Florida Probate Law Changes 2026: What HB 1337 Means

What happens to Florida probate on July 1, 2026?

Starting July 1, 2026, Florida estates worth up to $150,000 qualify for summary administration — a faster, lower-cost probate track — up from the old $75,000 cutoff. CS/HB 1337, signed into law as Chapter 2026-57, also doubles the small-estate personal property threshold, eases safe deposit box access for personal representatives, and adds attorney fee disclosure rules.

Key takeaways

• Florida's summary administration threshold doubles from $75,000 to $150,000 (Fla. Stat. § 735.201), effective July 1, 2026.
• The small-estate personal property threshold (Fla. Stat. § 735.301) rises from $10,000 to $20,000.
• Personal representatives get statutory authority to access a decedent's safe deposit box and to sue to enforce their own authority.
• Probate attorneys must now disclose that Florida has no mandatory statutory fee and that fees are negotiable.
• A faster probate process still doesn't replace a will — it doesn't choose your heirs or your children's guardian.

What is CS/HB 1337 and why does it matter?

CS/HB 1337 is the product of the Florida Supreme Court's Workgroup on Uncontested Probate Proceedings, formed in 2024 to streamline routine, uncontested estates clogging Florida's probate courts. The bill passed the Florida House 110-0 and the Senate 37-0, and Governor DeSantis signed it on April 29, 2026, as Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida. It takes effect July 1, 2026.

The bill matters because Florida is one of the largest retirement destinations in the country, and its probate courts process an outsized share of small and mid-size estates — modest homes, retirement accounts, and personal belongings. Doubling the threshold pulls a large slice of those estates out of formal administration, where court oversight, longer timelines, and higher legal costs are the norm.

What is Florida's new summary administration threshold?

Summary administration is Florida's simplified probate option for smaller estates. Before HB 1337, an estate qualified only if its value (minus property exempt from creditor claims) was $75,000 or less, or if the person had been dead for more than two years. As of July 1, 2026, that cap rises to $150,000 under Fla. Stat. § 735.201.

	Before HB 1337	After July 1, 2026
Summary administration threshold	$75,000	$150,000
Small-estate personal property threshold (Fla. Stat. § 735.301)	$10,000	$20,000
Safe deposit box access	Often required a separate court order	Granted on showing letters of administration
Attorney fee disclosure	Not statutorily required	Must disclose fees are negotiable + provide a services/hours summary
Death-more-than-2-years exception	Applies regardless of value	Unchanged

Summary administration typically resolves in weeks rather than the many months (or longer) that formal administration can take, and it skips the requirement to appoint — and post bond for — a formal personal representative in most cases.

How does this change small estate procedures in Florida?

Alongside the headline threshold, HB 1337 raises the cap under Fla. Stat. § 735.301 for disposing of certain personal property without any court administration at all — from $10,000 to $20,000. This route is narrower than summary administration: it generally covers estates consisting only of personal property (not real estate) where funeral expenses and reasonable final medical bills for the last 60 days exceed the estate's value, or the estate qualifies as exempt property under the Florida Constitution.

Combined, the two changes mean more Florida families dealing with a modest house, a car, a bank account, and some personal belongings can now avoid a formal, court-supervised administration entirely, or resolve it through the faster summary track.

A worked example

Consider a Florida retiree who owns a $130,000 condo with no mortgage and a modest brokerage account, and dies with no living spouse. Before July 1, 2026, that estate exceeded the $75,000 summary administration cap by $55,000, so heirs faced formal administration — typically a bonded personal representative, a formal creditor notice period, and months of court oversight before the condo could be sold or transferred. After the effective date, the same estate sits comfortably under the new $150,000 cap and qualifies for summary administration instead, which can often move from petition to distribution in a matter of weeks.

Who benefits most from the higher threshold?

The families who feel this change most are the ones Florida sees constantly: retirees who own a paid-off condo or modest single-family home plus a checking account and some personal belongings, adult children settling a parent's estate where the home was the only major asset, and small business owners whose personal estate (as opposed to the business itself) falls well under six figures. Estates with significant real estate, multiple properties, retirement accounts split across several institutions, or blended-family disputes are less likely to see a practical difference — the threshold change doesn't resolve creditor claims, tax issues, or disagreements among heirs, all of which can still push an estate into formal administration or litigation regardless of value.

How much time and money does summary administration actually save?

Summary administration skips several steps that make formal administration slower: there's generally no requirement to appoint and bond a personal representative, no extended creditor-claim period tied to a formal administration timeline, and fewer ongoing filings with the court. In practice, that often means resolving an estate in a matter of weeks rather than the many months — sometimes a year or more — that a contested or asset-heavy formal administration can take. Legal fees typically track that same difference, since summary administration requires less attorney time overall, even before accounting for the new fee-disclosure requirement HB 1337 adds.

What other changes does HB 1337 make for personal representatives?

Three additional provisions matter for anyone who ends up serving as a personal representative (Florida's term for what other states call an executor):

1. Safe deposit box access. Financial institutions must grant a personal representative access to a decedent's safe deposit box once shown a copy of the letters of administration — closing off a common source of delay when banks previously required separate court orders.
2. Authority to enforce their own role. The law explicitly authorizes personal representatives to bring legal action to enforce their authority under the Florida Probate Code, and to recover associated costs, including attorney fees, when they have to do so.
3. Attorney fee transparency. Florida has never had a mandatory statutory probate attorney fee, but many families assumed one existed. HB 1337 requires attorneys to disclose that fees are negotiable and to give clients a summary of services performed or hours worked.

Does a faster probate process mean you don't need a will in Florida?

No. Summary administration and the small-estate personal property process are about speed and cost inside probate — they don't touch who inherits. Without a will, a qualifying $140,000 Florida estate still gets distributed under the state's intestacy statute, not your wishes, and a court — not you — still picks a guardian for minor children.

A will remains the only standard document that lets you name your own executor, direct specific bequests, and nominate a guardian. Dying without a will hands all of that to the state's default rules, regardless of how fast the resulting probate case moves. And a properly signed online will is valid in Florida under the same execution formalities — two witnesses and, for a self-proving affidavit, a notary — that apply to any Florida will. Florida's exact requirements are summarized on our Florida wills page, and Pactlio Wills builds a Florida-specific will with those signing steps included.

How do these changes affect an existing Florida estate plan?

If your estate plan already relies on a living trust to avoid probate altogether, HB 1337 doesn't change your strategy — trust assets never enter probate regardless of the summary administration threshold. See will vs. living trust for how the two options differ.

If you don't have a trust and expect your Florida estate to fall under $150,000, the practical effect is good news: your heirs are more likely to qualify for the faster, cheaper summary track. That's a reason to make sure your will (or your state's intestacy default, if you skip one) actually reflects who you want handling the estate and raising your kids — not a reason to skip estate planning altogether.

Common mistakes people make with this change

• Assuming the new $150,000 cap applies automatically to an estate already in probate. Cases already filed generally follow the rules in effect on the filing date — confirm with the court handling the matter.
• Confusing "faster probate" with "no will needed." The threshold change affects process, not inheritance rights.
• Forgetting real estate can push an estate over the personal-property-only small estate limit. The $20,000 figure under Fla. Stat. § 735.301 applies to a narrower personal-property-only category than the $150,000 summary administration threshold.
• Not updating beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and life insurance with named beneficiaries bypass probate — and this threshold — entirely, for better or worse if they're outdated.

Sources

• Florida Senate, 2026 Bill Summaries — CS/HB 1337: https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/billsummaries/2026/html/1337
• Florida House of Representatives, CS/HB 1337 bill history: https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=84073
• Florida Statutes § 735.201, Summary administration; nature of proceedings: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0735/Sections/0735.201.html
• Florida Statutes § 735.301, Disposition without administration: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0735/Sections/0735.301.html
• Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute — Probate: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/probate

This article is for informational purposes. Pactlio generates professional drafts for review — not legal advice.