You’ve been named personal representative of a Florida estate — the person the will (or the court) puts in charge. Here’s what the job actually involves, in the order it happens, and the two mistakes that create personal liability.
Before you’re appointed
- Deposit the original will with the clerk of court — Florida requires this within 10 days of learning of the death, whether or not a probate gets opened.
- Secure the property. Lock the house, safeguard valuables, keep the insurance in force.
- Order death certificates — several, without cause of death.
- Don’t touch the money. Until the court appoints you and issues Letters of Administration, you have no authority — and acting early can create liability instead of getting ahead.
Once Letters issue
- Get an EIN and open an estate bank account. Every dollar in and out flows through it.
- Marshal the assets — accounts, real estate, vehicles, business interests, tangible property. Document everything.
- Publish notice to creditors and serve known creditors. This starts the three-month claim window.
- File the inventory — due 60 days after Letters.
- Evaluate claims. Pay the valid ones in the statutory priority order; object to the bad ones on time.
- Handle taxes — the decedent’s final income tax return, estate income tax returns, and a federal estate tax return if the estate is large enough.
- Distribute and close. After the claim window closes and debts are handled: distributions, receipts, final accounting (or waivers), petition for discharge.
The two rules that keep you out of trouble
Never mix estate funds with your own. Not briefly, not “to float an expense,” not with perfect intentions to square it later. Commingling is the bright-line fiduciary breach, and it’s the first thing anyone looks for when a beneficiary gets suspicious.
Never distribute early. A distribution made before the creditor window closes and the valid debts are paid comes out of your pocket if the money runs short. The impatient sibling can wait three months; you can’t un-write the check.
You don’t do this alone
In nearly every Florida formal administration, the personal representative is required to have an attorney. That’s not a formality — the deadlines, priority rules, and liability traps above are exactly what the attorney manages. Eligibility rules also apply to the PR personally: out-of-state personal representatives must be close relatives of the decedent (our FAQ on who can serve has the details).
The rest of the process — how long it takes, what it costs, formal vs. summary administration — is on our Florida probate page. If you’ve just been named PR, call (954) 839-8705 before you touch anything — the first conversation is the one that prevents the expensive mistakes.