Estate Accounting and Inventory Requirements in Florida Probate

In a Florida probate, the personal representative must file a verified inventory of the decedent’s property within 60 days after letters of administration are issued, and later provide an accounting showing how that property was managed and distributed. The inventory is a dated snapshot of what the estate owned at death; the accounting is the running ledger of what happened to it afterward. Both are governed by Florida’s Probate Code and Probate Rules, and the rules tighten or loosen depending on whether the estate runs through formal administration or summary administration.

That distinction matters a great deal in Palm Beach County, where many of the estates we handle in Boca Raton are modest enough to qualify for summary administration. Knowing which track an estate falls on tells you, up front, whether you are facing a full fiduciary accounting or almost none of it. Below is how an experienced Florida probate lawyer thinks through these requirements.

The Florida Probate Inventory: What It Is and When It’s Due

The inventory is the foundation document of a formal estate administration. Under Florida Statutes § 733.604 and Florida Probate Rule 5.340, the personal representative must file a verified inventory listing the decedent’s property “with reasonable detail,” and stating the estimated fair market value of each item as of the date of death. The deadline is 60 days after the court issues letters of administration.

A few features of the inventory trip people up, so it’s worth slowing down on them:

• Date-of-death value, not today’s value. If a brokerage account held $200,000 the day the decedent died, that is the figure that goes on the inventory, even if the market has moved since. The date-of-death valuation also drives the basis step-up for income-tax purposes, so it is not a place to guess.
• Only probate assets. Jointly held property with rights of survivorship, accounts with valid pay-on-death or transfer-on-death designations, and life insurance paid to a named beneficiary generally pass outside probate and do not belong on the estate inventory. The homestead is its own special category and is often listed separately or addressed in a petition to determine homestead status.
• It must be verified. The personal representative signs under oath. An inventory is not an estimate-by-feel exercise; if an asset’s value is uncertain, get an appraisal.
• It is largely confidential. Unlike most probate filings, the inventory is not freely available to the public. Under § 733.604, inspection is generally limited to the clerk, the personal representative and their attorney, and other interested persons.

If an interested person asks how a particular value was reached, the personal representative has to explain the method behind the number, whether it came from an appraisal, a brokerage statement, a Kelley Blue Book figure, or a comparable-sales analysis on real estate. That transparency requirement is one reason it pays to document valuations as you go rather than reconstruct them later.

Amended and Supplementary Inventories

Estates are rarely tidy. A safe-deposit box turns up. An old annuity surfaces. When new assets appear, or when a listed value turns out to be wrong, the personal representative files an amended or supplementary inventory rather than ignoring the change. The duty to give an accurate picture is ongoing, not a one-time box to check at day 60.

The Estate Accounting: Tracking Every Dollar In and Out

Where the inventory is a snapshot, the accounting is the movie. Florida Probate Rule 5.346 governs the form and content of fiduciary accountings, and it is strict. The rule follows uniform fiduciary accounting principles, which means the accounting is not a casual list of checks written; it is a structured financial statement that a judge and the beneficiaries can audit line by line.

A compliant Florida probate accounting separates principal from income and reconciles back to the inventory. In practice, it is organized into schedules:

1. Starting assets — the inventory carried forward at its values.
2. Receipts — income and other money coming in, such as dividends, interest, rent, and refunds.
3. Disbursements — money paid out: funeral expenses, creditor claims, taxes, attorney and personal representative fees, maintenance on real property.
4. Distributions — what went to beneficiaries.
5. Capital transactions and adjustments — gains or losses on the sale of assets, shown at both cost and sale price.
6. Assets on hand at the end of the period — what remains, which must mathematically tie out.

The discipline here is that everything has to balance. Beginning assets, plus receipts, minus disbursements and distributions, adjusted for gains and losses, must equal the assets on hand. When that equation doesn’t close, it usually means a transaction was misclassified or a receipt was missed, and a beneficiary’s attorney will find it.

The Final Accounting and Closing the Estate

Before a formal estate is discharged, the personal representative files a final accounting covering the entire administration, along with a petition for discharge and a plan of distribution. Beneficiaries get notice and a window to object. If no one objects, or after objections are resolved, the court enters an order of discharge and the personal representative’s job ends. Skipping or papering over the final accounting is one of the more common ways a personal representative gets personally exposed, because the accounting is what proves the estate was handled honestly.

The duty underneath all of this comes from Florida Statutes § 733.602, which makes the personal representative a fiduciary held to the standards of care that apply to trustees. That is a high bar. A personal representative is expected to settle and distribute the estate efficiently and in the best interests of the people who have a stake in it, including creditors, and the accounting is how that stewardship is demonstrated.

Waiving the Accounting by Agreement

Florida law lets the beneficiaries of an estate waive a formal accounting if they all agree in writing. In a harmonious family where everyone trusts the personal representative, a waiver can save real time and expense. But a waiver is not a license to cut corners. The personal representative still owes fiduciary duties, still has to be able to show where the money went, and still bears the risk if a beneficiary later claims they were misled. We generally advise keeping the underlying records in accounting-ready form even when the beneficiaries waive, precisely so the fiduciary can defend the administration if relationships sour.

Summary Administration: When the Inventory and Accounting Largely Disappear

This is the part that matters most for the smaller estates we focus on in Boca Raton. Florida’s summary administration, available under Florida Statutes § 735.201, applies when the value of the probate estate (less the value of property exempt from creditors’ claims) is $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. Summary administration is a streamlined, no-personal-representative track, and it skips most of the inventory-and-accounting machinery described above.

In a summary administration there is no formal inventory filed under § 733.604 and no Rule 5.346 fiduciary accounting, because no personal representative is appointed to manage the estate over time. Instead, the asset detail lives inside the Petition for Summary Administration itself. The petition must identify the estate’s assets and their estimated values, identify the people entitled to receive them, and set out a proposed distribution. The court reviews that one filing and, if everything checks out, enters an order distributing the assets directly. There is no ongoing administration to account for.

That does not mean summary administration is consequence-free. A few cautions we give clients:

• The petitioner must still make a diligent, good-faith effort to identify and notify creditors; those who received notice or are reasonably ascertainable can pursue the assets they receive.
• Anyone who receives estate property in a summary administration can remain liable to creditors and other claimants, up to the value of what they received, for two years after death.
• If you understate or omit assets in the petition, you have the same exposure for inaccuracy that a personal representative would have on an inventory.

So even on the streamlined track, the asset disclosure has to be accurate and complete. The work simply moves from a series of court filings into one carefully drafted petition. You can read more about how that election is made on our Florida probate overview page, and about coordinating it with the underlying estate plan on our wills and estates page.

Why These Requirements Trip Up Personal Representatives

The inventory and accounting are where good intentions meet fiduciary liability. A personal representative who pays bills from the wrong account, distributes to a beneficiary before creditors are cleared, or values an asset carelessly can end up personally on the hook. Many of trace back to sloppy or late financial disclosure rather than to genuine disputes over who inherits.

The deadlines are also unforgiving in their own quiet way. Sixty days for the inventory sounds generous until you realize how long it can take to get account statements, locate real-property records, and obtain appraisals. Starting early, and keeping a clean ledger from the first day of administration, is the single most effective thing a personal representative can do to make the accounting painless later.

These principles are not unique to Florida. The same fiduciary logic governs estate administration in other states, including New York, where Morgan Legal’s team handles under that state’s analogous accounting rules. If you are administering an estate that touches more than one state, those parallel duties can overlap in ways worth mapping out with counsel. For Florida-specific matters across the state, Morgan Legal also maintains a dedicated .

Talk to a Boca Raton Probate Attorney

Whether your loved one’s estate calls for a full formal administration with a 60-day inventory and a final accounting, or qualifies for the lighter-touch summary administration, the safest path is to get the financial picture right from the start. If you have questions about valuing assets, preparing an inventory, or building an accounting that will hold up, reach out to our Boca Raton probate team for a focused conversation about your estate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file the inventory in a Florida probate?

Under Florida Statutes section 733.604, the personal representative must file a verified inventory within 60 days after the court issues letters of administration. The inventory lists the decedent’s probate property in reasonable detail with each item’s fair market value as of the date of death, and it can be amended or supplemented if new assets surface or values change.

Is a formal estate accounting required if the estate qualifies for summary administration?

No. Summary administration under Florida Statutes section 735.201 does not appoint a personal representative to manage the estate over time, so there is no Rule 5.346 fiduciary accounting and no separate 733.604 inventory. The asset details and proposed distribution are instead set out in the Petition for Summary Administration, which the court reviews before ordering distribution.

Can beneficiaries waive the estate accounting in Florida?

Yes. If all beneficiaries agree in writing, they can waive a formal final accounting. The personal representative still owes fiduciary duties under section 733.602 and should keep complete records, because a waiver does not erase liability if a beneficiary later questions how the estate was handled.

What is the difference between an estate inventory and an estate accounting?

The inventory is a date-of-death snapshot of what the estate owned, with values, filed within 60 days. The accounting is the ongoing financial record showing receipts, disbursements, gains, losses, and distributions during administration, organized into schedules under Florida Probate Rule 5.346 and reconciled back to the inventory.

What value do I put on the inventory if asset prices have changed since the death?

You use the fair market value as of the decedent’s date of death, not the current value. That figure also establishes the income-tax basis step-up, so uncertain assets such as real estate or closely held businesses should be supported by an appraisal rather than an estimate.