Summary Administration, Homestead, and an Out-of-State Vacation Home
John died domiciled in Florida in January 2025. His will, executed in 2020, leaves everything to his adult daughter, Lisa, and names her personal representative. He was not married and had no minor children. The Florida probate assets are a homestead condominium worth $250,000, titled solely in John's name, and a Florida bank account of $40,000. He also owned a Georgia vacation home worth $300,000. Three months after death, a creditor filed a claim in the Florida probate for $80,000 based on a 2019 contract. No notice to creditors has been published. Lisa wants to use summary administration because she believes the Florida estate is small. The creditor demands payment from the condo sale. Lisa asks whether summary administration is available, how to handle the Georgia property, and what happens to the creditor claim.
1. Is summary administration available? Explain the $75,000 limit and the treatment of homestead.
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Section 735.201 permits summary administration if the value of the estate subject to administration in Florida, less property exempt from creditors' claims, is $75,000 or less, or if the decedent has been dead more than two years. The homestead condominium is exempt from forced sale under Article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution, so its $250,000 value is excluded from the $75,000 calculation. The Florida bank account of $40,000 is non-exempt. The Georgia vacation home is not Florida property subject to Florida administration. The non-exempt Florida value is therefore $40,000, which is below the limit, so summary administration is available. The creditor's $80,000 claim does not change the eligibility calculation, but it does affect distribution. The court may require Lisa to provide for the claim before distributing the non-exempt bank account. The homestead passes to Lisa free of the unsecured claim, and the creditor cannot force a sale of the condo to satisfy it.
2. What must Lisa do to transfer the Georgia vacation home?
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Florida's summary administration order affects only Florida property. The Georgia vacation home is real property located in Georgia, so its transfer is governed by Georgia law. Lisa must open an ancillary administration in the Georgia probate court, filing an authenticated copy of John's Florida will and the Florida probate order. Georgia will determine how the property passes and may require notice to Georgia creditors. The Georgia property should not be included in the Florida summary administration petition as a Florida asset, and the Florida court cannot directly order its transfer. Lisa should coordinate the two proceedings so that the same will is admitted and the estate is not administered twice.
3. If the creditor's claim is valid and timely, how should Lisa handle it, and does the two-year nonclaim statute bar it?
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The claim was filed three months after death. Under section 733.702, a creditor must file within three months after first publication of notice to creditors or 30 days after service of notice on a known creditor. No notice has been published, so the claim is not late on that basis. Under section 733.710, claims are barred two years after death regardless of notice; this claim is well within that period. Lisa should publish notice to creditors, serve known creditors, and then either pay the claim or file an objection under section 733.705. Because the non-exempt Florida assets are only $40,000 and the claim is $80,000, the estate may be insolvent as to the claim. Lisa can use the bank account to pay or settle the claim, but she cannot be required to sell the homestead to pay an unsecured creditor. Any unpaid balance would generally be unenforceable against the homestead.