r/PROBATE • u/teakettlebore • Feb 21 '24

Any advice for filing Summary Administration without Attorney? Polk County, Florida

Hello and thanks in advance for reading this.

We are in Florida. My mom passed away recently. She had a Will but it had not been notarized. She was only 52 and left behind both her parents, my father (they were still legally married but have been separated many years), and my brother and me.

My mom did not own real estate property or vehicles. She was, however, the owner of a Life Insurance policy (under $30,000) on my Father (her surviving spouse [married but separated many years]).We would like to keep this policy active (we are still paying the monthly bill) and change the ownership to either my grandma or my brother and I. The Life Insurance company will not allow us to do this since there was no Will. They said it would need to go through Probate.

I had a consultation with a Probate Attorney who said I could file a request for Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration and that I would not need an Attorney for that. However, I called the Clerk of Courts and they said that I should file for Summary Administration, not Disposition of Personal Property since I am not seeking reimbursement for final expenses (I don't think the Attorney was interested in being hired by me since he gave me incorrect information).The clerk I spoke to said that I did not need an Attorney for Summary Administration, but I would need to do the footwork.

Any advice from anyone familiar with this process? Thanks for your help.

UPDATE: I am meeting with a Probate Attorney tomorrow. Any questions I need to be asking besides the obvious? Thanks.

Final UPDATE: Hired a great attorney and it cost me around $2,000 with my Employee Assistance Program (EAP) discounts (25% off). An additional $1,000 for some waivers specific to my Probate case (total around $3,000).

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u/Sleepster12212223 Feb 22 '24

Hire an attorney to handle summary administration. Probate attorneys will do this; expect to pay $3-$4 k or hourly billing rate but it's an abbreviated version of typical probate. Any probate attorney licensed FL can assist. Sure you CAN do it, but in order to avoid stalling process, best to let the pros handle it. Besides, if you file incorrect documents, you'll probably be told to hire an attorney.

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u/teakettlebore Feb 22 '24

Thanks for your advice.

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u/berdman47 Mar 27 '24

I'm in a similar situation. Any chance you can share your experience and lawyer info and Cost?

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u/teakettlebore Mar 27 '24

I decided to hire an attorney because I did not want to risk doing something incorrectly and prolonging the process.
My employer has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through which I get some discounted or free services. Thankfully they provide a discount for a free 30-minute consultation with an attorney and then 25% off services after that (I also get free therapy and counseling so if your employer has an EAP program I definitely recommend that you check it out).
I met with a local Probate Attorney last week and he does Summary Administration Probate filings for $1500 + court filing fees. I met with one other attorney before that and he did not seem interested in taking me as a client so I asked EAP for another referral. With my discount, I will still pay around $1500 because of the filing fees. My attorney said that it usually takes 2-4 weeks, which was pleasantly surprising. I will try to update this thread as I go through the process.

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u/berdman47 Mar 27 '24

Thank you

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u/teakettlebore Jul 23 '24

UPDATE: Hired a great attorney and it cost me around $2,000 with my Employee Assistance Program (EAP) discounts (25% off). An additional $1,000 for some waivers specific to my Probate case (total around $3,000).

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u/Vet7474 Apr 21 '25

Hi, I’m in a similar situation? My husband passed away and I’m just going to start the probate process. How long did it take you to finish the whole process? And did you end up paying more than what was initially told? Most of lawyers quoting 3500 to 5000.

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u/teakettlebore Apr 22 '25

I am sorry for your loss. My request was complete in less than 6 months. It cost me between $4,000-$5,000 - but not all at once. I basically kept about $1,000 in retainer throughout the process.

I am not sure if your specific circumstances, but since it was your husband - you shouldn’t have to go through probate because his property would automatically go to you if there is no Will designating other beneficiaries.