Effective July 1, 2026, Florida raised the estate-value limit for summary administration from $75,000 to $150,000. The change came in CS/HB 1337 (chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida), the most significant adjustment to Florida’s small-estate procedures in twenty-five years. The $75,000 figure had been in place since 2001, while everything an estate holds — home equity aside, brokerage accounts, vehicles — kept inflating past it.
What Changed
- Summary administration: $75,000 → $150,000. The new limit applies to estates of decedents dying on or after July 1, 2026; earlier deaths generally remain under the prior $75,000 limit. The threshold measures the estate subject to administration in Florida less exempt property, so protected homestead still doesn’t count toward the cap. The two-year alternative is untouched: an estate of any size still qualifies once the decedent has been dead more than two years.
- Small-estate figures doubled across the board. The same bill raised the personal-property figure for resolving small intestate estates without an administration to $20,000, the income-tax-refund amount a spouse or child can collect without opening an estate to $5,000, and the bank-account amount collectible by affidavit to $2,000.
- Personal representatives got sharper teeth. Financial institutions must give a personal representative access to the decedent’s safe deposit box on presentation of letters of administration, and a new section of the Probate Code lets the personal representative take a custodian that refuses to honor valid letters to court — with costs and attorney’s fees on the table.
What It Means in Practice
A large group of estates that would have required formal administration last month now qualify for the short form. Summary administration has no court-appointed personal representative and no mandatory creditor claim window, which is why it typically finishes in weeks rather than the six-to-twelve months a formal administration runs. For a family whose parent left a homestead plus $120,000 in accounts, the difference is real money and real months.
Qualifying is not the same as choosing. Summary administration releases assets; it doesn’t give anyone authority to act for the estate, and recipients stay exposed to valid creditor claims for two years after death. An estate with meaningful debts, an asset that must be sold or managed, or a dispute brewing is often still better served by formal administration and its three-month claim bar — even when it now fits under $150,000. The full comparison is in our guide to summary administration in Florida, and the overall process is covered in how Florida probate works.
If You Held Off on Probating an Estate
Families sometimes wait on probate because the formal process felt disproportionate to the assets. The new limit won’t rescue an estate where the death came before July 1, 2026 — but the two-year rule might: once two years have passed since death, summary administration is available at any estate size. If an estate has been sitting unprobated, it’s worth a fresh look under whichever door now fits. Bring a rough list of what the decedent owned and how each asset was titled; eligibility turns on those details.
Reviewed by David A. Shulman, Florida Bar Board Certified in Wills, Trusts & Estates. Last updated July 2026.