Selling a Florida home after someone dies.

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The first five questions

1. Who owned the property on the date of death?The deed and any trust documents shape the next step.
2. Has a personal representative been appointed?Do not assume an heir, relative, or former power of attorney can sign.
3. Is the home protected homestead?Florida homestead can require special legal analysis.
4. What is attached to the property?Mortgage, taxes, HOA or CDD amounts, code issues, permits, and recorded liens need a reliable list.
5. What does the family need?A fast as-is sale, a prepared retail launch, continued occupancy, or time to sort contents leads to a different plan.

The short version: A Florida probate sale starts with the deed, the court appointment and the authority to sell—not a renovation budget. A will may give the personal representative a usable power of sale; otherwise a court order may be necessary. Protected homestead needs separate analysis. Mo coordinates the property work after your attorney and closing team identify the lawful path.

Legal sources checked October 12, 2026. Mo is not an attorney or CPA. Bring legal questions to a Florida probate or elder-law attorney and tax questions to a CPA.

When you’re ready, Mo can talk through the house while your attorney handles the law. You do not need to share medical details to begin.

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Call or text 352-298-8602 · LPT Realty, LLC

Can the personal representative sell without a court order?

Florida Statutes §733.613 distinguishes two routes. When the will gives a specific power to sell real estate or a general power to sell estate assets, subsection (2) permits the personal representative to sell estate real property without court authorization or confirmation. The actual will, limitations and property ownership still matter.

For an intestate estate, a will without a power of sale, or a power too limited to exercise conveniently, subsection (1) allows a sale but says title does not pass until the court authorizes or confirms it. Do not translate that into “every probate sale needs a court hearing” or “an executor can always sign.” Ask the attorney which route applies before promising a closing date.

The statute also says existing mortgages and other real-property liens are not erased by a sale under a power or court order. Mo can build a pricing and marketing plan; your attorney determines authority, and the closing team resolves the title requirements. A contract schedule should reflect their actual answers rather than a generic probate timeline.

Formal administration, summary administration and the house

In formal administration, the court appoints a personal representative. The Florida Bar explains that Letters of Administration are evidence of that person's authority to administer the estate. Being named in the will is not the same as having received those Letters.

Summary administration is a different procedure for qualifying estates under §735.201. Whether it fits depends on the statutory conditions, including the estate subject to administration, applicable exemptions, the time since death and the will. The house's asking price alone cannot answer the question. The attorney should identify the order and resulting ownership the title company will need, rather than assuming a summary case produces the same paperwork as formal administration.

Read the summary-administration real-estate guide. Before selecting either route, ask: who will own the property, who will sign the contract and deed, and which court or title requirements must be satisfied before the proceeds can be distributed?

Why protected homestead gets its own review

The personal representative's general possession provision in §733.607 expressly excepts protected homestead. That is a reason to stop and ask a specific question—not to assume the house is an ordinary estate asset or that every house is protected.

Have the attorney examine the deed, family circumstances and homestead issues before deciding who signs. A property-tax homestead notation is not, by itself, a complete probate title opinion. Ask whether an order determining homestead or other evidence will be needed and whose interests the deed must convey. Mo does not decide those legal questions.

The Florida homestead inheritance guide is a starting point for that attorney conversation. If several family members are involved, identify the legally authorized decision-maker separately from the person receiving property updates. Keeping everyone informed does not create signing authority.

The creditor period is not simply “three months after death”

Under §733.702(1), the general filing deadline covered by that section is the later of three months after first publication of the notice to creditors or, for a creditor required to be served, 30 days after service. The statute includes exceptions and permits certain extensions; it also does not prevent enforcement of a mortgage, security interest or other lien on the decedent's property.

That deadline is neither a promise that a sale can close on a particular day nor permission to distribute the proceeds immediately. Let the probate attorney track publication, service, claims and any applicable separate limits. Let the title professional explain the sale's requirements. Do not stop mortgage payments, reject a creditor demand or pay a disputed claim based on this guide.

For planning, separate the expected closing proceeds from money available for beneficiaries. Those can be different amounts at different times. Mo's seller net sheet is a real-estate estimate, not an estate accounting or legal ruling on debts.

What to collect before a probate listing meeting

Ask your attorney or title company for its specific checklist. A useful starting packet is the recorded deed, the full will and codicils if any, issued Letters and relevant orders, trust information if involved, and existing mortgage, tax and association statements. Ask what form of death documentation and certified court documents the closing team needs. Do not upload sensitive documents to a general website inquiry form.

Separate “obtained” from “reviewed and accepted.” Possessing a document does not mean it solves the title issue. Ask the closing team to identify any missing signature, order, payoff or recorded document in writing. Then Mo can schedule photography, access, cleanout and a launch around those requirements without committing family money to an unrealistic deadline.

What if the person who died lived outside Florida?

§734.102 addresses ancillary administration where a nonresident dies leaving Florida assets and sets rules for issuing ancillary Letters to a qualified representative. Do not assume an appointment from another state automatically supplies every document needed to sell the Florida house.

Give the Florida attorney the out-of-state probate information and the Florida deed. Ask whether ancillary proceedings or another legally available route is appropriate for that ownership. Mo can handle local sale logistics while the attorneys coordinate the legal path; he cannot promise that a second proceeding is required or avoidable before they review the facts.

A practical property-side sequence

Debts, liens, mortgages, and sale proceeds

Those words are often blended together, but they are not one problem. A mortgage payoff, recorded lien, property-tax balance, HOA demand, code issue, and general estate creditor claim can follow different rules. Mo does not decide which claims are valid or negotiate legal creditor rights. He helps collect property information, develops a realistic seller net sheet, and keeps the sale plan coordinated while the attorney and title company determine what must be resolved.

Read the Florida liens and mortgage guide →

Power of attorney is not authority after death

Under Florida law, an agent’s authority under a power of attorney terminates when the principal dies. A durable power of attorney may remain effective during incapacity, but it does not continue after death. After death, the deed, trust documents, estate proceedings, and title requirements determine who can act.

See the POA and home-sale guide →

Are you handling this from another state?

You do not need to manage every lockbox, vendor visit, showing, and inspection flight-by-flight. Mo can be the local real estate point person, while authority and closing remain with the appropriate attorney and title professionals.

See the remote estate-property plan →