— Everything on this site
The whole map.
666 pages. Every guide, every county, every form, 282 Florida statutes in plain English, and 204 case files in the Probate Archive. All of it free, none of it gated, no signup anywhere.
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Statutes
282
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285k+
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— The Probate Archive · 204 case files
Two hundred famous estates, told properly and sourced, each ending with the Florida statutes that would have governed the same facts here. Nine centuries of it, from the bishops' courts to the $15 million exemption.
Browse by collection
- Probates of note — 79 cases
- Celebrity estates — 117 cases
- Pets — 7 cases
- Macabre — 17 cases
- Exotic & eccentric — 16 cases
- Historical — 49 cases
- The Florida files — 60 cases
Browse by failure mode · the legal axis
- Died without a will — 41 cases
- Handwritten wills — 11 cases
- Capacity & undue influence — 31 cases
- Trustee & fee wars — 100 cases
- Pets — 8 cases
- Strange conditions — 33 cases
- Remains & final wishes — 35 cases
- Blended families — 43 cases
- Taxes & timing — 33 cases
Start here
- A history of probate — 1066 to 2026
- Aretha Franklin — The will in the couch
- Anna Nicole Smith — Two trips to the Supreme Court
- Leona Helmsley — The dog that got $12 million
- Jimmy Buffett — Two co-trustees, one Margaritaville
- Robert Rauschenberg — The $24.6 million fee
- Prince — No will, six years, half to a stranger
— Florida probate · 10 pages
Five ways an estate gets administered in Florida, and the situations that decide which one you're in.
Case types
- Summary Administration — Estates under $150k or 2+ years old. The fast, cheap path.
- Formal Administration — Larger estates. Full PR appointment, accounting, court oversight.
- Ancillary Administration — Out-of-state decedent who owned Florida property.
- Disposition w/o Administration — Final-expense reimbursement. No probate proceeding.
- Determination of Homestead — Protect the family home from creditors. Often paired with another path.
Your situation
- No will (intestate) — Florida statute decides who inherits. We'll show you the map.
- Out-of-state executor — We handle the FL filings remotely. You sign electronically.
- Real estate in the estate — Title transfer + Florida's unique homestead protections.
- Small estate / no real property — You probably qualify for summary administration.
- Disputed will or heir — We refer litigation cases — and we know the right people.
— Wills & trusts · 10 pages
The documents, and the life stages that call for them. Flat-fee, drafted in Florida, for Florida.
Documents
- Revocable Living Trust — Skip probate entirely. Stay in control while alive.
- Pour-over Will + Trust — Bundle: trust + pour-over will + POAs + healthcare directives.
- Last Will & Testament — Florida-compliant, witnessed, attested. The basics, done right.
- Durable Power of Attorney — Authorize someone to handle your finances if you can't.
- Healthcare Surrogate + Living Will — Medical decisions if you can't make them. End-of-life wishes in writing.
Life stages
- Young families — Guardianship for the kids, life-stage trust for assets.
- Blended families — Protect both spouses and kids from prior marriages.
- Business owners — Continuity planning, buy-sell agreements, succession.
- Snowbirds / multi-state — Domicile planning + ancillary coordination across states.
- Special-needs planning — Special needs trusts that protect benefits eligibility.
— Plain-English guides · 39 guides
Long-form, no jargon, no fearmongering. Written for someone who is grieving and has to do paperwork anyway.
First steps
- First 72 hours after a death — 12-min read
- Do I need probate in Florida? — Decision tree
- What to do with the bank account when someone dies — 8-min read
- Finding a missing will in Florida — 8-min read
Process & timeline
- Florida probate timeline 2026 — Updated Jan
- Personal Representative duties — your full step-by-step — 15-min read
- Digital assets, crypto & online accounts — 10-min read
- Ancillary probate in Florida — 11-min read
- Will contests in Florida — the 90-day window — 10-min read
- Out-of-state heirs and Florida property — 10-min read
- Disposition Without Administration — Florida's tiniest probate — 8-min read
- Trust administration after death — the trustee's playbook — 12-min read
Cost & pricing
- What does probate cost? — With calculator
- Executor / Personal Representative fees in Florida — 9-min read
- Federal estate tax for Florida residents — 11-min read
- Medicaid planning & estate recovery in Florida — 11-min read
Wills & trusts
- Will vs. Trust in Florida — 8-min read
- When to update your estate plan — Life events
- Probate vs. trust administration — 9-min read
- Blended families & estate planning in Florida — 12-min read
- Florida snowbird estate planning — 11-min read
- Power of attorney in Florida — 10-min read
- Healthcare surrogate & advance directives in Florida — 10-min read
- Pet trusts in Florida — 8-min read
- Trust funding — how to actually do it — 10-min read
- Special needs trusts in Florida — 11-min read
- Out-of-state wills in Florida — 8-min read
Homestead & property
- What a homestead really protects — FL specialty
- Selling an inherited Florida home — 12-min read
- Stepped-up basis & capital gains for inherited property — 9-min read
- The Lady Bird deed — Florida's probate-avoidance specialty — 9-min read
- Florida Homestead Exemption — 8-min read
Heirs & beneficiaries
- Florida intestate succession explained — 10-min read
- Spousal elective share in Florida — 8-min read
- Family allowance & exempt property in Florida — 9-min read
- Disinheriting a child in Florida — 9-min read
- Inheriting an IRA or 401(k) in Florida — 10-min read
- Pretermitted spouse and child in Florida — 8-min read
Downloads
- Free will checklist — Download
— The Statute Library · 282 statutes & rules
Every Florida statute this site cites, translated to plain English — with the official catchline and a link to the official text on every page.
The Florida Probate Code · 87
- § 731.011 — Determination of substantive rights; procedures
- § 731.103 — Evidence as to death or status
- § 731.106 — Assets of nondomiciliaries
- § 731.201 — General definitions
- § 731.303 — Representation
- § 732.101 — Intestate estate
The Florida Trust Code · 39
- § 736.0110 — Others treated as qualified beneficiaries
- § 736.0201 — Role of court in trust proceedings
- § 736.0402 — Requirements for creation
- § 736.0403 — Trusts created in other jurisdictions; formalities required for revocable trusts
- § 736.0404 — Trust purposes
- § 736.0405 — Charitable purposes; enforcement
Estate Planning Documents · 27
- § 709.2104 — Durable power of attorney
- § 709.2105 — Qualifications of agent; execution of power of attorney
- § 709.2120 — Rejecting power of attorney
- § 709.2201 — Authority of agent
- § 709.2202 — Authority that requires separate signed enumeration
- § 739.104 — Power to disclaim; general requirements; when irrevocable
Health Care & Anatomical Gifts · 17
- § 765.202 — Designation of a health care surrogate
- § 765.205 — Responsibility of the surrogate
- § 765.302 — Procedure for making a living will; notice to physician
- § 765.401 — The proxy
- § 765.510 — Legislative declaration
- § 765.512 — Persons who may make an anatomical gift
Homestead, Exemptions & Creditors · 18
- § 222.11 — Exemption of wages from garnishment
- § 222.13 — Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds
- § 222.14 — Exemption of cash surrender value of life insurance policies and annuity contracts from legal process
- § 222.17 — Manifesting and evidencing domicile in Florida
- § 222.21 — Exemption of pension money and certain tax-exempt funds or accounts from legal processes
- § 222.22 — Exemption of assets in qualified tuition programs, medical savings accounts, Coverdell education savings accounts, and hurricane savings accounts from legal process
Family, Guardianship & Protection · 22
- § 744.301 — Natural guardians
- § 744.3045 — Preneed guardian
- § 744.3046 — Preneed guardian for minor
- § 744.3201 — Petition to determine incapacity
- § 744.3215 — Rights of persons determined incapacitated
- § 744.331 — Procedures to determine incapacity
Death, Remains & Records · 30
- § 382.006 — Burial-transit permit
- § 382.012 — Presumptive death certificate
- § 406.11 — Examinations, investigations, and autopsies
- § 406.12 — Duty to report; prohibited acts
- § 406.13 — Examiner's report; maintenance of records
- § 406.135 — Autopsies; confidentiality of photographs and video and audio recordings; confidentiality of reports of minor victims of domestic violence; exemption
Civil Claims & Wrongful Death · 15
- § 46.021 — Actions; surviving death of party
- § 49.041 — Sworn statement, natural person as defendant
- § 49.10 — Notice of action, publication, proof
- § 768.16 — Wrongful Death Act
- § 768.18 — Definitions
- § 768.20 — Parties
Business & Succession · 11
- § 605.0105 — Operating agreement; scope, function, and limitations
- § 605.0502 — Transfer of transferable interest
- § 605.0503 — Charging order
- § 605.0702 — Grounds for judicial dissolution
- § 607.0730 — Voting trusts
- § 607.0731 — Voting agreements
Forfeiture, Lottery & the State · 9
- § 932.701 — Short title; definitions
- § 932.703 — Forfeiture of contraband article; exceptions
- § 932.704 — Forfeiture proceedings
- § 932.7055 — Disposition of liens and forfeited property
- § 932.7062 — Penalty for noncompliance with reporting requirements
- § 944.512 — State lien on proceeds from literary or other type of account of crime for which convicted
Florida Probate Rules · 7
- Rule 5.025 — Adversary Proceedings
- Rule 5.040 — Notice
- Rule 5.120 — Administrator Ad Litem and Guardian Ad Litem
- Rule 5.171 — Evidence of Death
- Rule 5.205 — Filing Evidence of Death
- Rule 5.385 — Determination of Beneficiaries and Shares
— Every Florida county · 67 counties
All 67 counties, each with its own probate division, filing quirks, clerk contacts and courthouse. We file statewide.
Tampa Bay & SW FL · 10
- Charlotte — 20th Cir.
- Lee — 20th Cir.
- Collier — 20th Cir.
- Hendry — 20th Cir.
- Glades — 20th Cir.
- Hillsborough — 13th Cir.
- Pinellas — 6th Cir.
- Pasco — 6th Cir.
Central FL · 13
- Lake — 5th Cir.
- Marion — 5th Cir.
- Sumter — 5th Cir.
- Orange — 9th Cir.
- Osceola — 9th Cir.
- Seminole — 18th Cir.
- Brevard — 18th Cir.
- Volusia — 7th Cir.
South FL · 7
- Indian River — 19th Cir.
- Martin — 19th Cir.
- St. Lucie — 19th Cir.
- Palm Beach — 15th Cir.
- Broward — 17th Cir.
- Miami-Dade — 11th Cir.
- Monroe — 16th Cir.
— Free tools & forms · 8 downloads & tools
Calculators and Florida forms. No signup, no email wall, no watermark.
— News & commentary · 7 posts
Florida law and rule changes, and how we think about probate work.
Latest
- Jack Daniel's heirs feud over a $15 billion bid — and the voting trust holding the family together
- The 2026 federal estate tax exemption — what most Florida families don't owe
- Anatomy of a 5-week summary administration
- Florida 2026 probate reform — what actually changed
- Lady Bird deed or revocable trust — which one for your homestead?
- Saying yes to PR: the personal liability nobody mentions
- Why we charge flat fees, not hourly
By category
— The firm · 6 pages
Who we are, what we charge, and the fine print.
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