What Assets Must Go Through Probate in Florida (and What Skips It)

In Florida, an asset must go through probate when it was owned in the decedent’s sole name at death with no surviving co-owner and no beneficiary designation directing where it goes. Anything that already has a built-in path to the next owner—a joint title with survivorship, a named beneficiary, or a trust—generally skips probate entirely. The dividing line is rarely about how valuable the asset is; it is about how the asset was titled and whether a contract or operation of law already answers the question, “who gets this now?”

I practice probate in Palm Beach, and the single most common surprise I deliver to families is that probate is not triggered by the size of the estate or by the existence of a will. It is triggered by orphaned title. A modest checking account in one person’s name can require a full probate, while a seven-figure brokerage account with a properly named beneficiary can transfer in two weeks with a death certificate and a form. Below is how that actually shakes out under Florida law, and—because this is something families underestimate—how creditors and claims change the calculus.

What “going through probate” actually means in Florida

Probate is the court-supervised process of identifying a decedent’s assets, paying their valid debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the heirs or the people named in a will. In Florida it runs through the circuit court in the county where the decedent lived—for Palm Beach residents, that is the Probate Division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. The process is governed by Chapter 732 and Chapter 733 of the Florida Statutes, along with the Florida Probate Rules.

A “probate asset,” defined in Florida Statutes § 731.201(32), is property the decedent owned at death that did not have an automatic transfer mechanism attached to it. Those are the assets the personal representative must marshal, report to the court, and use—first—to satisfy creditors before anyone inherits. Hold that last point. On a creditor-heavy estate, what falls into probate is not just an inheritance question; it is the pool your creditors get to reach.

Assets that must go through probate

If you take nothing else from this article, take the pattern: sole ownership with no override = probate. The usual offenders:

• Bank and credit-union accounts in the decedent’s name alone—checking, savings, and CDs with no payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary and no joint owner.
• Brokerage and investment accounts held individually with no transfer-on-death (TOD) registration.
• Real estate titled solely in the decedent’s name, or held as tenants in common, where the deceased owner’s fractional share has no survivorship right.
• Vehicles, boats, and other titled personal property registered to the decedent alone.
• Personal effects and household goods—jewelry, art, collectibles, furniture—that nobody co-owns.
• Business interests such as a sole proprietorship, or LLC and partnership interests with no transfer-on-death or operating-agreement succession provision.
• Life insurance or retirement accounts payable to the estate, or whose only named beneficiary predeceased the owner with no contingent beneficiary listed. A lapsed beneficiary designation pulls the proceeds right back into probate.
• Money owed to the decedent—a personal loan they made, a final paycheck, an uncashed refund.

Notice the recurring theme of the failed beneficiary designation. People believe a POD or beneficiary form is permanent. It is not. Beneficiaries die, get divorced, fall out of favor, and never get updated. When the named person is gone and no contingent is listed, the contract has no one to pay—so it defaults to the estate, and into probate it goes.

Why creditors care which assets are probate assets

Here is where the editorial angle of estate administration in Palm Beach earns its keep. Under Florida Statutes § 733.2121, the personal representative must publish a Notice to Creditors and serve known or reasonably ascertainable creditors directly. Creditors then have a window to file claims—generally the later of three months from first publication or thirty days from being served (§ 733.702), with an outer bar of two years from the date of death under § 733.710 for claims never filed at all.

Probate assets are the assets creditors can reach through that claims process. Non-probate assets that pass by beneficiary or survivorship are, in most cases, beyond the easy grasp of estate creditors—though not always, as I explain below. So when a family asks me whether they “want” an asset to be a probate asset, the honest answer depends on whether there are debts. Routing assets around probate can shield them from creditors; it can also strand a personal representative with bills and no funds to pay them.

Assets that skip probate in Florida

These transfer outside the court process because the law or a contract already names the next owner.

1. Jointly titled property with survivorship

Real estate or accounts held as joint tenants with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving owner. For married couples, Florida recognizes tenancy by the entireties, a stronger form of joint ownership that not only avoids probate but also offers creditor protection against the debts of just one spouse. The distinction matters enormously on a creditor-heavy estate: entireties property generally cannot be reached by a creditor of only one spouse.

2. Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts

A POD bank account or a TOD brokerage registration pays the named beneficiary directly on presentation of a death certificate. No court, no personal representative, no waiting on the creditor period—assuming the beneficiary survives the owner.

3. Life insurance and retirement accounts with living beneficiaries

Life insurance proceeds, IRAs, 401(k)s, and annuities pass by beneficiary designation. In Florida, life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary are also protected from the insured’s creditors under § 222.13. This is one of the cleanest ways to deliver cash to a family quickly and outside the reach of estate creditors.

4. Property held in a revocable living trust

Assets retitled into a properly funded revocable trust avoid probate because the trust—not the decedent individually—owns them. The catch is funding: a trust that was signed but never had assets transferred into it controls nothing. I see beautiful, expensive trust documents sitting next to bank accounts still titled in the individual’s name, which means full probate anyway.

5. Florida homestead property

Homestead is its own creature. A constitutionally protected Florida homestead that passes to a surviving spouse or heirs generally is not a probate asset reachable by the decedent’s general creditors—it descends under the homestead provisions of the Florida Constitution and § 732.401. That said, a court order is often still needed to confirm the homestead status and clear title, so “skips probate” does not always mean “skips the courthouse.”

6. Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deeds

Florida recognizes the enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a Lady Bird deed. It lets an owner keep full control during life—including the right to sell or mortgage—while naming who receives the property at death, automatically and outside probate. It is a popular, low-cost tool for passing a homestead without a trust.

The middle ground: small estates and summary administration

Not every probate asset requires the full, formal process. Florida offers two streamlined paths:

1. Summary administration (§ 735.201) is available when the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. The two-year mark matters because, by then, the § 733.710 claims bar has run—most creditors are simply out of time, which can make summary administration attractive for an older death even on a larger estate.
2. Disposition of personal property without administration (§ 735.301) is a no-court-appearance procedure for very small estates, typically used to reimburse whoever paid final expenses out of limited assets.

Both are simpler than formal administration, but neither is automatic, and summary administration does not appoint a personal representative with full authority to act—something to weigh carefully when an estate has real creditor exposure or ongoing business affairs.

Common titling mistakes that force unwanted probate

Most probates I handle in Palm Beach were avoidable. The recurring patterns:

• An unfunded trust. Signed but never funded—the most expensive empty folder in estate planning.
• A predeceased beneficiary with no contingent. The designation collapses and the asset reverts to the estate.
• Adding a child to a deed as a tenant in common instead of with survivorship—creating a fractional probate interest while exposing the property to the child’s creditors and divorce.
• Naming “the estate” as a beneficiary, which guarantees probate and, for retirement accounts, can accelerate income tax.
• Forgetting a single account. One overlooked individual account can drag an otherwise probate-free estate into court.

The challenges that follow—contested distributions, creditor fights, missing heirs—are the same ones that complicate as well, and they intensify when a will’s validity is in dispute. If a beneficiary believes the document was procured by undue influence or signed without capacity, the matter can escalate the way a does—turning a routine administration into litigation.

How to figure out what your estate will actually probate

Do this inventory now, while you can fix it:

1. List every account, deed, policy, and titled asset.
2. For each, write down exactly how it is titled and who, if anyone, is named as beneficiary or joint owner.
3. Flag anything in your sole name with no beneficiary—that is your probate column.
4. Verify each beneficiary is still alive, still intended, and that a contingent is named.
5. Confirm any trust is actually funded.

If you want to coordinate beneficiary designations with your overall plan, our pages on wills and estate documents and Florida probate administration walk through how these pieces fit together. For a clean second-state comparison, Morgan Legal’s covers the same framework from the administration side.

The bottom line

Probate in Florida is a titling question wearing a legal costume. Sole ownership with no beneficiary and no survivorship goes through the court; joint property, beneficiary-designated accounts, funded trusts, homestead, and Lady Bird deeds generally do not. On an estate with debts, that distinction decides not only who inherits but who gets paid—and in what order. Get the titling right while there is still time to change it, and you spare your family the slowest, most public, and most creditor-exposed version of settling your affairs.

If you are administering an estate in Palm Beach or trying to structure your own assets to avoid probate, speak with our probate team before you sign or retitle anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does having a will avoid probate in Florida?

No. A will does not avoid probate; it directs how probate assets are distributed within the probate process. To skip probate, an asset needs a non-probate transfer mechanism such as joint ownership with survivorship, a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation, a funded revocable trust, or a Lady Bird deed. The will only governs what is left after creditors are paid through the court.

Is Florida homestead property a probate asset?

Generally no. A constitutionally protected Florida homestead that passes to a surviving spouse or heirs descends outside probate under the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes section 732.401, and it is usually shielded from the decedent’s general creditors. However, the court often must enter an order confirming homestead status to clear title, so some court involvement may still be required.

What is the dollar threshold for summary administration in Florida?

Summary administration is available under Florida Statutes section 735.201 when the value of the probate estate subject to administration is $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. The two-year option is useful because the creditor claims period under section 733.710 has typically expired by then.

Can creditors reach assets that skip probate?

Usually not easily. Beneficiary-designated assets, survivorship property, life insurance proceeds payable to a named beneficiary, and tenancy-by-the-entireties property are generally beyond the reach of estate creditors in the standard claims process. There are exceptions, such as fraudulent transfers or assets that revert to the estate because a beneficiary designation failed, so titling should be reviewed with a probate attorney.

How long do creditors have to file a claim against a Florida estate?

Once a Notice to Creditors is published, creditors generally must file within the later of three months from first publication or thirty days from being served, under Florida Statutes section 733.702. A separate two-year outer bar under section 733.710 cuts off claims that were never filed, regardless of notice.