What is Probate
According to www.FLCOURTS.org, probate is a “court supervised process for identifying and gathering the assets of a deceased person (decedent), paying the decedent’s debts, and distributing the decedent’s assets to his or her beneficiaries”.
In most cases, probate is needed for the Personal Representative to authorize the sale of any type of real estate property.
What is a Personal Representative?
A Personal Representative (formerly know an an “executor”) is the person named in a decedent’s Last Will & Testament that is responsible for the administration of the decedents estate and financial affairs after death.
Typically, the Personal Representative is the one that opens the estate, inventories the estate property & assets, pays the estate expenses including debts & taxes and distributes the estates funds to the beneficiaries as indicated in the Will.
What are the responsibility of the Personal Representative?
Typically, the Personal Representative is the one that opens the estate, inventories the estate property & assets, pays the estate expenses including debts & taxes and distributes the estates funds to the beneficiaries as indicated in the Will.
Can the Personal Representative sell real estate in Florida during probate?
The Personal Representative or estate administrator must be given authority by the probate court before selling a home or other real estate. When Letters of Administration / Letters of Testamentary are received, the Personal Representative can proceed and hire an experienced probate real estate from like Quantum Realty Advisors, Inc.
How long is the probate process?
Generally speaking, the probate process can take from around nine months to more than 18 months depending on the complexity of the estate and how quickly court dates can be scheduled.
How much does a probate case cost in Florida?
The cost of a probate matter will vary depending on the size and complexity of the estate. The main cost is typically attorney’s fees which can range from less than $2,000 to as much as 3% of the estate’s value. Fee arrangements charged by attorney’s can also vary and range from flat fees, percentages of the estate’s value or hourly rates.
In addition to the legal fees, there are also court filing fees, publications, accounting fees and other fees that may be needed when administering the estate.
Can the Personal Representative be compensated?
According to the Florida Statutes, the Personal Representative “shall be entitled to a commission payable from the estate assets without court order as compensation for ordinary services”. This commission is based on overall value of the probate estate assets including any income derived during the administration period.
The Statutes define “reasonable compensation” in the following manner
- 3% of assets for the first $1 million
- 2.5% of assets for the amount above $1 million but not exceeding $5 million
- 2% of assets for the amount above $5 million but not exceeding $10 million
- 1.5% of assets above $10 million
Additional compensation is allowed for “extraordinary services” which include the sale of real estate.