Florida Probate Changes Effective July 1, 2026: Higher Small Estate Limits and New Tools for Personal Representatives

If you have recently lost someone, the last thing you want is a court process that feels bigger than the estate itself. Florida's CS/HB 1337, now Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, took effect July 1, 2026, and it may make your path simpler. The law doubles the dollar limits for summary administration and several small estate shortcuts. It also gives you, as a personal representative, a clear way to enforce your authority in court, with costs and attorney fees awarded if you win. And if the person who died had a safe deposit box, the bank must now open it to you when you present letters of administration.

Who Is Affected

These changes may matter to you if:

• A family member died with a modest estate, and you are deciding how to settle it

• You are serving as a personal representative in a Florida estate

• You are an heir hoping to collect a small bank balance or a federal tax refund without opening a full probate case

Banks and other financial institutions are affected too, since the law changes how they handle safe deposit boxes and small account payouts.

Key Changes

The new dollar limits are the change you are most likely to notice. Here is what the law now says:

• Summary administration is available when the Florida estate subject to administration, less property exempt from creditors' claims, is $150,000 or less (previously $75,000), or when the person has been dead more than 2 years (s. 735.201(2), Fla. Stat., Ch. 2026-57, s. 7).

• Small intestate estates need no administration when the person died without a will leaving only exempt personal property and nonexempt personal property up to $20,000 (previously $10,000), plus preferred funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness. The person must have been dead more than 1 year, with no administration pending in Florida (s. 735.304(1), Ch. 2026-57, s. 10).

• Bank accounts totaling up to $2,000 (previously $1,000) in qualified accounts may be paid by a Florida financial institution to a family member by affidavit, no sooner than 6 months after death (s. 735.303(2), Ch. 2026-57, s. 9).

• Federal income tax refunds up to $5,000 (previously $2,500) may be paid directly to the surviving spouse, or if there is none, to a child designated by the decedent's children over age 14, on verified application (s. 735.302(1), Ch. 2026-57, s. 8).

The law also gives you more support if you are the personal representative. You may now ask the court to enforce the authority the Probate Code gives you, and you may start that proceeding without a court order (ss. 733.603 and 733.612(28)). Under new section 733.6125, the court "shall award to a prevailing personal representative taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorney fees." The court may order those costs paid by any person whose action or inaction made the proceeding necessary, or by any person with an interest in the estate. Your attorney's work in that kind of proceeding may count as an extraordinary service (s. 733.6171(4)(l)).

Safe deposit boxes get easier too. The lessor must allow access to a personal representative who presents a copy of the letters of administration (s. 655.933(1)). The lessor must also allow you or your attorney to pay the accumulated charges and terminate the lease (s. 655.936(1)(c)).

Practical Implications

If someone you love died with a smaller Florida estate, it is worth checking the new limits before you choose a process. An estate that would have needed formal administration under the old $75,000 cap may now qualify for summary administration. The same goes if you are collecting a small bank balance or a federal tax refund, since both limits have doubled.

If you are a personal representative and a bank or other holder will not honor your letters, you now have a clear path to enforce your authority, along with the chance to recover costs and fees if you prevail. A few habits can help you if that ever becomes necessary:

• Keep copies of your letters of administration and every request you make

• Write down who refused, when, and the reason they gave

• Hold on to any written responses you receive