Under Florida Probate Rule 5.340, the personal representative generally must file the estate inventory “within 60 days after issuance of letters.” It is one of the first substantial filings in a Florida probate estate, and it is more than a list of belongings.
The inventory identifies the property being administered through the estate and assigns date-of-death values to most of those assets. It is protected from general public inspection, but the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney, and interested persons, including the surviving spouse and residuary beneficiaries, can see it.
For estates containing real estate, closely held business interests, investment accounts, valuable personal property, or assets that are difficult to trace, preparing the inventory can require considerably more work than filling out a form.
When Is a Florida Probate Inventory Due?
Florida Probate Rule 5.340 generally requires the personal representative to file the inventory within 60 days after issuance of letters.
The inventory must describe the estate property with reasonable detail and state the estimated fair market value of each listed asset as of the decedent’s date of death, subject to a special rule for property appearing to be protected Florida homestead. The inventory is verified by the personal representative.
The court may extend the filing deadline for cause. An extension should not simply be assumed because an asset is difficult to value or records are still being gathered; Rule 5.340 provides a procedure for requesting additional time.
The Florida Supreme Court’s 2026 probate-rule amendments became effective on October 1, 2026. The operative provisions of Rule 5.340 concerning inventories were left unchanged.
What Goes on the Inventory?
The inventory concerns property of the probate estate, not everything the decedent owned or had an economic connection to during life.
Florida Courts describes probate assets generally as property owned in the decedent’s sole name, or property co-owned without a mechanism for ownership to pass automatically at death. Examples may include individually titled bank or investment accounts, certain real estate interests, personal property, and insurance or retirement benefits payable to the estate. Assets passing directly to a surviving joint owner, designated beneficiary, or properly funded trust ordinarily do not become probate assets merely because the decedent once owned them.
That distinction is important. A probate inventory is not a balance sheet of the decedent’s entire financial life.
For each inventoried asset, the relevant value is generally its estimated fair market value on the date of death—not what it was worth when purchased, what it may be worth today, or what the family hopes eventually to receive for it. Florida Statutes section 733.604 requires the inventory to list estate property with reasonable detail and include the estimated date-of-death fair market value.
Some values are straightforward. A bank statement may establish the amount in an account on the date of death.
Others are not.
A closely held corporation or LLC may require a business valuation. Real estate may call for an appraisal. Valuable artwork, jewelry, collectibles, or other unusual property can present the same problem. The fact that an asset does not have a convenient statement balance does not make its value irrelevant.
Florida Homestead Is Treated Differently
Florida homestead creates one of the more confusing inventory issues.
Real property that appears to qualify as constitutionally protected homestead must still be listed on the inventory and identified as such. But Rule 5.340 does not require the inventory to state an estimated fair market value for real property appearing to be protected homestead.
That does not mean the probate court has necessarily determined that the property is protected homestead merely because it appears on the inventory that way.
Protected homestead may pass outside the probate estate to the persons entitled to receive it under Florida law. The inventory designation helps identify the issue while the estate addresses homestead status through the appropriate probate procedures. The committee notes to Rule 5.340 expressly recognize that constitutional homestead is not necessarily a probate asset.
This is one reason a Florida probate inventory should not be prepared by simply copying property from the decedent’s tax return or financial statement.
Title, beneficiary designations, survivorship rights, trust ownership, and homestead status all matter.
Is the Probate Inventory Public?
No. This is an important distinction because much of a Florida probate file is accessible through the court record.
Florida Statutes section 733.604 makes probate inventories—including amended and supplemental inventories—confidential and exempt from Florida’s public-records requirements. Estate accountings receive similar protection.
Confidential does not mean that no one can see the inventory.
The statute permits disclosure to the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney, interested persons as defined by Florida law, and others when a court orders disclosure for good cause. Rule 5.340 also requires the personal representative to serve the inventory on the surviving spouse, heirs in an intestate estate, residuary beneficiaries in a testate estate, and certain other interested persons who request it.
So the inventory is protected from general public inspection, but it is not hidden from the people whose rights are affected by the administration.
What If a Beneficiary Questions a Value?
A beneficiary is not necessarily required to accept an inventory value without explanation.
Section 733.604 gives beneficiaries specific information rights. Upon written request, a residuary beneficiary—or an heir in an intestate estate—is entitled to an explanation of how an inventory value was determined or, if an appraisal was obtained, a copy of that appraisal for inventoried assets. Other beneficiaries have similar rights concerning assets distributed or proposed to be distributed to them. The personal representative must notify beneficiaries of these rights.
That can become particularly important when an estate contains property whose value is open to reasonable disagreement.
Consider a family business. The company’s tax return may show one number, its balance sheet another, and a professional valuation something very different. Revenue does not equal business value, and book value does not necessarily equal fair market value.
The same issue can arise when one beneficiary is to receive an asset while another receives cash or other property. Valuation can affect whether the ultimate distribution actually reflects the shares required by the will or Florida law.
The inventory therefore does more than satisfy a filing deadline. It can become an important part of the economic administration of the estate.
What Happens When an Asset Is Discovered Later?
Probate administration frequently uncovers property that was not known when the estate opened.
An old account may surface. A tax document may reveal an investment. A refund may arrive. The family may discover an ownership interest in a business or parcel of real estate that no one initially realized the decedent still owned.
Florida law anticipates this.
If the personal representative discovers estate property that was omitted from the original inventory, or learns that a description or estimated value was erroneous or misleading, a verified amended or supplemental inventory must be filed. Rule 5.340 likewise addresses assets whose value was initially unknown and later determined.
Finding another asset does not mean the original inventory was necessarily improper. Estate administration is an information-gathering process, and new information sometimes emerges months after the personal representative is appointed.
What matters is that the inventory be corrected when it does.
The Inventory and the Final Accounting Are Not the Same Thing
The inventory is essentially a date-of-death snapshot.
The accounting tells a different story. It addresses what happened while the estate was being administered: receipts, expenses, sales, distributions, and other transactions involving estate property.
An investment account listed on the inventory at one value may be worth more or less when ultimately distributed. Real estate may sell for a different amount from its original estimated value. Estate expenses may reduce the amount ultimately available to beneficiaries.
That does not automatically mean the inventory was wrong. It means the inventory and accounting answer different questions.
Understanding that distinction can prevent considerable confusion when beneficiaries compare the opening inventory with the amount ultimately distributed from the estate.
A Good Inventory Requires More Than Finding Account Statements
The mechanical part of an inventory is listing property.
The harder part is determining what actually belongs to the probate estate, what value should properly be assigned to it, and whether special rules apply.
An account with a valid payable-on-death beneficiary may not belong on the regular probate inventory at all. A residence may raise a Florida homestead issue. A business interest may need to be valued rather than simply assigned its book value. A jointly titled asset may depend on the form of ownership. Property thought to be owned by a trust may never actually have been transferred into it.
Those questions affect far more than a court filing.
They affect what the personal representative controls, what creditors may reach, what beneficiaries receive, and ultimately how the estate can be closed.
For that reason, the probate inventory is best viewed as one of the first substantive checkpoints in a Florida estate administration—not administrative housekeeping to be completed and forgotten.