Disposition Without Administration

Disposition without administration.

 

Under section 735.301 of the Florida State Probate code, certain estates are eligible to be managed through “disposition without administration”. Disposition without administration is very straightforward and quick if your loved one passed with minimal assets that need to be administered through the probate process.

 

In order to be eligible, the estate must have significantly lowered value thus not meeting the requirements of the other two methods of probate available in Florida.

 

In order to be eligible for disposition without administration, the decedent’s estate must consist of only property that is exempt under section 732.402 of the Florida Statutes, personal property that is exempt from the claims of creditors under the Constitution of Florida, and non-exempt personal property the value of which does not exceed the preferred funeral expenses of the deceased, or reasonable and necessary “end of life” medical expenses.

 

Disposition without administration is a quicker and less costly form of probate administration. However, there are several draw backs to disposition without administration. Unlike Formal Administration, a “Personal Representative” is not appointed in a disposition without administration. Creditors are not notified and given 90 days to make a claim against the estate, thus leaving open their claims for 2 years after the passing of the decedent. As does happen from time to time, our deceased love ones leave debt and/or other assets that the personal representative is unaware of and thus, small estate probate methods eventually lead to formal administration, increased costs, and delay in transferring assets.

 

Before you proceed with a disposition without administration, or any other form of probate administration, you should speak with a Florida Probate Attorney to determine which type of probate administration is appropriate for your loved one’s estate.