Florida Probate & Real Estate Services
Ancillary Probate Administrations
Ancillary probate refers to a probate proceeding that is required in addition to a domiciliary probate proceeding, usually in a state other than the decedent’s state of primary residence. It is typically required to enable heirs to dispose of property owned by the decedent. For example, let’s say that the decedent, a resident of and domiciled in New York, dies owning real estate in Florida. The decedent’s primary state, New York, has jurisdiction over the decedent’s New York assets in the domiciliary probate proceedings, but the Florida courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the Florida real estate. An ancillary probate proceeding in Florida would be required to clear the title of the Florida real estate into the decedent’s heirs or before the Florida real estate could be sold.
Domiciliary Probate Proceedings
Summary Probate Administrations
Summary Probate may be applicable for estates less than $75,000 or when the decedent has been dead more than two years. Summary Administration is a form of probate intended to deal with smaller estates and in which there are either no creditors or all creditors are known and there is a plan to pay the creditors through the Summary Administration. Unlike a Formal Administration, in a Summary Administration essentially all required documents are submitted to the court at one time and the court enters its Order of Summary Administration. This Order directs the distribution of Estate assets and the payment of creditors. No Personal Representative is appointed in a Summary Administration. This simple form of probate is desirable when appropriate because it can be accomplished at a lower cost and in a shorter period of time.
Intestate Estate Administrations
Florida Real Estate Transactions and Title Insurance Services
If your estate has Florida real estate as an estate asset, our office can handle the disposition of the real estate. One of our attorneys is Board Certified by The Florida Bar as a real estate specialist. Our real estate department has handled over 14,000 closings for over 11,000 clients over the last 47 years. We can efficiently and cost effectively combine the probate and transactional real estate needs of your client into one convenient service provider. Imagine: no more dropping of the ball between the probate attorney and the title attorney/title company! Our real estate department handles closings in all 67 Florida counties, and is a title agent for one of the nation’s largest and oldest title underwriter.