Florida Statute 733.209
“Estates of missing persons”
What it means
The whole section is one sentence: any interested person may petition to administer the estate of a missing person, but no personal representative shall be appointed until the court determines the missing person is dead.
The order of operations is the point. Filing is open to anyone interested, but authority over the missing person's property waits for the determination of death — until then there is no personal representative, and nobody with power to sell, sign, or distribute. The evidentiary standard lives in §731.103: an unexplained absence of 5 years after diligent search creates a presumption of death, and exposure to a specific peril can support an earlier determination.
- Any interested person may petition to administer a missing person's estate.
- No personal representative may be appointed until the court determines the missing person is dead.
- Until the determination, no one holds court-appointed authority over the missing person's assets.
- The presumption-of-death standard is in §731.103: 5 years' absence, or a specific peril for an earlier finding.
- A judicial determination supports a presumptive death certificate under §382.012.
How it plays out
Families of a missing person face the hardest version of probate: the bills keep coming, and §733.209 means nobody can be appointed to handle the estate until a court determines death. We see two paths — wait out the 5-year presumption, or prove death earlier from the circumstances, as with a plane crash or a hurricane. Planning documents matter enormously in the gap, because an agent under a durable power of attorney can keep acting while no personal representative exists.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 733.209 does real work:
Questions people ask
