When a loved one passes away in Palm Beach County, you do not always need a long, expensive court process to transfer their property. Florida law offers streamlined paths for modest estates, and our Boca Raton practice is built around those paths: summary administration, disposition without administration, and the practical handling of small estates under the Florida Probate Code (Chapters 731-735).
Most families who walk into a probate lawyer’s office assume they are facing a year of formal administration. Often, they are not. If the probate estate is worth $75,000 or less, or if the decedent has been dead for more than two years, Florida may allow summary administration instead. The difference is measured in months and dollars.
What Makes a Small Estate Different in Florida
Florida treats estates differently based on size and asset type. Many homes pass as protected homestead, many accounts pass by beneficiary designation, and what remains in the probate estate is frequently small enough to qualify for an abbreviated process. Our focus is identifying, early, whether your situation fits summary administration under Florida Statutes 735.201 or the even simpler disposition without administration under 735.301.
We look first at what actually has to go through probate. Joint accounts, payable-on-death designations, life insurance with named beneficiaries, and assets held in a revocable trust (Chapter 736) usually bypass probate entirely. What is left is the estate we help you administer.
Summary vs. Formal Administration
Summary administration is a petition-based process with no personal representative appointed. It suits qualifying small estates and older estates. Formal administration involves appointing a personal representative, issuing Letters of Administration, and a full creditor period. Part of our job is steering you to the lighter process whenever Florida law permits, and recognizing the cases that genuinely require formal administration, such as estates with unknown creditors or contested claims.
Homestead, Creditors, and the Family Home
Florida’s homestead protections are powerful. A protected homestead generally passes outside the reach of most creditors and descends under Article X of the Florida Constitution and Section 732.401. We routinely file petitions to determine homestead status so a surviving spouse or children can take clear title, often without dragging the whole estate through formal administration.
How We Work
We keep the engagement narrow and the costs predictable. For a clean summary administration, that usually means gathering the death certificate, the will (if any), an asset list, and creditor information, then preparing the petition and proposed order for the Palm Beach County probate court. We tell you up front when a case is straightforward and when it is not.
Talk to a Florida Probate Attorney
Every estate is fact-specific, and small differences in asset titling or creditor status can change which process applies. This page is general information, not legal advice. Before filing anything, consult a licensed Florida attorney who can review your particular documents and goals. We serve Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of probate and estate administration in Florida. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles special needs planning in New York.