How to File Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration in Florida: Step by Step

Filing Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration in Florida means completing the official form under Florida Statutes § 735.301. Here is the full sequence, with the statutory fact behind each step.

1. 1

   Confirm the estate consists only of exempt property plus a small amount of nonexempt personal property

   This mechanism applies only when the entire estate consists of exempt property (under Fla. Stat. § 732.402 and the state constitution) plus nonexempt personal property whose total value doesn't exceed the sum of preferred funeral expenses and last-60-days medical/hospital expenses. Any real property in the estate — a house, land, even a fractional interest — disqualifies the whole estate from this path.

2. 2

   Gather documentation of the actual funeral and medical expenses

   You'll need to show the actual amounts owed: itemized funeral home invoices (preferred funeral expenses are separately capped at $6,000 under Fla. Stat. § 733.707(3)) and medical/hospital bills specifically from the decedent's last 60 days of final illness. Amounts already covered by insurance generally don't count toward the total, since they're no longer an expense actually owed.

3. 3

   Get the informal-application packet from your county clerk

   Florida has no single statewide form — county clerks each publish their own version of the informal-application packet (a verified statement/petition, a waiver-and-consent form, and the proposed order), all built on the same § 735.301 requirements. View source →

4. 4

   File the informal application with the Circuit Court, Probate Division

   Any interested party can apply — a surviving spouse, an heir, or the person or funeral home that actually paid the funeral or medical expenses. This is filed with the clerk of the circuit court's probate division for the decedent's home county, and reviewed informally rather than through a noticed court hearing. A typical filing fee is around $231.

5. 5

   Wait for the court's letter or writing under seal

   No fixed waiting period is required before filing. Once the court is satisfied the estate qualifies, it issues a letter or other writing under the court's seal authorizing the payment, transfer, or disposition of the property — this document, not a self-prepared affidavit, is what gets presented to a bank or other asset holder.

6. 6

   Present the court's letter to the bank or asset holder

   Florida Statutes § 735.301(3) discharges anyone who pays, delivers, or transfers property under this authorization from further liability — a useful citation if a bank representative is unfamiliar with the document.

Get the official Florida form

Download the state's own fill-in instrument directly — never a third-party paywalled copy: Official Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration form . Unlike Summary Administration, Florida courts have not promulgated one statewide fill-in form for this mechanism — county clerks (St. Lucie, Seminole, Charlotte, Brevard, Pinellas, Manatee, and others) each publish their own version of the informal-application packet, all implementing the same statewide § 735.301 requirements. St. Lucie County's packet, linked here, is a verified working example on the county's own .gov domain; your own county clerk's probate division publishes its own version.

The step that isn't really paperwork

Presenting it to the bank, DMV, or title company is where families actually lose time — most front-line staff have never processed this kind of filing before. Free one-pager: what to bring and what to say before you go, emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.

Email address Email me the checklist

Email only — we never ask for estate value, family details, or account numbers, and never sell your address.