Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing allowance and eligible family

Florida's allowance is temporary maintenance during administration. Section 732.403 gives it to the surviving spouse and to a lineal heir whom the decedent was supporting or was legally obligated to support. “Lineal heir” expressly includes both ascendants and descendants, so a supported parent can fit the class; a sibling cannot fit it merely because the decedent provided help.

Section 732.805 supplies a separate spouse disqualification. A spouse found to have procured the marriage through fraud, duress, or undue influence loses the family-allowance right unless the marriage was later ratified as the statute describes.

Amount, duration, and court-set payment

The award is a reasonable amount in money, with an $18,000 aggregate cap. The court may order one lump sum or periodic installments. For example, an order for $1,500 monthly reaches the statutory ceiling after 12 payments; the statute does not create another $18,000 cap for each eligible person.

The duration is tied to estate administration, but death creates a sharper end point. Section 732.403 says the claimant's death terminates the unpaid portion of that claimant's right. The complete current Chapters 732 and 733 state no separate statutory filing deadline for this allowance, so the absence of a deadline here should not be read as permission to delay a probate filing.

Priority, estate insufficiency, and payment form

The allowance is Class 5 under § 733.707. Administration expenses, capped funeral expenses, federally preferred debts and specified government claims, and last-illness medical expenses occupy Classes 1 through 4. If the estate reaches a class it cannot pay in full, that class is paid ratably.

Section 733.607(2) can reach a qualifying revocable trust when estate assets are insufficient to pay administration expenses and estate obligations. Although the allowance is stated in money, § 733.810(2) permits in-kind satisfaction if the recipient has not demanded cash, the asset is valued at fair market value on the distribution date, and no residuary devisee has asked that it remain in the residue.

Effect on inheritance and waiver

The allowance ordinarily does not reduce another benefit or share passing to the spouse or dependent lineal heir. The will can provide otherwise. A surviving spouse may also waive family-allowance rights before or after marriage under § 732.702 through a signed writing made in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. A postmarital waiver requires fair disclosure of each spouse's estate; the section does not require that disclosure for a premarital waiver.

What trips people up

• The $18,000 ceiling is total, not per claimant. The court can divide the payment between a spouse and an heir who lives elsewhere, but it cannot multiply the statutory cap by the number of recipients.
• “Lineal heir” does not mean every heir. The statute limits the term to ascendants and descendants and separately requires actual support or a support obligation.
• Class 5 is not first priority. Four statutory classes are paid before the family allowance.
• A claimant's death affects unpaid installments. The unpaid portion ends; it does not automatically become an asset of that claimant's estate.

Common questions

Who receives payment when a dependent heir does not live with the spouse?

The court may divide the allowance between the heir, guardian, or other caregiver and the surviving spouse according to their needs. If no spouse is living, payment may go to the heirs or the people caring for them.

Can beneficiaries force an early distribution while an allowance remains unresolved?

Not merely by asking. Section § 733.802 allows compulsory pre-final distribution only when the beneficiary establishes that the property will not be needed for, among other things, the family allowance and higher estate obligations.

Is the family allowance the same as Florida homestead or exempt property?

No. Section 732.403 describes the money allowance as in addition to protected homestead and statutory entitlements. Those protections have their own property, eligibility, and procedure rules.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 732.403 — eligibility, amount, payment routing, inheritance effect, termination, and lineal-heir definition. “The allowance shall not exceed a total of $18,000.” Official § 732.403 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.702 — waiver. The writing must be signed “in the presence of two subscribing witnesses”; a postmarital agreement requires fair disclosure. Official § 732.702 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.805 — fraudulent-marriage disqualification. A spouse who procured the marriage through fraud, duress, or undue influence “is not entitled” to family allowance unless the statutory ratification exception applies. Official § 732.805 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.607(2) — revocable-trust shortfall source. The personal representative may obtain the certified insufficiency amount “from the trustee of a trust described in s. 733.707(3).” Official § 733.607 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.707 — payment order and insolvency. “Class 5. — Family allowance.” Official § 733.707 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.802 — pre-final distribution reserve. A beneficiary must establish that property “will not be required for the payment of debts, family allowance” and the other listed obligations. Official § 733.802 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Fla. Stat. § 733.810(2) — conditional in-kind payment. A family allowance “may be satisfied in kind” when all three statutory conditions are met. Official § 733.810 (accessed 2026-08-03).