"Mom named me. Now what?"
This is the call we get most often. A daughter in Winter Park, a son in Apopka, a niece who flew in from Charlotte. Mom or Dad has just passed. The will names them as personal representative. They Google "what does a personal representative do in Florida" at 11:45 PM and end up more confused than when they started.
Take a breath. The first month is mostly logistics, not litigation. There is a sequence Florida courts and the Probate Code expect you to follow, and if you follow it, the rest of the case tends to go smoothly. If you skip steps, every later mistake gets harder and more expensive to fix.
Here is the practical thirty-day plan we walk Orlando-area personal representatives through.
Day one to day three: secure the people, the house, and the paperwork
Funeral arrangements come first. Florida law lets the named personal representative make funeral and burial decisions, but in practice, the family handles this together. If there is a written disposition direction, follow it. Keep every receipt. Funeral and burial expenses get high priority for reimbursement.
Then secure the house. Change the locks if anyone other than the surviving spouse has had a key. We have unfortunately seen siblings and ex-spouses show up within hours to "pick up a few things." That is not allowed under Florida law, and it almost always becomes the first probate fight. Pictures of every room before you let anyone in are cheap insurance.
Locate the original will and any trust documents. The original will, not a copy, must be deposited with the clerk of court in the county where the decedent lived. Florida Statute 732.901 requires this within ten days of receiving notice of the death. Bring it to the courthouse or file electronically. The clerk will give you a deposit confirmation. Save it.
Pull together the basics: certified death certificates, a recent tax return, the most recent bank and brokerage statements, the homeowner insurance declaration page, and a list of any open credit cards or recurring bills.
Day three to day seven: stop the bleeding on bills and benefits
You are not personally responsible for your loved one's debts. You are responsible for not letting things get worse on your watch.
Call the homeowner insurance carrier. Tell them about the death and ask whether the policy needs an unoccupied or vacant rider. An empty Orlando house in hurricane season without a proper rider can mean a denied claim later.
Call the auto insurance carrier. If the car will sit, you usually want to keep collision and comprehensive in place but suspend nothing prematurely. Ask the carrier in writing what they recommend.
Notify Social Security if benefits were being received. Funeral homes often handle this. Confirm it was done. Any benefit deposited after the date of death must be returned, and you do not want to be cleaning that up six months in.
If there was a pension or an annuity, notify the plan administrator. Survivor elections and joint-and-survivor annuities have early deadlines that nobody warns you about.
Do not, repeat do not, start paying creditor claims yet. Florida creditors get notice through the probate process and have a defined claim window. Random pre-probate payments to one creditor can put you personally on the hook to the others. Wait for the formal process.
Day five to day fourteen: get appointed by the court
You are not actually the personal representative until the judge says so. The will nominates you. The Letters of Administration make it official. Until you have those Letters, banks, brokerages, and the IRS will not talk to you.
Meet with a Florida probate attorney. In Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties, formal administration generally requires an attorney unless you are the sole beneficiary. The attorney files the petition for administration along with the deposited will, your oath as personal representative, and a designation of resident agent if you live out of state.
Decide which administration applies. Formal administration is the standard track for most estates. Summary administration is available where the estate qualifies under the current Florida thresholds and timing rules. The right path saves time and money.
Once the court issues Letters of Administration, you have actual authority. Order multiple certified copies. Banks tend to keep one and ask for another two months later.
Day seven to day twenty-one: open the estate accounts and inventory
Open an estate checking account in the name of "Estate of [Decedent], by [Your Name], Personal Representative." This is not optional. Comingling estate funds with your personal account is the single fastest way to get yourself sued.
Move date-of-death balances out of the decedent's individual accounts and into the estate account, after Letters issue. Any joint accounts with right of survivorship or accounts payable on death to a named beneficiary do not pass through the estate at all. Those go straight to the survivor or beneficiary outside of the estate.
Get a federal tax identification number for the estate. Form SS-4 with the IRS, or the online application, takes about fifteen minutes. The estate is its own taxpayer for income tax purposes from the date of death forward.
Start the inventory. Florida law requires the personal representative to file an inventory listing the decedent's assets at date-of-death values. Houses get appraised, brokerage accounts get statements, vehicles get NADA values, and personal effects get reasonable estimates. Get the appraisals scheduled in week two so they are not the bottleneck in week eight.
Track every dollar that goes in and every dollar that goes out, in a single ledger or accounting spreadsheet, from day one. The court will eventually want a final accounting. Re-creating it from memory ten months later is the kind of pain we do not wish on anyone.
Day fourteen to day thirty: notice and the long-tail items
Once your attorney files the Notice to Creditors and serves notice on known creditors, the statutory clock starts. Most Florida creditor claims must be filed within three months after the first publication of the notice or thirty days after personal service, whichever is later. You should not pay random claims before this period runs.
Send the Notice of Administration to beneficiaries and to anyone entitled to elective share or family allowance. This is not optional, and missing someone can blow up the case later.
Identify the surviving spouse's homestead, family allowance, and exempt property rights. The homestead deed needs separate Florida probate handling and does not pass through the residue. Family allowance under Florida Statute 732.403 is up to $18,000 for the surviving spouse and lineal heirs and can be paid early to keep the household running. Exempt property under Florida Statute 732.402, including vehicles and household furnishings, also belongs to the surviving spouse or children outside the residue.
Open the conversation with a CPA about the decedent's final 1040 and the estate's first 1041. Final returns are due April 15 of the year after death. Do not wait until March to start.
What can go wrong
The most common mistake is paying creditors out of order or paying the wrong creditors first. Florida has a strict order of priority. Pay the family allowance and funeral expenses first, secured creditors and tax claims next, and unsecured creditors last. Pay an unsecured credit card before a secured tax lien and you may owe the difference personally.
The second most common mistake is touching homestead property as if it is a regular asset. Homestead has its own protections, devise restrictions, and procedural path. Renting it out, selling it, or remodeling it before the homestead order is entered is a real risk.
The third is forgetting the digital life. Email, social media, photo libraries in the cloud, password managers, crypto exchanges. Florida has a Digital Assets Act that gives a personal representative authority over many of these accounts, but only with the right paperwork. Start the digital inventory in week two.
The fourth is communication. Beneficiaries do not need a lawyer to ask questions. They need a status email every two or three weeks. The PRs we see get sued are almost always the ones who went silent.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use the original will or can I file a copy? The original is required under Florida Statute 732.901. If only a copy exists, a separate proceeding to probate a lost or destroyed will may be needed. Bring whatever you have.
How quickly can I get Letters of Administration in Orange County? In a clean case with all paperwork in order, often within a few weeks. Contested cases or missing beneficiary information can stretch that to months.
Can I pay myself for the work I am doing? Yes. Florida personal representatives are entitled to reasonable compensation under Florida Statute 733.617, generally a small percentage of the inventoried assets. The fee is approved by the court and disclosed to beneficiaries.
What if the estate cannot pay a creditor? Insolvent estates are paid in the statutory order of priority. Some creditors get partial payment, some get nothing. Done correctly, the personal representative is not personally liable for the shortfall.
My sister thinks she should have been named personal representative instead of me. Can she challenge it? She can object, but Florida courts give significant weight to the decedent's nomination in the will. Unless there is a statutory disqualification or a serious conflict, the named PR is usually appointed.
