How to Sell a House in Probate in Florida

Inheriting a home is rarely just an inheritance. It's a project — paperwork, property taxes you may not have known about, sometimes belongings that haven't been touched in decades. If the property has to move through probate before it can be sold, that adds another layer. The good news is that selling a Florida home in probate is a well-trodden path, and once you know the steps, it's far less intimidating than it sounds.

First: do you actually need probate?

Not every Florida property requires probate to be sold. If the home was held in a living trust, owned jointly with rights of survivorship, or had a Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate) in place, the property may pass directly to a beneficiary. Before you do anything else, get the deed to the property and have an attorney confirm how it was titled.

Formal vs. summary administration

If probate is required, Florida offers two main paths. Formal administration is the standard process and usually takes six to twelve months. Summary administration is a faster track available when the estate is worth less than $75,000 (excluding exempt property) or the decedent has been gone for more than two years. A summary case can sometimes wrap in 60–90 days.

The personal representative's role

Whoever is named in the will (or appointed by the court if there's no will) becomes the personal representative — what other states call an executor. The personal representative is the only person legally authorized to sign a sale contract on behalf of the estate. If multiple heirs disagree, the personal representative still signs, but smart buyers will ask for written sign-off from all heirs to avoid future disputes.

What about the contents of the house?

Decades of accumulation, a garage full of paperwork, furniture that no one in the family wants — this is one of the harder parts of an inherited sale. Most cash buyers (including us) will take the house with everything in it. You take what's meaningful, leave the rest.

What it usually costs

• Probate attorney fees — typically 3% of the estate value, sometimes flat-fee for simpler estates
• Court filing fees — a few hundred dollars
• Title clearance and curative work — varies by complexity
• Property carrying costs during probate — taxes, insurance, utilities, often the biggest hidden cost

That last bullet is what catches most heirs off guard. If probate takes nine months and the property is sitting empty, you're paying for nine months of insurance, taxes, and possibly a sky-high cooling bill in the South Florida summer. The faster the home moves to closing, the more of the estate's value is preserved.

When a fast cash sale makes sense

Listing a probate property on the open market can work, but it adds repairs, showings, and uncertainty. A direct sale to a credible buyer — closing as soon as letters issue — is often the cleanest option, especially when heirs live out of state or simply want the chapter closed.