Sell Inherited Property in Florida

Selling inherited property in Florida depends on how title was held, whether probate is required, whether the home is protected homestead, who survived the owner, the size of the estate, any creditor claims, and what a Florida title company will insure.

• Florida homestead can override the will. If the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, the Florida Constitution can control who receives the home, regardless of what the will says.
• No state estate tax, inheritance tax, or income tax. Florida does not impose a state capital-gains tax on the sale. Federal tax rules may still apply.
• The personal representative may not control the homestead. Florida law puts estate property in the personal representative’s hands but carves out protected homestead (Fla. Stat. § 733.607), so heirs or devisees, not the PR, may hold the right to sell.
• A court order may still be needed to clear title. Even when homestead passes outside ordinary probate control, Florida title companies often require a court order determining homestead status before they will insure a sale.
• Summary administration changes on July 1, 2026. The simplified-probate threshold rises from $75,000 to $150,000 in non-exempt assets. Property taxes can also jump after death, because the homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap do not automatically continue for every heir.

Florida inherited property is uniquely complicated because of homestead: a single set of constitutional rules can decide who inherits the home, whether creditors can reach it, whether the personal representative has authority over it, and what documents a title company needs before a sale can close.

Many heirs expect the executor to control and sell the house like ordinary estate property. Florida often requires a more specific analysis, because protected homestead can change who owns, controls, and signs for the property.

Florida homestead is three separate protections at once

When Floridians say “homestead,” they may mean any of three different protections that operate independently and can all apply to the same property at the same time (Fla. Const. art. X, § 4):

• Creditor protection. Qualifying homestead is shielded from forced sale by most creditors, with no dollar cap on the home’s value. The limits are on land size, not value: up to one-half acre inside a municipality and up to 160 acres outside one. The usual exceptions are mortgages, property taxes and assessments, and contractor or mechanic’s liens. This protection survives the owner’s death and passes to a surviving spouse or heirs.
• Property-tax treatment. A separate benefit: the homestead exemption can reduce the home’s taxable value by up to $50,000, and qualifying homestead receives the Save Our Homes assessment limitation that caps annual increases.
• Inheritance and devise restriction. The Constitution restricts who can inherit homestead when there is a surviving spouse or minor child, and this can override the will.

If the property was a rental, vacant land, or a vacation home rather than the owner’s qualifying permanent residence, ordinary probate and title rules may matter more than constitutional homestead rules.

“Homestead” and the “homestead exemption” are not the same thing

Constitutional homestead (creditor and inheritance protection) and the homestead tax exemption (a property-tax break) overlap but are not identical.

A property can carry one without the other in some situations, and the rules that protect the home from creditors are not the same rules that lower the tax bill. This distinction is a common source of confusion for heirs, and several points later on this page depend on keeping the two ideas separate.

Other Florida features that shape an inherited sale

• The personal representative may not control the home. Florida law carves protected homestead out of the PR’s ordinary authority, so the people who can sell may be the heirs or devisees rather than the executor.
• Florida has not adopted a statutory transfer-on-death deed for real estate. Roughly thirty other states have. Heirs who expect a recorded TOD deed often find there is none; Florida uses Lady Bird deeds and revocable trusts to fill that role.
• Title companies may require a court order. Even when the home appears to pass outside probate, a title company may not insure the sale without a court order confirming homestead status.
• Out-of-state owners usually trigger ancillary probate. Florida has a large population of nonresident owners, and clearing Florida title generally has to happen in Florida even when the main probate is elsewhere.

Quick answer: Sole-name Florida real estate usually needs probate or a court order. Trust, survivorship, tenancy by the entireties, and Lady Bird deed property may avoid full probate, but homestead title may still need a court order.

A Florida personal representative can often sell non-homestead probate property, but protected homestead is carved out from the PR’s ordinary control under Fla. Stat. § 733.607, so the heirs or devisees may be the ones who can sell.

Florida Statute § 733.607 gives the personal representative the right to take possession and control of the decedent’s property “except the protected homestead.” That exception changes who signs, what consents are needed, and what a title company will require.

Legal authority, court authority, title insurability, and lender requirements are four different things

Heirs often assume that if they legally inherited the home, they can sell it. In Florida, four questions have to line up before a sale closes:

• Legal ownership: who the law says now owns the property.
• Court authority: whether a probate court order or letters of administration are needed to act.
• Title insurability: what a title company will require before it will insure the buyer, which is often more than the bare legal minimum.
• Buyer and lender requirements: what the buyer’s lender will demand to fund the purchase.

Can you sell inherited Florida property before probate closes?

Sometimes, but only if the person signing has authority and a title company will insure the transaction.

In some estates the property can be listed or sold before the estate is fully closed, but two conditions control: the signer must have authority, and the title company must be willing to insure. Without both, a buyer’s lender and title company will not move forward. Because the answer is so fact-dependent, this is a common point where heirs benefit from local guidance.

Protected homestead is the Florida concept that most often changes who inherits the home, whether creditors can reach it, and whether a sale can close, and it is governed by the Florida Constitution rather than by the will.

What is protected homestead in Florida?

Protected homestead is a primary residence that qualifies under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. The protection is tied to the home and, within the land-size limits noted earlier, has no cap on value. It applies to a primary residence, not automatically to a rental or vacation property, which is one reason the same family can get very different answers for a homesteaded house versus a beach condo the owner did not live in.

Is homestead the same as the homestead exemption?

No. Constitutional homestead protects the home from most creditors and restricts who can inherit it; the homestead exemption is a separate property-tax benefit.

It is possible to be dealing with one and not the other. The tax section below covers the exemption and the Save Our Homes cap; this section is about the constitutional protection and what it does to a sale.

Can Florida homestead be sold to pay the deceased owner’s creditors?

Generally, no. Because homestead is protected from forced sale by most creditors, it usually passes to the surviving spouse or heirs free of most general creditor claims, with the familiar exceptions for mortgages, property taxes, and certain liens. One caution: that protection usually applies to the homestead itself. If heirs sell the property and convert it to cash, the creditor-protection analysis can change, especially if the proceeds are not reinvested in another protected homestead. Where money is at stake, confirm this with a Florida attorney before selling and dividing proceeds.

Why title companies often require a homestead order

Protected homestead may not be controlled like ordinary probate property, but a Florida probate court order determining homestead status is often still needed before a title company will insure a sale.

Even when the home appears to pass outside probate, and even in some trust situations, a title company may require a court order confirming the property’s homestead status and identifying who holds title. Planning for that step early can save weeks of delay at closing.

When the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, Florida’s Constitution restricts how homestead can be left, and the will may not control the outcome. When there is no surviving spouse and no minor child, homestead is freely devisable.

The life estate versus one-half tenant-in-common election

When homestead passes to a surviving spouse as a life estate with the remainder to the deceased owner’s descendants, Florida law lets the spouse instead elect to take an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common, with the other half vesting in the descendants (Fla. Stat. § 732.401(2)). The stakes are real: a life tenant can live in the home but generally cannot sell it without the remaindermen’s agreement, while a one-half tenant-in-common owner can seek a partition sale. Expense splits between a life tenant and remaindermen are a frequent source of conflict, especially in blended families.

The deadline is firm. The election must be made within 6 months after the decedent’s death and during the surviving spouse’s lifetime, and once made, it is irrevocable (Fla. Stat. § 732.401). It is made by recording a notice of election in the official records of the county where the homestead is located. This election does not apply to property the couple owned as tenancy by the entireties or joint tenancy with survivorship, which passes automatically to the survivor instead.

When someone dies without a will in Florida, a surviving spouse inherits the entire intestate estate if all of the decedent’s children are also the surviving spouse’s children. If either the decedent or the spouse has children from another relationship, the spouse takes one-half and the descendants share the other half.

These rules decide who inherits in the absence of a will. For the home itself, the homestead rules above can override this framework.

• All children are shared, and the spouse has no other children: the surviving spouse takes everything.
• Either spouse has descendants from another relationship: the surviving spouse takes one-half, and the descendants split the other half.
• Descendants generally take per stirpes (by branch of the family).
• Stepchildren do not inherit unless they were legally adopted.
• An unmarried partner does not inherit under intestacy, regardless of how long the relationship lasted.

What if the will was handwritten or signed in another state?

Florida requires a will to be written, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two people who sign in the testator’s presence and each other’s. Florida generally does not recognize unwitnessed handwritten (holographic) wills or oral wills.

This trips up families of snowbirds and recent arrivals. If a will was handwritten, signed in another state, or executed under another state’s rules, heirs should confirm whether it satisfies Florida’s probate requirements before assuming it controls the property. A will that was valid where it was made can run into trouble in Florida, which can change who inherits, so an unusual will is worth checking early.

Florida offers several ways to transfer inherited real property, ranging from no probate at all (a Lady Bird deed or a trust set up before death) to summary administration for smaller estates and full formal administration for larger or contested ones.

Summary administration

Summary administration is Florida’s simplified path. No personal representative is appointed, and the matter resolves through a single court order, often in a matter of weeks. Two points heirs frequently get wrong:

• Homestead is excluded from the calculation. A protected homestead generally does not count toward the dollar threshold, so a family with a paid-off home and modest savings may qualify even when the home’s value alone is well above the cap.
• An owner who died more than two years ago can qualify for summary administration regardless of the estate’s size.

Disposition without administration does not transfer real estate

If the deceased owner held Florida real estate in their individual name, disposition without administration is not the procedure that clears title to that real estate, no matter how small the rest of the estate is. Heirs often search for this shortcut and assume it solves the house; it does not.

Florida summary administration can clear in roughly two to eight weeks, while formal administration commonly runs six to eighteen months, depending on the estate, the court, and whether anyone contests it.

The general sequence

Details vary by estate and county, but formal administration generally follows this order:

1. Deposit the original will with the clerk of court.
2. File the petition to open the estate.
3. Appoint the personal representative (in formal administration), or proceed by petition in summary administration.
4. Give notice to creditors where required.
5. Inventory the assets and resolve creditor claims.
6. Obtain authority to sell, or a homestead order, if real property is being sold.
7. Distribute the assets and close the estate.

Florida-specific timing and cost drivers

• A Florida attorney is effectively required. Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requires filings to be signed by an attorney, and courts read this to mean the personal representative must be represented by counsel, with only a narrow exception. This is a real, recurring cost.
• The original will must be deposited within 10 days. Whoever holds the original will must deposit it with the clerk of court within ten days of learning of the death (Fla. Stat. § 732.901). There is no fee to deposit; filing fees come later.
• Creditor claim deadlines. In formal administration, creditors generally must file by the later of three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors or thirty days after being served. The personal representative generally cannot be forced to pay claims during the first several months.
• The two-year nonclaim bar. Florida bars most claims not brought within two years of death (Fla. Stat. § 733.710). That bar does not wipe out recorded mortgages or security interests, which matters when an inherited home still carries a loan.

Probate is handled county by county. Florida’s larger counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough (Tampa), Orange (Orlando), Duval (Jacksonville), Pinellas, Lee (Fort Myers), Collier (Naples), and Sarasota, have busy probate divisions, and local court practice can affect how quickly a matter moves.

Florida gives a surviving spouse several protections that operate against the will, including a 30% elective share of the elective estate, a family allowance, exempt property, and homestead rights. Together they make it very difficult to fully disinherit a spouse.

These rights are separate from what a spouse inherits when there is no will, and separate from the property-tax treatment of the homestead covered below.

• Elective share. A surviving spouse may claim 30% of the “elective estate,” which is broader than the probate estate and can reach certain assets that are not part of the probate file. The exact computation is technical, and what counts toward the elective estate is a common area of error.
• Homestead life estate versus one-half tenant-in-common election. As described above, a surviving spouse who would take a life estate can instead elect a one-half tenant-in-common interest, recorded within 6 months of death and irrevocable once made (Fla. Stat. § 732.401). Because a life tenant generally cannot sell without the descendants’ agreement, this election often determines whether the spouse can force a sale.
• Family allowance. Florida’s family allowance can provide up to $18,000 during administration (Fla. Stat. § 732.403).
• Exempt property. Florida exempt property can include household furniture, furnishings, and appliances up to $20,000, plus two qualifying motor vehicles, passing free of most creditor claims (Fla. Stat. § 732.402).

Whether a revocable trust can defeat these protections is fact-specific, and it is one of the areas where heirs and spouses most often need tailored legal advice.

Does Florida have an inheritance tax or estate tax?

As of July 1, 2023, personal representatives no longer file the old no-estate-tax affidavits (forms DR-312 and DR-313). Federal estate tax can still apply to very large estates, but it reaches very few families.

Is there a Florida capital gains tax on inherited property?

No. Florida has no state income tax, so there is no Florida capital gains tax when an heir sells an inherited home.

Federal basis rules may affect the taxable gain, generally measured against the property’s stepped-up basis as of the date of death. Florida is not a community-property state, so it does not provide the double step-up that community-property states do. You can read more in our step-up in basis guide.

What documentary stamp taxes apply when inherited Florida property is sold or transferred?

Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on deeds, generally $0.70 per $100 of consideration (Miami-Dade County applies a different rate plus a surtax on certain non-single-family transfers). Two points matter for heirs. A personal representative’s deed given to distribute property under a probated will is generally exempt from the tax, and transfers for only nominal consideration generally pay only the minimum (a Lady Bird deed taking effect at death is generally treated this way). These are closing-cost details rather than a major tax, so confirm the current figures with your closing agent.

Not automatically. Most ownership changes reset the Save Our Homes cap, so a long-held home can be reassessed toward market value and the tax bill can rise sharply, unless an exception applies.

Inheriting a Florida home usually resets its property taxes. The issue has two parts: whether the exemption continues and whether the assessed value resets.

The Save Our Homes cap resets on most ownership changes

Save Our Homes caps annual increases in a homesteaded property’s assessed value to the lesser of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. Under Florida law, when a “change of ownership” occurs, the property loses the cap and is reassessed at just (market) value as of January 1 of the following year (Fla. Stat. § 193.155). Death is generally a change of ownership.

There are important exceptions. A transfer to a surviving spouse who continues to use the home as a permanent residence generally does not trigger reassessment, and certain transfers to a qualifying dependent can be protected. But a transfer to adult children who were not already on title generally does reset the cap. For a home a parent owned for decades, the difference between the capped assessed value and current market value can be large, which is why some heirs see the tax bill double or more.

The exemption can lapse the year after death, and there is a March 1 deadline

The homestead tax exemption is tied to the owner who qualified for it. Unless a surviving spouse or other qualifying person continues the homestead, the exemption can lapse for the year after death, and an heir who wants to establish their own homestead exemption generally must apply by March 1. Missing that deadline is a common and expensive error.

If the home passed by a Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed, it generally transfers to the named remainder beneficiaries outside probate, but those beneficiaries still need to confirm the deed, record the death certificate, and satisfy the title company before they can sell.

Florida is one of the states that recognizes Lady Bird deeds, and most existing guidance is written for owners setting one up, not for heirs who just received property this way. If you are on the receiving end, the practical steps are:

• Review the recorded deed to confirm it is an enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deed and to read how the remainder interest is described.
• Confirm the named remainder beneficiaries, and check whether any beneficiary died before the owner. If a remainderman predeceased the owner, that share may pass to the deceased beneficiary’s estate rather than to the others, which can reintroduce a probate issue.
• Provide the death certificate the title company requires to confirm the transfer.
• Confirm title-company requirements early, since the company decides what it needs to insure a sale.
• Do not assume the property-tax picture stays the same. A stepped-up basis generally applies for federal purposes, but the Save Our Homes cap generally does not continue for adult-child remaindermen, so expect a reassessment as described above.

Florida’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program can seek repayment from the estates of people who received Medicaid at age 55 or older, but Florida currently recovers through the probate estate, not from all non-probate assets.

Heirs often discover a Medicaid or long-term-care question during title or probate review. A few practical points (Fla. Stat. § 409.9101):

• Estate recovery generally applies to Medicaid recipients who were 55 or older.
• Florida currently pursues recovery through the probate estate, so assets that pass outside probate (for example, by a Lady Bird deed or certain trust arrangements) may be treated differently.
• This is not a guarantee of immunity. Whether a claim applies, and how, depends on the facts, so confirm with a Florida probate attorney or title professional.

To sell inherited Florida property, the title company needs proof of who has authority to sign, and that depends on how the property is passing and whether it is protected homestead.

Common title documents may include:

• death certificate
• recorded deed
• letters of administration
• summary administration order
• order determining homestead
• trust certificate or trustee authority
• condo or HOA estoppel
• mortgage payoff statement
• lien payoff statements

The documentary stamp tax usually applies on a sale, with an exemption for a personal representative’s deed under a probated will. In every case the goal is the same: give the title company what it needs to insure the buyer, because title insurability is what actually lets the property close.

If your parent lived in New York, Illinois, Michigan, or another state but owned a Florida condo or house, Florida title usually still has to be cleared in Florida, generally through ancillary administration, even when the main probate is happening in the home state.

• Ancillary administration. When a nonresident dies owning Florida real property, a Florida ancillary administration is generally required to clear title, with venue in a Florida county where the property sits. The main (domiciliary) probate proceeds in the home state.
• Nonresident personal representatives are restricted. Under Florida Statute § 733.304, a nonresident generally must fall within specific family relationships to the decedent (for example a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or certain other close relatives). An unrelated out-of-state friend named in the will generally cannot serve, and qualifying nonresident representatives often have to post a bond, depending on the will, the court, and the circumstances.
• Cross-state tax exposure. A Florida resident who owns real estate in a state that has its own estate tax (such as New York or Massachusetts) may owe tax to that state, even though Florida itself imposes none.

If you inherited Florida property from another state, the right local broker can help you understand what has to be resolved in Florida before the property can be listed or sold, and coordinate with the attorney handling the estate. See also our ancillary probate guide.

Before listing an inherited Florida home, confirm who has authority to sell, whether the property is protected homestead, whether a court order is needed to clear title, and whether the home is insurable as-is. Skipping these steps is the most common reason an inherited sale stalls at closing.

What if the inherited property still has a mortgage?

A mortgage does not disappear at death. If the heirs or estate want to keep the property or sell it in an orderly way, payments generally need to stay current to avoid default, and the loan is typically paid off at closing from the sale proceeds. As noted earlier, Florida’s two-year claim bar does not wipe out a recorded mortgage. See our mortgage on inherited property guide.

What if the inherited property is a Florida condo?

Florida inherited property is very often a condo, especially for out-of-state heirs. The association issues an estoppel letter stating unpaid dues and assessments that must be cleared at closing, there may be approval or right-of-first-refusal requirements, and older coastal buildings can carry special assessments tied to reserves and structural recertification. Insurance and short-term-rental restrictions can also affect value and marketability. See our inherited condo and HOA property guide.

The right choice depends on the property’s condition, whether the heirs agree, where they live, and whether the legal and title issues are resolved. There is no single right answer, and a neutral comparison helps families decide.

A normal listing can work well when title is clear, the right signer is available, insurance is in place, and the property is market-ready. It becomes harder when homestead status, probate authority, sibling consent, condo assessments, or vacant-property insurance are unresolved.

If you are weighing these options, a Florida inherited-property broker can help estimate as-is value, retail listing potential, likely repair issues, and sale timing before you commit to a path. Our guide to selling an inherited house as-is covers one of these routes in more detail.

When co-owners inherit Florida property together and cannot agree on whether to sell, any co-owner can generally ask a court to partition the property. Where the property qualifies as “heirs property,” Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 64.201 to 64.214) adds protections, including a court-ordered appraisal, buyout rights, and a preference for an open-market sale over a courthouse auction.

Co-ownership disputes are common with inherited homes, especially among adult-child heirs who end up owning the property as tenants in common. A surviving spouse who elected the one-half tenant-in-common interest described earlier can also be in a position to force a partition. Where the Act applies, the process generally follows a protective sequence:

• The court orders an independent appraisal to set fair market value.
• Other co-owners get an opportunity to buy out the co-owner who requested the sale.
• The court favors dividing the property in kind where that is practical.
• If a sale is ordered, the default is a broker-led open-market sale rather than a courthouse auction.

These protections apply when the property qualifies as “heirs property” under Florida’s statute, meaning, broadly, tenancy-in-common property where at least one co-owner acquired title from a relative. They do not apply automatically to every co-owned parcel. See our sibling forced sale and partition guide.

Several widely repeated assumptions about inherited Florida property are incorrect. Each correction below is stated against current Florida law.

The most significant recent change for Florida heirs is the 2026 expansion of summary administration, effective July 1, 2026.

• Summary administration threshold, effective July 1, 2026: the non-exempt-estate threshold rises from $75,000 to $150,000 (CS/HB 1337, enacted as Chapter 2026-57).
• Disposition without administration, effective July 1, 2026: the limit for qualifying personal property rises from $10,000 to $20,000 (still no real estate).
• No-estate-tax affidavits eliminated (since July 1, 2023): personal representatives no longer file forms DR-312 and DR-313.

This page reflects rules current as of its verification date. Because thresholds and figures change, confirm the codified statutory text for the date that applies to your situation.