How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in Florida?

In Florida, the Circuit Court appoints the personal representative and the The Circuit Court issues Letters of Administration; every appointment goes through the court.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in Florida

Personal Representative

The form that opens the estate

No statewide fill-in form

Attorney-drafted pleading

Where you file

Circuit Court (Probate Division)

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters of Administration

issued by The Circuit Court

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

Florida Probate Rule 5.030(a) requires a Florida-admitted attorney to represent every personal representative unless the PR remains the sole interested person in the estate (or is themselves a Florida attorney). E-filing through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal is required of attorneys (Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.525(b)(1)) and an election for self-represented filers, who may otherwise submit paper to the clerk (Rule 2.525(b)(2), (c)(1)(A)). The attorney requirement, not the filing channel, is the binding constraint on most formal administrations.

Florida has no statewide fillable petition-for-administration or Letters form, so practice is governed by the statewide Florida Probate Rules (5.200, 5.235) while each of the 20 judicial circuits / 67 county clerks supplies its own cover sheets, filing checklists, and sometimes sample petitions and proposed orders. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit, for example, publishes a circuit-specific "Probate Smart Forms" library (formal administration, summary administration testate and intestate, curator, homestead, fee petitions) that the Miami-Dade Clerk links from its probate page. Some circuit clerks publish small-estate (summary administration / disposition) packets locally.

Bond

Required before Letters: Yes
Waivable by will: Yes
Waivable by beneficiaries: No

What to file with the petition

Verified Petition for Administration drafted to Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 (petitioner interest, decedent data, beneficiaries, venue, § 733.301 priority, will statement, asset value)
Original of the decedent's last will and any codicils (deposited with the court within 10 days of knowledge of death, Fla. Stat. § 732.901), in a testate estate
A copy of an official record of the decedent's death — NOT a "certified" copy, and NOT filed with the petition in a formal administration. Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a) requires "a copy of an official record of the death", due in an administration "not later than 3 months following the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors" (5.205(a)(1)) — i.e. after Letters issue — and at the time of filing in summary administration (5.205(a)(3)) and disposition without administration (5.205(a)(4)). The court may dispense with the rule entirely on verified petition, without notice or hearing (5.205(b)). The committee note directs the SHORT FORM: "A short form certificate of death, which does not disclose the cause of death, should be filed." Separately, an AUTHENTICATED copy of a death certificate is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date and time of death (Fla. Prob. R. 5.171(a); Fla. Stat. § 731.103(1)) — the word "certified" is defined in Rule 5.015(b)(1) and is used nowhere in the death-record rules
Oath of Personal Representative ("Before the granting of letters of administration, the prospective personal representative must file an oath to faithfully administer the estate of the decedent", Fla. Prob. R. 5.320) plus the address designation and designation of / acceptance by a resident agent required before letters issue (Fla. Prob. R. 5.110(a)-(d) "Before letters are issued ... must file a designation of resident agent for service of process or notice, and the acceptance by the resident agent"; Fla. Prob. R. 5.235(a)(3))
Bond unless waived by the will or by the court (Fla. Stat. § 733.402; Fla. Prob. R. 5.235(c))
Formal notice on, or waiver/joinder by, any person with equal or higher appointment preference — the petition must state "whether or not any other person has equal or higher preference, and if so, their name and whether they will be served with formal notice" (Fla. Prob. R. 5.200(e))

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: Yes

State-specific notes

Florida uses a single "Letters of Administration" instrument and the title "personal representative" for both testate (executor-named) and intestate estates; appointment priority follows Fla. Stat. § 733.301 (nominee in will, then person selected by a majority in interest of the persons entitled to the estate, then a devisee; intestate: surviving spouse then heirs). Summary administration is available when "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 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years" (Fla. Stat. § 735.201(2), as amended by ch. 2026-57, § 7, Laws of Fla., eff. July 1, 2026); it ends in a court order of distribution with no personal representative and no Letters. Disposition without administration of intestate property in small estates (Fla. Stat. § 735.304, as amended by ch. 2026-57, § 10; Fla. Prob. R. 5.425: intestate, only exempt personalty plus non-exempt personalty ≤ $20,000 plus preferred funeral and last-60-days medical expenses, decedent dead more than 1 year, no administration pending) distributes by affidavit; a separate no-ceiling path (Fla. Stat. § 735.301; Fla. Prob. R. 5.420) covers estates whose non-exempt personalty does not exceed funeral plus last-60-days medical expenses. The attorney-representation requirement of Fla. Prob. R. 5.030(a) (sole-interested-person exception) is the defining constraint on do-it-yourself Florida probate.

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

Florida has no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court issues Letters of Administration after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, Florida generally requires: Verified Petition for Administration drafted to Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 (petitioner interest, decedent data, beneficiaries, venue, § 733.301 priority, will statement, asset value); Original of the decedent's last will and any codicils (deposited with the court within 10 days of knowledge of death, Fla. Stat. § 732.901), in a testate estate.

Yes. Florida requires a bond by default before Letters issue. A will can waive it.

Florida permits a self-represented person to open an estate. E-filing is open to self-represented filers. The Florida self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in Florida: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

Getting Appointed in Florida

Authority to act for the estate comes from Letters issued in Florida by The Circuit Court, on appointment by the Circuit Court. The document is Letters of Administration. Florida has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code.

Florida publishes no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the court. The filing fee is $400. Florida has no informal (registrar) appointment track, so every appointment goes through the court.

Florida requires a bond by default before Letters issue, though a will can waive it.

The Florida self-file probate assessment compares self-filing and attorney costs for opening the estate, and the estate settlement plan walks through each step after appointment.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 8, 2026

Legal Sources

Data sourced from Florida statutes and official state code. How we research.

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