Florida probate, explained
How long before you can sell an inherited house in Florida?
The honest answer is that it depends entirely on which path the estate takes, and the range is wide — some houses can be sold within weeks, others take the better part of a year. Here is the realistic version, including the part most articles skip: what the waiting costs while you do it.
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First: does it need probate at all?
Some Florida houses transfer without probate. Check these before assuming you are in for a court process.
- An enhanced life estate deed — what Florida calls a lady bird deed. Ownership passes automatically to the named beneficiary on death.
- Joint ownership with right of survivorship. The surviving owner already owns it.
- A revocable living trust. If the house was properly retitled into the trust during life, the trustee can sell it. Note the “properly retitled” part — families regularly discover the trust exists but the house was never actually moved into it.
If one of these applies, most of this page does not, and you can generally move on the property right away.
Summary administration: the short path
Florida’s simplified probate is dramatically faster than the alternative. It applies to estates where the value of probate assets falls under the statutory limit, or where the person has been dead more than two years. Homestead property is generally excluded from that valuation, which matters more than people expect — a modest estate whose main asset is a homestead house often qualifies when it looks at first like it should not.
The threshold went up this year. As of July 1, 2026, the limit rose to $150,000. It had been $75,000 for years. If you looked into this earlier and were told the estate was too large, that answer may be out of date. It is worth asking again.
Typical timeline: one to three months from filing to order. It moves faster because no personal representative is appointed and no formal administration is opened — the court issues an order distributing the assets, and the property can be sold from there.
Formal administration: the long path
When the estate does not qualify, you are in formal administration. Typical timeline is six to twelve months from first filing to closing the estate. Simple, uncontested estates sometimes clear in five or six. Contested estates, missing heirs, creditor disputes, or an unclear will push well past twelve.
What takes the time: appointing the personal representative, notifying beneficiaries and known creditors, publishing notice to creditors and waiting out the claims window, inventorying assets, resolving claims, then distributing. The creditor notice period is the single biggest fixed delay, and it is not something a motivated family can hurry.
So when can you actually sell?
Here is the distinction that trips people up: selling during formal administration is possible and common. You usually do not have to wait for the estate to close.
Once a personal representative is appointed and has authority to sell, the property can go under contract. Depending on the will’s terms and the circumstances, court approval of the sale may be required — a routine step rather than a barrier.
What you cannot do is sell before anyone has legal authority to sign. That is the real gate, and the stretch between the date of death and the appointment of a personal representative is often the most frustrating part for families who have already agreed on what they want to do.
What slows things down in practice
- Heirs who are not aligned. Three siblings, three opinions about whether to sell. No court process fixes this one.
- Nobody local. Heirs out of state, a house that needs securing, mail piling up, a lawn drawing code-enforcement notices.
- The house itself. An empty Florida house degrades faster than people expect — humidity, roof leaks nobody catches, and carriers that will not renew on a vacant property.
- Missing paperwork. The original will, the deed, or evidence the house was ever retitled into the trust.
What waiting costs
While the estate works through the process, someone is paying. Property taxes keep accruing. Insurance on a vacant home costs more than an occupied one, if a carrier will write it at all. Utilities have to stay on enough to keep the place from deteriorating. If there is a mortgage, it does not pause.
Six months of carrying costs on a modest Florida house frequently runs into the thousands, and longer on a formal administration. That number is worth calculating early, because it changes the math on waiting for full retail.
Your options once you can sell
- List it on the market. Highest gross price. Requires the house to be presentable, which for an inherited property usually means a cleanout and repairs paid up front by heirs who may not want to fund that — then 30 to 60 days to close with a financed buyer.
- Sell it as-is to a cash buyer. Faster and simpler: no cleanout, no repairs, no showings, no financing contingency to fall through. The trade is price — the offer is below retail, and we would rather state that directly than dress it up.
- Keep it. Sometimes right, particularly if the family wants to hold or rent. Just price the carrying costs and the management honestly first.
A family that is aligned, local, and not carrying a mortgage should probably take the time and sell retail. A family scattered across three states, paying to insure an empty house, usually should not.
Further along than this? If the estate is moving and you want to understand the practical side — cleanouts, multiple heirs, remote signing — here is how we handle inherited houses.
This page is general information about Florida probate, not legal or tax advice. Rules and thresholds change — the summary administration limit changed as recently as July 2026. Confirm your situation with a Florida probate attorney.