What Is Summary Administration In Florida And Who Qualifies?
The summary administration Florida’s Probate Code offers an opportunity for the families of individuals who have died with limited probate property to petition for small estate probate. While there is no requirement to forgo formal administration in the probate of a loved one’s estate, summary administration tends to offer a relatively fast probate process compared to the formal proceedings. As a result many estate planners take some pains to make sure that their estates will meet summary administration Florida probate requirements once they have passed away, and surviving family members often begin the probate process by conducting an assessment to determine whether their loved one’s property may qualify for small estate probate. To learn more about summary administration in Florida probate, consider scheduling a conversation with an estate planning attorney at Loughlin Law, P.A. You can reach our office in Palm Beach County by calling 561-559-6214 today.
What Is Summary Administration?
The summary administration Florida probate process is a simplified alternative to traditional probate through formal administration of a decedent’s estate. Often when individuals refer to estate planning to avoid probate, they have in mind preparing their estate plans to ensure the property they leave behind will qualify for summary administration (rather than the more common, but also more complicated, process of formal administration). Alternatively, these estate planners may sometimes be referring to a desire to avoid probate for certain assets – a point which has particular importance, as these two goals frequently go hand-in-hand.
- 735.201, Florida Statutes establishes that an individual’s estate may qualify for summary administration Florida probate when either of the following applies:
- The decedent has been deceased for more than two years
- The sum of all non-exempt property in the decedent’s estate is no greater than $75,000
In light of this second condition qualifying for summary administration, many individuals wishing to ensure their families have the option to avoid probate formal administration take steps to limit the amount of non-exempt property that will remain in “the probate estate” once they themselves have passed away.
Estate Planning Strategies for Summary Administration
One way for an individual’s estate to qualify for summary administration, of course, is simply for the person to have very limited assets. Many individuals, for a variety of reasons, are never able to accumulate more than $75,000 in total assets – even when all of their financial accounts have been tallied and all their possessions valued, the total of all the person has (or had, at the time of their death) amount to less than $75,000. In these situations, summary administration can help to ensure that grieving families are not forced to go through the full process of formal administration with no real expectation of receiving financially valuable assets from their loved one’s estate.
For obvious reasons, qualifying for summary administration through simple lack of resources is usually an unhappy accident arising from personal misfortunes, rather than the outcome of a carefully developed estate plan. Instead, individuals preparing their estate plans with the aim of making sure the individual appointed as personal representative of their estate will be able to follow the process for summary administration employ a few other methods, primarily aimed at limiting the value of their probate estates.
Revocable Living Trusts
One of the most commonly used and highly flexible estate planning tools for avoiding probate is a revocable living trust. These trusts get their name from the fact they are created during the grantor’s own lifetime (a characteristic of most trusts, other than the testamentary trusts created by embedded the trust instrument in a Last Will and Testament), and they are “revocable,” meaning their terms and beneficiary designations can be updated by the grantor at any time, even to the point of dissolving the trust (in which case, however, the trust will no longer be available to serve its function of keeping assets out of probate).
A revocable living trust automatically converts to an irrevocable trust upon the grantor’s death, which means that any assets contained in the trust are excluded from the individual’s probate estate. What this means for summary administration Florida probate qualifications is that assets that are contained in a revocable living trust at the time of their grantor’s death do not “count” toward the $75,000 limit for summary administration. Individuals with assets over that amount who are hoping to ensure a fast probate process for their loved ones can therefore place the bulk of their property within a revocable living trust and, instead of directing the disposition of that property through their Wills, instead specify how the assets are to be distributed among the successor beneficiaries of the trust by its appointed trustee, after the grantor’s death.
Homestead Property
Article X, Section IV, of the Florida Constitution establishes robust homestead protections for Florida homeowners. State laws further these protections by establishing provisions that reduce property taxes on Florida homesteads and protect homestead property from the claims of creditors under most circumstances. However, there are some steps homeowners must follow to ensure their property is legally recognized as a homestead, and there are also some restrictions on how homestead property may be “devised” to maintain its protected status and ensure it passes directly to the homeowner’s heirs during the small estate probate process.
A properly designated and legally recognized homestead property directed to an individual’s legal heirs can generally be treated as exempt for the purpose of determining whether the decedent’s estate meets summary administration Florida probate requirements, but the restrictions on devise of the homestead property can be complex. Working with an estate planning attorney at Loughlin Law, P.A. may help you to make sure your primary residence is properly registered with your county, and that the estate planning tools by which you direct its disposition are structured to maintain the property’s homestead status and probate exemption.
Beneficiary Designations
Another tool commonly used in estate planning to prepare for the relatively fast probate associated with summary administration is the beneficiary designation allowable on many financial accounts. These beneficiary designations, called payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designations, facilitate small estate probate by transferring assets directly to the named beneficiaries. These assets are not considered part of the decedent’s estate (and indeed are in many cases already in the possession of their designated beneficiaries) when the Will is submitted to probate.
Speak With a Florida Probate Lawyer
Whether you are engaged in estate planning with the hope of securing a fast probate process for the family you leave behind, or endeavoring to determine whether the estate of a loved one who has recently passed away meets the small estate probate criteria specified under Florida law, a conversation with an experienced probate attorney may help you to get your bearings and make informed decisions. Schedule a consultation with Loughlin Law, P.A. to discuss summary administration Florida probate requirements. Call our office today at 561-559-6214.
