estate follows the state's intestate succession laws through Florida's probate court. If you want to skip this process, there are a few exceptions.

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An estate can skip probate in the following cases:

• You have life insurance policies that have a designated beneficiary.

• You have retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary.

• You have property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship or tenancy by the entirety.

• You have bank accounts with a payable-on-death designation.

If none of these apply, smaller estates may qualify for summary administration rather than be subjected to full formal probate. An estate qualifies if the non-exempt assets total $75,000 or less (this excludes the protected homestead and other exempt property), or if the decedent has been deceased for more than two years, in which case there is no value limit at all.

Succession Laws Without a Will in Florida

All individually owned assets are treated the same in Florida. Under Florida Statutes Chapter 732, the lines of succession are as follows without a will.

• If you have a surviving spouse with no descendants, your spouse inherits everything.

• If you have descendants but do not have a surviving spouse, your descendants inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse and no descendants, your parents inherit everything.

• If you have no spouse, no descendants, and no parents, your siblings inherit everything.

If you are married and have descendants, the split depends on whether those descendants are shared with your spouse or you have children from outside of your marriage.

• If all of your descendants are also your spouse's children, and your spouse has no descendants from another relationship, your spouse inherits the whole estate.

• If you or your spouse has descendants from another relationship, your spouse inherits one-half of the estate, and your descendants split the other half.

Florida also has a special homestead rule that impacts inheritance. If you are survived by a spouse and at least one descendant, your spouse receives a life estate in the home, with the descendants inheriting it afterward, or your spouse can instead elect to take a one-half interest as a tenant in common.

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Want to compare your options before or after probate? Compare what is included in a will and a trust.