What it means
When someone dies leaving no person entitled to inherit, the estate escheats to the state: the property is sold as the Probate Rules provide, and the proceeds are deposited in the State School Fund.
Escheat is not instantly final. For 10 years after the money reaches the Chief Financial Officer, a person claiming to be entitled may reopen the administration and assert the claim; with no timely claim, the state's right becomes absolute. The statute also lets the Department of Financial Services pay a claimant's proceeds through an assigned attorney, Florida CPA, or licensed private investigative agency — the framework heir-hunter firms operate under.
- No qualifying heir → the estate escheats to the state; sale proceeds go to the State School Fund.
- A claimed heir has 10 years after payment to the Chief Financial Officer to reopen the administration; after that, the state's right is absolute.
- The Department of Legal Affairs represents the state in escheat proceedings.
- Proceeds can be paid under a written assignment to an attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or licensed private investigative agency.
- The assignee must use a Florida trust or escrow account and distribute to the claimant within 10 days after the deposit clears, absent a written protest.
How it plays out
True escheats are rare — §732.103's ladder, half-blood kindred included, catches most families. Where this section does real work is the back end: heir-hunter firms locate people entitled to escheated funds, take an assignment, and collect through subsection (5). Before a client signs one of those agreements, we check what a direct claim within the 10-year window would cost instead, and what the fee caps allow — §717.135 caps unclaimed-property agreements at 30 percent.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.107 does real work:
Questions people ask
