Probate in Santa Rosa County

Probate Court Record

Santa Rosa County Clerk of Circuit Court

Santa Rosa County · 1st Judicial Circuit

Hours

Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM CT

Office

4025 Avalon Boulevard, Milton, FL 32583

Self-represented filing

Allowed

Self-help forms

How to file probate in Santa Rosa County →

Verified October 15, 2026 · Source

Do I need a lawyer for probate in Santa Rosa County? →Settling an estate in Santa Rosa County →

Guardianship Firms Serving Santa Rosa County

Pensacola firm serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, including Gulf Breeze, Cantonment, Milton, and Navarre. Handles probate, guardianships, wills and trusts, powers of attorney, and death certificate corrections. Partners report over half a century of combined legal experience.

Serves 2 countiesFree consultationEstate PlanningProbateGuardianshipWills Trusts

Shalimar firm on Eglin Parkway, near Fort Walton Beach, serving Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa, and Bay counties since 1987. Handles probate administration, guardianships and conservatorships, and tax-efficient estate planning. Founding shareholder H. Bart Fleet is admitted to the U.S. Tax Court and teaches the Wills, Trusts and Probate course at Northwest Florida State College.

Since 1987Serves 4 countiesEstate PlanningProbateTax PlanningConservatorshipGuardianshipWills Trusts

Pensacola firm serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and Northwest Florida. Gary B. Leuchtman has been Florida Bar board certified in wills, trusts and estates since 1994 and holds a master's degree in taxation. The firm handles probate, guardianship, trusts, special needs planning, and business succession.

Since 2013Serves 2 countiesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawTax Planning+3

Fort Lauderdale two-attorney firm in which both partners hold Florida Bar board certification: David Shulman in Wills, Trusts and Estates and Jill Ginsberg in Elder Law. Handles probate and trust administration for Broward and Palm Beach fiduciaries, plus guardianship — including emergency temporary guardianship — estate planning, and asset protection. Takes probate matters anywhere in Florida.

Serves the whole stateVirtual consultationsEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawTax Planning+3

Winter Park firm serving Orange County and, in probate matters, the entire state of Florida. Represents estate administrators, executors, trustees, and fiduciaries; handles intestate estates, probate real estate, will contests, and probate litigation; and drafts wills, testamentary trusts, and advance directives. Co-founder John R. Gierach has 43 years of experience and an AV Preeminent rating.

Since 1971Serves the whole stateFree consultationEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate LitigationTax Planning+2

Aventura practice serving Miami-Dade and clients throughout Florida, focused exclusively on trust and estate law. Handles formal, summary, and ancillary administration — including Florida timeshares and second homes inherited by out-of-state families — and trust administration with asset collection, distribution, and accounting. Eric S. Kane lectures on probate administration and estate planning.

Solo PracticeServes the whole stateEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateGuardianship

All 13 Florida guardianship firms serving Santa Rosa County →

Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Florida

Free Florida forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Florida.

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Last Will and Testament

In Florida, a will is signed before 2Fla. Stat. § 732.502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyFla. Stat. § 732.502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source.

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Healthcare Power of Attorney

Florida requires 2Fla. Stat. § 765.203Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses for a healthcare power of attorney; notarization is not requiredFla. Stat. § 765.203Verified Oct 15, 2026View source.

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Financial Power of Attorney

Florida requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacityFla. Stat. §§ 709.2101, 709.2104, 709.2105, 709.2106, 709.2108, 709.2109, 709.2113, 709.2119, 709.2120, 709.2201, 709.2202, 709.2208, 709.2209 (2024 supported decisionmaking — informational only, not a POA); § 695.01 (recording); § 695.03 (alternative acknowledgment methods referenced by § 709.2105(2))Verified Oct 21, 2026View source, and it is signed before 2Fla. Stat. §§ 709.2101, 709.2104, 709.2105, 709.2106, 709.2108, 709.2109, 709.2113, 709.2119, 709.2120, 709.2201, 709.2202, 709.2208, 709.2209 (2024 supported decisionmaking — informational only, not a POA); § 695.01 (recording); § 695.03 (alternative acknowledgment methods referenced by § 709.2105(2))Verified Oct 21, 2026View source witnesses and a notary.

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Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Florida

Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Florida: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for Florida.

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

In Florida, four years at a public university cost about $64,352NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is near the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; no state estate or inheritance tax appliesNo state estate or inheritance tax. Fla. Const. Art. VII, § 5(a) caps any Florida estate or inheritance tax at the federal credit amount; the Chapter 198 estate tax (Fla. Stat. § 198.02) is a federal-credit pickup — not repealed, but $0 since EGTRRA eliminated the federal state death tax credit, and the Florida Department of Revenue confirms the estate tax was eliminated for people who died after Dec. 31, 2004. Florida has no inheritance tax and no gift tax.Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?

An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Florida runs $4,320Estimate: 10 hours at $432, Clio's Florida Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $6,480Estimate: 15 hours at $432, Clio's Florida Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,320Estimate: 3 hours at $440, Clio's Florida Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,640Estimate: 6 hours at $440, Clio's Florida Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.

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Who Inherits Without a Will?

Without a will in Florida, a surviving spouse takes the entire estateFla. Stat. § 732.102Verified Oct 21, 2026View source when every child of either spouse is a child of both, and descendants divide what passes to them per stirpesFla. Stat. § 732.104Verified Oct 21, 2026View source.

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