Probate Notice to Creditors and Claim Deadlines in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Prompt publication and required contents

Florida Statutes § 733.2121 requires the personal representative to publish promptly unless creditor claims are already barred by the two-year outside rule. Publication is once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county of administration. If the county has no published newspaper, the notice goes in a newspaper of general circulation there.

The notice must identify the decedent and estate file, name and address the court, personal representative, and representative's attorney, state the first- publication date, and warn that claims must be filed with the court within § 733.702's periods or be forever barred. It also carries the statute's community-property-act statement and demand instruction.

Florida Probate Rule 5.241 requires proof of publication to be filed within 45 days after first publication. The rule also requires a verified creditor statement within four months after first publication identifying the known or possible claimants, service status, and stated exclusions.

Diligent search and individual service

Section 733.2121 requires a prompt diligent search for the names and addresses of reasonably ascertainable creditors. The duty includes unmatured, contingent, and unliquidated claims, but the statute says impracticable and extended searches are not required.

The personal representative must promptly serve the notice on those creditors. Service is unnecessary for a creditor that has already filed, has been paid in full, or appears in the personal representative's timely proof of claim. Rule 5.241 permits informal notice or formal-notice service at the representative's option.

If the decedent was at least 55 at death, the representative must serve the Agency for Health Care Administration and provide the death certificate within three months after first publication, unless the agency already filed a claim. The Department of Revenue may be served only when the diligent search determines that it is a creditor.

Filing and contents of the claim

Section 733.703 requires a written statement of claim filed in the probate proceeding. Probate Rule 5.490 adds the operative form requirements: the claim must be verified and state its basis, amount, creditor's name and address, security, and whether it is due or uncertain. A not-yet-due claim states its due date; a contingent or unliquidated claim describes the uncertainty.

The clerk serves the claim on the personal representative's attorney or the designated representative or attorney and notes service on the statement. The rule expressly says failure to deliver or receive that copy does not invalidate the claim.

Short filing deadline

Florida Statutes §§ 733.702-.704 require filing by the later of:

• three months after first publication; or
• for a creditor required to receive individual notice, 30 days after service.

The rule covers predeath estate claims, including state and political- subdivision claims, unmatured, contingent, and unliquidated claims, funeral or burial expenses, claims for personal property held by the representative, and damages claims. Recognition or part payment by the representative does not replace timely filing, although an interested-person-approved full settlement may be paid without filing.

An untimely claim is barred even if nobody objects. The court may extend only for fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claim period. A representative or interested person can serve a notice that gives the creditor 30 days to petition for that extension. A bona fide filing with a form defect may be amended at any time under § 733.704.

Two-year death-based outside bar

Section 733.710 provides the outside limit:

“2 years after the death of a person, neither the decedent’s estate, the personal representative, if any, nor the beneficiaries shall be liable for any claim or cause of action against the decedent, whether or not letters of administration have been issued.”

The section does not apply to a creditor that filed under § 733.702 within two years after death and whose claim remains unpaid or otherwise unresolved under § 733.705. It also preserves the specified recorded mortgage, security-interest, and possessory-lien rights. The short-deadline extension provision cannot extend this two-year period.

Liens, insurance, and other express exceptions

Section 733.702 preserves proceedings to enforce a mortgage, security interest, or other lien. It also permits a proceeding to establish liability only up to available casualty-insurance protection, without turning that exception into a general estate claim. A cross-claim or counterclaim in an action brought by the estate is permitted, but recovery cannot exceed the estate's recovery in that action.

The two-year outside bar preserves the lien of a duly recorded mortgage or security interest and a lien held by someone in possession of personal property, together with foreclosure and enforcement rights.

What trips people up

Publication is not the only notice duty. A reasonably ascertainable creditor is entitled to individual service and receives the later-of deadline measured from that service.

Three months after publication is not the final outside limit. The two-year death-based provision applies whether or not an estate was opened and is not extended by a late-claim order under § 733.702.

An insurance exception preserves only recovery within casualty coverage. It does not make all estate assets available without a timely probate claim.

Common questions

Does knowing about the death start the 30-day period?

The statute measures the creditor's 30 days from service of the required notice to creditors, not merely from learning that the debtor died.

Must a contingent or not-yet-due creditor receive notice?

Yes, if the creditor is reasonably ascertainable. Section 733.2121 expressly includes unmatured, contingent, and unliquidated claims in the diligent-search duty.

Can the court excuse every late filing for good cause?

No. Section 733.702 limits a late claim extension to fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claim period. A defective but bona fide timely filing has the separate amendment route in § 733.704.

Does a mortgage disappear after two years?

Not under § 733.710(3). The section preserves the listed mortgage, security- interest, and possessory-lien rights and the right to foreclose and enforce the lien.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 733.2121 — prompt publication, contents, two-week sequence, diligent search, direct notice, and agency branches. Florida Legislature: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0733/0733.html (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Fla. Stat. §§ 733.702-.704 — filing deadline, late extension, lien and insurance exceptions, written claim, and amendment. Florida Legislature: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0733/0733.html (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.705 — payment and disposition of filed claims and the post-objection action period. Florida Legislature: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0733/0733.html (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.710 — two-year outside bar and exceptions. Florida Legislature: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0733/0733.html (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 and 5.490 — service method, proof and search statement, verified claim contents, and clerk service. Official July 16, 2026 Florida Probate Rules: https://www-media.floridabar.org/uploads/2026/07/Probate-Rules-07-16-26.pdf (accessed 2026-08-11).