How to File Summary Administration in Florida: Step by Step
To file Summary Administration in Florida, you complete the official form under Florida Statutes § 735.201. Below is the step-by-step walkthrough. This is informational only and is not legal advice; we explain how to use the state's own form — we do not draft it for you.
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Filing Summary Administration in Florida means completing the official form under Florida Statutes § 735.201. Here is the full sequence, with the statutory fact behind each step.
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Confirm the estate qualifies under one of the two eligibility paths
Either the entire estate subject to administration in Florida (minus creditor-exempt property) is $150,000 or under, or the decedent has been dead more than 2 years, in which case there is no dollar cap at all. Homestead real property itself is separately excluded from the cap calculation entirely under the Florida Constitution.
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Get the petition packet from your county's circuit court
Florida's Supreme Court publishes a genuine statewide fill-in form — Form 5.9XX, Petition for Summary Administration (intestate or testate) — via flcourts.gov. Many individual circuit courts additionally publish their own self-help instructions packets built around this same statewide form; check your county's circuit court probate self-help page for local filing specifics. View source →
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If the estate includes homestead real property being sold or refinanced, file a Petition to Determine Homestead alongside it
Many Florida title companies will not insure a sale or refinance of the decedent's homestead on the strength of a Summary Administration order alone. Filing a Petition to Determine Homestead Status at the same time — many Florida probate judges will sign both orders together — avoids a second trip back to court after a title company raises the issue.
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Have every beneficiary sign, or formally serve notice on anyone who doesn't
The petition must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse (if any) and every beneficiary who is joining it. Any beneficiary who doesn't join must be formally served notice, and the statutory notice period must run before the court can act — this, not a fixed day-count like Texas's 30-day wait, is Florida's functional waiting period.
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File with the Circuit Court, Probate Division, in the county of the decedent's residence
File with the clerk of the circuit court's probate division for the county where the decedent was domiciled at death (or, for a nonresident decedent, any Florida county where assets are located). The filing fee is commonly around $346, plus small per-page/per-copy charges for certified copies.
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Wait for the court's review — commonly 4 to 6 weeks
Once filed, expect a response in roughly 4-6 weeks per official circuit court guidance. If anything in the petition is deficient, the court sends a deficiency notice and the timeline effectively resets once you resubmit.
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Get multiple certified copies of the signed Order of Summary Administration
Each separate bank, brokerage, or the DMV may want its own certified copy rather than accepting one already used elsewhere — requesting several from the clerk when the order is signed avoids repeat trips.
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Present the certified order to each bank, brokerage, or other asset holder
Florida Statutes § 735.206 authorizes and protects anyone who pays, delivers, or transfers property under the order's direction — cite this section directly if a branch hesitates or asks for more than the certified order.
The step families get stuck on is presenting the completed filing to a bank, DMV, or title company .
Get the official Florida form
Download the state's own fill-in instrument directly — never a third-party paywalled copy: Official Summary Administration form . Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 5.9XX, Petition for Summary Administration (Intestate) — a genuine statewide fill-in form, published via flcourts.gov. A separate testate version of the same form also exists. Individual circuit courts (e.g., the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade) additionally publish their own self-help instructions packets built around this same statewide form under Florida Probate Rule 5.530.
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.