Florida probate can freeze a business at the worst possible time. While the court appoints a personal representative and administers the estate under Chapters 731 through 735 of the Florida Probate Code, no one may have authority to sign for your company. For Palm Beach owners, probate avoidance is not about secrecy; it is about continuity, so management never stops waiting on a court. We design plans that move your ownership interest and personal assets outside probate while staying fully within Florida law.
How Florida Probate Works
Florida offers two main paths. Summary administration is available when the estate’s non-exempt assets are valued at no more than the statutory threshold or when the decedent has been deceased for more than two years. Formal administration, the more common route, requires a personal representative, notice to creditors, and court supervision that can run many months. Either way, an interest titled in your individual name generally must pass through this process.
Revocable Living Trusts
The most flexible tool is a funded revocable living trust under Chapter 736. Assets the trust owns, including your membership units or shares, pass under the trust’s terms with no probate and no court appointment. A successor trustee can vote the interest and sign for the business immediately. Funding is everything; an unfunded trust avoids nothing, so we coordinate the transfers carefully.
Lady Bird Deeds for Real Estate
Florida recognizes the enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a Lady Bird deed. It lets you keep full control of real property during your life, including the right to sell or mortgage it, while naming a remainder beneficiary who takes title automatically at death without probate. For owners with a commercial building or homestead, a Lady Bird deed can transfer real estate cleanly while preserving homestead protections and the step-up in basis.
Beneficiary and Survivorship Transfers
Pay-on-death and transfer-on-death designations on accounts, payable-on-death beneficiary forms, and joint ownership with right of survivorship all move assets outside probate. These are useful but blunt tools; an outdated beneficiary form can defeat your whole plan, so we audit and align them with your trust and will.
What Still Goes Through Probate
Probate avoidance is rarely total. Assets you forget to retitle, certain claims, and disputes can still require administration, which is why a pour-over will remains part of the plan. Florida homestead and the spousal elective share under Section 732.2065 also continue to apply regardless of how assets are titled. We plan around these so avoidance techniques do not collide with mandatory rules.
Talk to a Florida Attorney
This information is educational and not legal advice. Probate avoidance strategies depend on your assets, your business documents, and your family situation, and a small titling mistake can undo the plan. Consult a licensed Florida attorney before acting, and contact our Palm Beach office to keep your business and your estate out of unnecessary probate.
Have a question about your estate?
Talk it through with Russel Morgan — free 30-minute consult.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of estate planning in Palm Beach. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles .
