How to Sell a House in Probate in Florida

Yes, you can sell a house in probate in Florida. Once the circuit court gives someone authority over the property, either a personal representative with letters of administration or beneficiaries named in a summary administration order, the house can be sold, and the sale can be lined up while the court process is still running. The key questions are which type of Florida probate applies, whether the will grants a power of sale, and whether the property is protected homestead.

This guide covers each of those questions, the statutes that control them, and the practical sequence Florida families follow to turn an estate property into cash without stepping on a legal landmine.

How does probate work in Florida?

Florida probate runs through the circuit court in the county where the decedent lived. In Miami that is the Eleventh Judicial Circuit serving Miami-Dade County, in Tampa the Thirteenth Circuit serving Hillsborough County, in Orlando the Ninth Circuit serving Orange County, and in Jacksonville the Fourth Circuit serving Duval County. Each circuit has a probate division that handles estates, and each county clerk accepts the filings.

Florida offers two main forms of administration under the Florida Probate Code:

Formal administration (Chapter 733, Florida Statutes) is the full process. The court appoints a personal representative, issues letters of administration, requires notice to creditors, and supervises the estate until it closes. Most estates that include a house of meaningful value and other assets go this route.

Summary administration (Chapter 735) is the shortcut. It is available when the value of the entire estate subject to administration, excluding exempt property, does not exceed the statutory cap, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. No personal representative is appointed. Instead, the court enters an order distributing the assets directly to the people entitled to them.

There is also a very limited “disposition without administration” for tiny estates consisting only of certain personal property, but it never applies when a house must be transferred, so it is not a sale path.

One structural fact surprises many families: in most formal administrations, Florida requires the personal representative to be represented by an attorney. This is not optional lawyering. Plan for estate counsel from day one.

What changed on July 1, 2026: the $150,000 summary administration cap

For years, summary administration was capped at $75,000 in nonexempt assets under Section 735.201, Florida Statutes. Effective July 1, 2026, that cap doubled to $150,000 under CS/HB 1337, enacted as Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida. The same legislation raised the disposition-without-administration limit for qualifying personal property from $10,000 to $20,000.

This matters for house sales more than it first appears, because of what does not count toward the cap. Protected homestead is excluded from the calculation, along with exempt property. A family whose main inherited asset is the homestead house plus a modest bank account may now qualify for summary administration even though the house itself is worth far more than $150,000.

The second qualifying route is independent of value: if the decedent has been dead for more than two years, the estate qualifies for summary administration regardless of size, because Florida’s two-year statute of repose has extinguished most creditor claims by then. Families who discover an unprobated estate years after a death often find this is their cleanest path to selling the property.

You can read the statute itself at the Florida Legislature’s site for Section 735.201, and the Florida Senate’s summary of the 2026 bill describes the threshold change.

Can the personal representative sell the house without court approval?

Often yes, and the controlling statute is Section 733.613, Florida Statutes. It draws a clean line:

• If the will confers a specific power to sell real property, or a general power to sell any estate asset, the personal representative may sell, mortgage, or lease estate real property without any court authorization or confirmation. The statute says the sale need not be justified by a showing of necessity, and a buyer under such a power takes title free of claims of estate creditors and beneficiaries, other than existing recorded liens.
• If there is no power of sale in the will, or there is no will, the personal representative must obtain a court order authorizing or confirming the sale.

Practically, this means the first document your attorney and your title company will read is the will. A well-drafted Florida will almost always includes a power of sale, and when it does, the probate sale looks much like a normal sale with extra paperwork: the personal representative signs the contract and deed, the title company verifies the letters, and the closing proceeds.

When court authorization is needed, the personal representative petitions the court, interested persons get notice, and the judge enters an order authorizing the sale. Florida does not use the auction-style confirmation hearings with open overbidding that some states require, so the added step is usually measured in weeks of scheduling rather than a competitive re-bid of the house.

What are the ways to sell, compared?

Every path ends the same way: a Florida title company insures the buyer’s title based on the court paperwork, pays liens from proceeds, and records the deed.

Why does Florida homestead change the analysis?

Florida’s homestead protection, rooted in Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, is the strongest in the country, and it cuts through probate in three ways that matter for a sale.

First, creditor protection. When protected homestead passes to the decedent’s spouse or heirs, it passes free of the claims of most estate creditors. Practically, that means the house may be sellable by the heirs without the proceeds being consumed by the decedent’s unsecured debts. Mortgages, property tax liens, and similar secured claims still ride with the property.

Second, exclusion from the summary administration cap. As covered above, the homestead’s value does not count toward the $150,000 limit, which opens the simplified process to many house-centered estates.

Third, devise restrictions. If the decedent was survived by a spouse or a minor child, the constitution limits how the homestead could be left in a will. A devise that violates those restrictions fails, and the property descends by a statutory formula instead, often a life estate to the spouse with a remainder to descendants, or an elective half-and-half tenancy in common. Selling in that situation requires signatures from everyone holding an interest.

Because of all three, Florida title companies almost universally require a court order determining homestead status before they will insure a sale of a decedent’s primary residence. Getting the petition to determine homestead filed early, alongside the main probate petition, is one of the simplest ways to keep a Florida probate sale on schedule. This is also the single area of Florida probate where an experienced probate attorney earns their fee many times over; do not attempt a homestead determination by guesswork.

Step by step: selling a probate house in Florida

Step 1: Engage a Florida probate attorney. Required in most formal administrations, and worth it in summary administrations involving real estate. The attorney files in the correct circuit court and manages notices and orders.

Step 2: File the petition and get authority. For formal administration, the court admits the will if there is one, appoints the personal representative, and issues letters of administration. Certified copies of the letters are the key document for every later step. For summary administration, the petition asks the court to distribute the assets by order.

Step 3: Address homestead. If the property was the decedent’s primary residence, petition for an order determining homestead status. Confirm whether a surviving spouse or minor child triggers the devise restrictions.

Step 4: Publish notice to creditors. In formal administration, the personal representative publishes a notice to creditors, and claimants generally have three months from first publication to file claims. Known or reasonably ascertainable creditors must also be served directly. The estate should not fully distribute sale proceeds until the claim period and any disputes resolve.

Step 5: Establish value. Obtain a date-of-death appraisal. It supports the estate inventory, documents the stepped-up tax basis for capital gains purposes, and anchors the sale price discussion among beneficiaries.

Step 6: Keep the property alive. The estate pays taxes, insurance, any mortgage, utilities, and maintenance until closing. In Florida, confirm the homeowner policy covers a vacant dwelling, and mind hurricane season deductibles on an empty house.

Step 7: Solicit offers and go under contract. The personal representative or the summary-administration beneficiaries can list with an agent or take direct cash offers. If court authorization for the sale is needed, the contract should be contingent on the order.

Step 8: Close. The title company verifies letters, orders, and the homestead determination, pays off liens, collects Florida’s documentary stamp tax on the deed from proceeds, and records. Remaining funds flow to the estate or, in summary administration, to the selling beneficiaries directly.

How long does it take, realistically?

For formal administration, expect letters of administration within several weeks to a couple of months of filing, depending on the circuit’s caseload. The overall administration typically runs six to twelve months for an uncontested estate, driven mostly by the three-month creditor window and ordinary court scheduling. Contested estates run longer. Summary administration is faster: uncontested petitions often produce an order within weeks to a few months.

The useful insight for sellers is that the sale does not have to wait for the end of the process. A personal representative with a power of sale can close as soon as the letters and homestead order exist, months before the estate itself is closed. Families that start marketing the property while the petition is pending routinely cut their total timeline nearly in half compared with families that wait for the estate to conclude before calling a buyer. Our guide on how long probate takes breaks down the drivers in more detail.

If you are not certain the estate even needs probate, perhaps the house was in a trust or owned jointly with a survivor, start with our guide on whether you need probate to sell an inherited house.

What does a Florida probate sale cost?

Budget for four buckets:

• Court costs and filing fees, which vary by county and by the type of administration, and are set by each clerk of court.
• Attorney fees. Florida Statute 733.6171 provides a fee schedule that is presumed reasonable for personal representative attorneys, scaled to the size of the estate, though fees can also be agreed differently. Ask for the fee basis in writing at engagement.
• Carrying costs while the estate holds the property: taxes, insurance, mortgage interest, utilities, lawn and pool care. On a typical Florida house these run four figures per month, which is why speed has real dollar value.
• Sale costs. Florida sellers customarily pay documentary stamp tax on the deed at 70 cents per $100 of price outside Miami-Dade County, plus any agent commission if the property is listed. A direct cash sale eliminates commissions and most seller-side closing fees.

Where a cash buyer fits in a Florida probate

Probate properties in Florida are frequently vacant, dated, storm-worn, or full of a lifetime of belongings. A cash buyer removes every one of those obstacles from the family’s plate: the purchase is as-is, no repairs or cleanouts are required, and there is no lender appraisal or financing contingency to fail three weeks into escrow.

Just as important for probate is schedule flexibility. A conventional buyer needs a close date; a Florida probate has a court date. HomeWise writes offers that close on the court’s timeline, whether that is days after letters issue or after a summary administration order records. We buy houses throughout Florida, including Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville, and we will never ask an estate to convey title before its authority exists, because no legitimate closing can happen that way.

You can see how we operate across the state on our Florida cash buyer page, or read the national overview in our guide to selling a house in probate.

The bottom line

Florida probate is navigable, and for house sales it is friendlier than its reputation. A will with a power of sale lets the personal representative sell without court confirmation under Statute 733.613. The new $150,000 summary administration threshold, with homestead excluded from the count, gives many families a fast lane. The two traps to respect are homestead, which needs a court determination and attorney guidance, and the creditor window, which shapes when proceeds can safely be distributed.

Line up your attorney, resolve homestead early, and have a buyer ready to close the moment authority exists. Request a no-obligation cash offer from HomeWise and we will put a written number and a court-flexible close date in your hands within 24 hours.