Fort Lauderdale probate litigation firm serving Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. Handles contested estate and trust matters -- will contests, undue influence and breach of fiduciary duty claims, trust accountings -- alongside probate and trust administration. Serving clients since 2002, with $250 million in verdicts and settlements reported.
Plantation is in Broward County.
More Trust Administration Firms in Broward County
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.
Fort Lauderdale trust and estate firm with a West Palm Beach office, serving Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. Handles probate, trust, and guardianship administration as well as the contested side of all three. Christopher Q. Wintter is board certified by The Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts, and Estates.
Fort Lauderdale estate and probate firm serving Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, and out-of-state families with property here. Handles formal and summary administration and trust administration, plus wills, trusts, powers of attorney, lady-bird deeds, guardianship, and Medicaid planning. The office does not litigate.
Steven Friedman runs a Pembroke Pines estate practice on N. Flamingo Road, serving Broward County including Hollywood, Cooper City, Davie, and Weston. Handles probate and trust administration, will and trust contests, and service as personal representative or trustee, alongside wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and special-needs trusts. He has practiced in South Florida since 1987.
Probate in Broward County
Probate Court Record
Broward County Clerk of Circuit Court
Broward County · 17th Judicial Circuit
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-3:30 PM
Office
201 Southeast 6th Street, Room 03150, 3rd Floor, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Broward County →
Verified October 15, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Broward County? →Settling an estate in Broward 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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Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Pour-Over Will
In Florida, a pour-over will is signed before 2Fla. Stat. § 732.502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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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 Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in Florida happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeFla. Stat. § 736.0101 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 60 daysFla. Stat. §§ 736.0813, 736.1008, 736.10081Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In Florida, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)Fla. Stat. § 736.0708Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Florida: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 60 daysFla. Prob. R. 5.340; Fla. Stat. § 733.604Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 3 monthsFla. Stat. §§ 733.2121, 733.702 (later of 3 months from first publication or 30 days from service on a served creditor), 733.703, 733.705, 733.707, 733.710Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
Florida has no state income tax, so only the federal final Form 1040 is due for the decedentFla. Const. Art. VII, § 5(a)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in Florida take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces no state capital gains taxFla. Const. Art. VII, § 5(a) — "No tax upon estates or inheritances or upon the income of natural persons who are residents or citizens of the state shall be levied by the state"Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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