Florida Statute 733.2121
“Notice to creditors; filing of claims”
What it means
The personal representative must promptly publish a notice to creditors — once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper in the county of administration — naming the estate, the court, the representative and attorney, and the date of first publication, which starts the claim deadlines under §733.702.
Publication alone is not enough. The representative must also make a prompt, diligent search for creditors who are reasonably ascertainable — including unmatured, contingent, and unliquidated claims — and serve the notice on them directly. If the decedent was 55 or older, the notice and a copy of the death certificate also go to the Agency for Health Care Administration within 3 months of first publication.
- Published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in the county where the estate is administered.
- Diligent search required for reasonably ascertainable creditors, who must be served directly.
- The statute's own limit: "impracticable and extended searches are not required."
- Decedent 55 or older → serve the notice and death certificate on AHCA within 3 months of first publication.
- Claims are barred as provided in §733.702 and by the absolute 2-year bar of §733.710.
How it plays out
The creditor notice is mechanical until it is not. Publication starts the 3-month claims period, but the diligent search is where personal representatives get into trouble — a reasonably ascertainable creditor who was never served is not cut off by publication alone. We build the creditor list from the mail, the bank statements, and the medical file, and for any decedent 55 or older we calendar the AHCA notice immediately, because Medicaid estate recovery is the claim families forget until it arrives.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 733.2121 does real work:
Questions people ask
