The Quiet Half of Florida's 2026 Probate Reform: New Enforcement Powers Against Banks and Stonewallers

Most of the attention surrounding CS/HB 1337 — the Florida probate reform bill that passed both chambers unanimously, became chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, and took effect on July 1, 2026 — has focused on the headline change: the summary administration threshold doubling from $75,000 to $150,000. That change affects more families more visibly. But buried in the same bill is a quieter set of amendments that probate attorneys will likely use far more often, in far more estate administrations: a brand-new mechanism to compel financial institutions to honor valid letters of administration, and to make them pay when they don't.

Interactions with financial institutions are the single largest source of friction in Florida probate administration. A personal representative presents valid Letters of Administration — the court-issued document that is supposed to be sufficient legal authority to act on behalf of an estate — and the bank or brokerage responds with a list of extralegal demands: their own proprietary forms, notarized indemnification agreements, requirements to visit a specific branch, demands for additional death certificates beyond what the law requires, or simply weeks of silence.

None of these demands have any basis in Florida law. The Florida Probate Code is clear: Letters of Administration are the personal representative's legal authority. But because the cost of fighting an institution in court typically exceeded the cost of simply complying, institutions faced no practical consequence for stonewalling. The result was delay, frustration, and estates that stayed open months longer than they should.

Effective July 1, 2026, the act creates Florida Statute § 733.6125, titled "Proceedings to enforce authority." The new statute authorizes a personal representative to initiate a court proceeding — not a full lawsuit, but a targeted enforcement action — when a financial institution refuses to recognize valid letters or imposes extralegal conditions.

The strongest element of the new statute is its fee-shifting provision. When the personal representative prevails, the court must award taxable costs and attorney's fees, and it may direct that they be paid by any person — a bank included — whose action or inaction made the proceeding necessary. That fee shift changes the calculus entirely. Previously, institutions faced no downside for delay. Under § 733.6125, an unjustified refusal can carry a direct financial consequence.

The legislation also amends Florida Statute § 655.933 to require financial institutions to grant a personal representative access to the decedent's safe deposit box upon presentation of letters of administration. Under prior law, institutions frequently required the personal representative to obtain a separate court order before they would open a box — a step that added weeks to estate administration and served no legitimate legal purpose. The amended statute eliminates that barrier.

For personal representatives and their attorneys, the new enforcement mechanism changes the opening posture in any institution interaction. Presenting a § 733.6125 enforcement demand alongside valid letters — or simply noting that the right to pursue one exists — is likely to accelerate compliance significantly.

For families navigating estate administration, this reform means that one of the most common and most frustrating delays in closing an estate now has a legal remedy with real teeth. The reform does not guarantee that institutions will cooperate on day one. But it ensures that the cost of not cooperating falls on the institution, not on the family.

The act took effect July 1, 2026, and says nothing about estates that were already open on that date. A personal representative in a pending administration who is being stonewalled should ask whether § 733.6125 is available before assuming it is not.