Clear guidance when you are responsible for carrying out the plan.
The Law Offices of Brian Giaquinto represents personal representatives, trustees and families settling an estate or trust across Central Florida. We guide Florida probate from opening the estate through creditor claims, distributions and closing, and we advise trustees on notices, accountings and the duties they owe beneficiaries.
After a death, personal representatives and trustees are often asked to take on unfamiliar legal and financial responsibilities while families are dealing with loss and transition. The administration process can involve court proceedings, creditor issues, asset management, distributions, and duties owed to beneficiaries.
After a loss in New Smyrna Beach or Flagler Beach, whoever is left in charge of the estate or trust usually needs one thing first: a clear sense of the next steps. Fiduciaries from Seminole County and the Daytona Beach area can meet at our Daytona Beach office. Melbourne families can sit down with us by appointment; the details are on our Melbourne, Viera & Suntree page.
Schedule a free consultation →Guidance for personal representatives and families through the Florida probate process, including court filings, creditor matters, estate assets, distributions, and the responsibilities involved in administering an estate.
Counsel concerning trust administration, including fiduciary responsibilities, notices and accountings, asset management, distributions, and issues involving trustees and beneficiaries.
Personal representatives and trustees act in fiduciary roles. Their responsibilities can include safeguarding property, providing required notices, addressing creditor or beneficiary issues, maintaining appropriate records, making distributions, and following the governing will, trust, and applicable Florida law.
Good administration requires understanding not only what must be done, but when it must be done, how decisions should be documented, and where fiduciary duties limit discretion.
Estate planning determines how assets and responsibilities should be handled. Probate and trust administration are where those instructions are carried out after death. Ambiguities, outdated documents, asset ownership, beneficiary designations, family circumstances, and practical administration issues can all affect how smoothly that process unfolds.
Because the firm works in both estate planning and administration, those issues are approached with an understanding of how planning decisions operate when the time comes to implement them.
In most Florida probate cases, yes. Florida's probate rules generally require the personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney, with narrow exceptions (Fla. Prob. R. 5.030). The attorney prepares the court filings, handles notices and creditor deadlines, and advises the personal representative, who still makes the decisions for the estate. The case is generally filed in the county where the person had their primary home, so a Volusia estate is handled in Volusia and a Brevard estate in Brevard.
Probate is a court-supervised process, and in a typical formal administration it starts when the original will and a petition are filed and the judge appoints a personal representative. The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors, gathers and lists the assets, pays valid claims and expenses, distributes what remains and asks the court to close the estate. Creditors generally have three months after the notice is first published to file claims (s. 733.702, Fla. Stat.). Some smaller estates qualify for summary administration, a shorter process.
Often not for the assets that were actually in the trust. The successor trustee can usually manage and distribute those without a court case. But anything left in Mom's name alone, with no beneficiary designation or co-owner, may still need probate, often through a short pour-over will that moves it into the trust. The trustee may also need to file a notice of trust with the court (s. 736.05055, Fla. Stat.). The first step is sorting out which assets are where.
Sometimes. Florida lets a nonresident serve only if they're related to the person who died in certain ways, such as a spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, or certain other close relatives (s. 733.304, Fla. Stat.). A friend or more distant relative who lives out of state generally can't serve. If you do qualify, much of the administration can be handled with a Florida attorney from a distance.
Florida trustees generally must keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed, let them know the trust exists, provide a copy of the trust terms on request, and give trust accountings (s. 736.0813, Fla. Stat.). What you're entitled to can depend on the trust's terms and whether you're a current or future beneficiary. If you aren't getting information, a lawyer can review the trust and explain what the trustee owes you.
Florida probate and trust administration.
Florida increased the principal summary-administration threshold from $75,000 to $150,000 in 2026. The change means more estates may qualify for a streamlined probate procedure, but qualification does not necessarily make summary administration the best fit.
A successor trustee steps into a fiduciary role at a difficult moment. Before distributing assets, the trustee needs to understand the trust, identify and secure property, communicate with beneficiaries, keep records, address liabilities and taxes, and determine what the document actually requires.
Florida created a new nonjudicial procedure in 2026 that can allow a qualifying trustee to settle accounts and obtain a discharge after required disclosures if no timely objection is received.
If you have been named as a personal representative or trustee, are navigating an estate or trust after a death, or have questions about the administration process, a conversation can help clarify the responsibilities and next steps.
