Probate & Estate Administration · Orange County, Florida
A clear path through Florida probate.
If you have been named personal representative — or you are simply the one left to settle a parent's estate — this guide sets out what Florida requires, how long it ordinarily takes, and what our firm needs to begin. Four generations of Yergey attorneys have carried Central Florida families through this process. We would be glad to carry yours.
Start here
What probate actually is.
Probate is the court proceeding that transfers property titled in the name of someone who has died. Where an account or a deed stood in your loved one's name alone — no joint owner, no named beneficiary — a judge must authorize the transfer, and that authority runs through a personal representative the court appoints.
Florida provides two tracks. Summary administration is the abbreviated path available to smaller estates. Formal administration is the standard path, and it is the one most Orange County families take. This guide follows the formal track.
As to how long it takes: an uncontested formal administration in Orange County generally runs six to twelve months from filing to discharge, and the three-month creditor claim period sets the floor beneath that. Summary administration, where an estate qualifies for it, is often concluded within a few weeks of filing. A contested estate, a homestead determination, or a federal estate tax return will lengthen either track.
i. Formal Administration
The seven steps, in order.
Every estate this firm files follows the same sequence. What varies is how long each step takes — and how much of it falls to you. In our office, very little does.
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Consultation & case review
We review the death certificate, the will if one exists, and a schedule of assets to confirm which track applies — then set out the cost and the timeline before you engage the firm.
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Petition for Administration
We prepare and file the petition in the proper circuit court, deposit the original will with the clerk, and submit the oath of personal representative together with any beneficiary waivers.
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Letters of Administration
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters. From that moment the estate is actionable: accounts may be opened, assets gathered, and mail redirected.
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Notice to creditors
We publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation and serve every reasonably ascertainable creditor. Known creditors have 30 days from service; unknown creditors have three months from first publication.
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Inventory of assets
Within 60 days of Letters we file a verified inventory of every probate asset and serve it on interested persons. Real property and closely held business interests may require appraisal.
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Claims, taxes & liquidation
Valid claims are paid in the statutory order of priority and improper claims are objected to. Final income tax returns are filed, and assets are sold or readied for distribution in kind.
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Distribution & discharge
Beneficiaries receive their shares and sign receipts, the final accounting is filed, and the court discharges the personal representative. The estate closes and your duty ends.
The Process at a Glance
One path, one fork, one finish.
The estate moves in a single line until Letters issue. Three obligations then run in parallel, and the estate cannot close until all three are complete.
Track A · 3 months
Notice to creditors
Notice is published and served on known creditors. The claim period begins and must run its full course.
If a homestead exists
Homestead petition & order
Filed after the creditor period so the court may determine that the residence is protected homestead and passes outside the estate.
Track B · 60 days
Assets marshalled
The personal representative locates, secures and values the estate's property — accounts, real estate, vehicles, personal effects.
Inventory filed
With marshalling complete, the verified inventory is filed with the court and served on interested persons — within 60 days of Letters.
Track C · ongoing
Estate account & final tax return
An estate account is opened for receipts and disbursements, and work begins on the decedent's final return.
All three complete
ii. Working With Our Firm
Three things from you. The rest is ours.
Our opening ask is deliberately short. Three items open your file; from there the work moves to this office, and nearly everything that comes back to you arrives by email.
Item · 01
The intake form
A brief questionnaire about your loved one, the family, and the assets you know of. We send it to you electronically, and most clients complete it in about twenty minutes.
Item · 02
Beneficiary information
Full names, mailing addresses, and relationship to the decedent for everyone named in the will — or every heir under Florida law if there is no will. The court requires that each be given notice.
Item · 03
A death certificate
The short form, without cause of death, is what the court file requires. The funeral home can order certified copies for you; order several, as institutions often retain one.
Then the work moves to us
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We draft everything
Petition, oath, waivers, notices — all prepared from what you have already given us. You will not be asked to complete a court form yourself.
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The package arrives in one email
The full set comes to you together, with a plain-language cover note explaining what each document does before you are asked to sign it.
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Most of it is signed electronically
The great majority of probate documents may be executed by secure electronic signature, from wherever you are — including from out of state.
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A few documents require a notary
A small number of items — the oath, and deeds where real property is involved — still call for a notary or witnesses. We arrange remote online notarization where Florida law permits it, or a short visit to the office.
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We file, and we keep you informed
Everything goes to the circuit court from this office. We track each statutory deadline and tell you as every milestone clears. You will not be left to follow the docket yourself.
Begin the process
Open your file today.
Complete the intake form and an attorney will review it and contact you, ordinarily the same business day. You will know quickly whether probate is required at all, which track the estate falls on, and what the first thirty days will ask of you.
Prefer to speak first? Call (407) 843-0430.
To begin, complete the intake form at orlandoprobatelawyer.com/intake, or call (407) 843-0430.
Why Families Choose Our Firm
Four generations. One firm. One purpose.
In 1928, C. Arthur Yergey and Germaine G. Yergey — one of the first women to practice law in Florida — opened an office in Orlando. Every generation since has served the same Central Florida families on the same belief: that those who trust us with their hardest moments deserve to be clients for life.
Since 1928
Four generations
The fourth generation of Yergey attorneys now practices in the same city and the same courts as the first — for many of the same families.
A boutique practice
This is what we do
Probate, trust administration, guardianship and estate planning are the whole of our practice, not a department within it. The attorney you speak with is the attorney who handles your file.
What clients say
A record you can read
Families who have been through this write about it afterward. We would rather you read them than take our word for it.
Read client reviews →Credentials
Advanced training, and a teaching post
Our managing partner holds an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Alabama and has taught Wills & Trusts as an adjunct professor at FAMU College of Law.
Speak With an Attorney
Tell us what you are facing.
Whether the filing is urgent or you are only trying to understand what comes next, the first step is a conversation — and the quickest way to begin one is the intake form.
Complete the intake form at orlandoprobatelawyer.com/intake, call (407) 843-0430, or write to intake@yergeylaw.com.
Or text PROBATE to (407) 906-9507 for a faster response.