Simplified route
$150,000
The probate estate, after exempt property, may qualify at $150,000 or less. An estate may also qualify regardless of value when the decedent has been dead for more than two years.
Eligibility and caveatsFlorida estate administration
Florida small-estate limit: $150,000
Florida uses summary administration for qualifying estates. The route can depend on both estate value and how long ago the person died.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026
Answer first
Summary administration
The probate estate, after exempt property, may qualify at $150,000 or less. An estate may also qualify regardless of value when the decedent has been dead for more than two years.
Read the eligibility detailsWhat the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Tiered
Summary administration is $230 below $1,000 and $340 at $1,000 or more, and formal administration is $395. Section 28.2401(3) adds a mandatory $4 service charge to each of these petitions.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Statutory schedule
Florida presumes a percentage schedule is reasonable. The base is the compensable value of the estate, meaning the inventory value of the probate assets plus income the estate earned during administration, so it is not the same as the gross probate estate. A court may adjust compensation, and extraordinary services are paid separately.
Compensation detailLimits and unresolved costs
- The $150,000 limit comes from Chapter 2026-57, section 7, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2026. The Legislature's codified statute pages still publish the 2025 edition showing the superseded $75,000 figure, so a reader checking that page will see the older number until the annual codification catches up.
- Section 735.201(1) adds a condition this screen does not evaluate: in a testate estate the will must not direct administration as required by chapter 733. A will can therefore rule out summary administration regardless of value.
- Exempt property is excluded from the threshold, and this tool does not value exempt property, so a result near the limit is provisional.
- The two-year route is separate from the $150,000 route.
- The clerk charges are maximums the statute permits, and a court may increase them in an individual matter on a showing of extraordinary circumstances.
- Attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, certified copies, tax work, and asset-sale costs are not included unless expressly shown.
- Asset title, beneficiary designations, creditor claims, and will terms can change the route.
Use this as a starting point.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
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What Florida courts publish
The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.
- Court resourceFlorida Courts probate resource pageFlorida State Courts System
Limits on court material
- Florida publishes no statewide summary-administration form. The petition is prepared for the circuit court in the county where the decedent lived, and requirements differ by circuit.
- The statewide court system publishes one probate page; county clerk sites carry the operative local instructions.
Primary sources
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Fla. Stat. § 735.201
Reviewed source note: (2) That the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $75,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years.
What this means: Florida codifies its statutes once a year, so this page still serves the 2025 edition and its $75,000 figure is out of date. The limit is $150,000 under Chapter 2026-57. This section is cited here for the conditions the act did not change: the two-year alternate route, and the requirement that a will must not direct administration under chapter 733.
Ch. 2026-57, § 7, Laws of Fla. (amending Fla. Stat. § 735.201(2))
Reviewed source note: (2) That the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $150,000 $75,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years.
What this means: This is the enacted text and it governs. Florida bills print new wording followed by the wording it replaces, so "$150,000 $75,000" means the limit rose to $150,000 and the old $75,000 figure was struck. The act took effect July 1, 2026.
Fla. Stat. § 28.2401(1)
Reviewed source note: (e) Fee for summary administration - estates valued at $1,000 or more .......... $340 (f) Fee for summary administration - estates valued at less than $1,000 .......... $230 (g) Fee for formal administration, guardianship, ancillary, curatorship, or conservatorship proceedings .......... $395
Fla. Stat. § 733.617
Reviewed source note: (2) A commission computed on the compensable value of the estate is presumed to be reasonable compensation for a personal representative in formal administration as follows: (a) At the rate of 3 percent for the first $1 million. (b) At the rate of 2.5 percent for all above $1 million and not exceeding $5 million. (c) At the rate of 2 percent for all above $5 million and not exceeding $10 million. (d) At the rate of 1.5 percent for all above $10 million.