Who inherits a Florida estate? A probate succession map

Start with the deed—not the family tree

Probate succession applies only to assets that need to pass through the estate. A house owned jointly with survivorship rights, held in a qualifying trust, or controlled by another valid transfer may pass outside probate. The recorded deed and estate-planning documents come first.

If the decedent owned a probate interest in the property, the court then determines whether a valid will controls and who has authority to administer the estate.

With a valid will, the estate is testate

A valid will generally directs who receives probate assets and may nominate a Personal Representative. The nominee does not receive authority simply because the will names them; the probate court must appoint the representative and issue Letters of Administration.

A will is not unlimited. Florida law can protect a surviving spouse or minor child, especially when the property was the decedent’s homestead. Creditor claims, estate expenses, elective-share rights, and legally enforceable contracts can also affect what beneficiaries ultimately receive.

Without a valid will, Florida chooses the heirs

An intestate estate follows Florida Statutes sections 732.102 and 732.103. The state does not automatically take the house merely because no will exists. Instead, the law creates an order of inheritance based on the surviving spouse and family.

If there is a surviving spouse but no surviving descendant, the spouse generally receives the entire intestate estate. The spouse also generally receives everything when all of the decedent’s descendants are shared with that spouse and the spouse has no other descendants.

Blended families change the spouse’s share

When the decedent has a descendant who is not also the surviving spouse’s descendant, the spouse generally receives one-half of the intestate estate and the decedent’s descendants share the other half. The same one-half rule generally applies when all of the decedent’s descendants are shared, but the surviving spouse has another descendant outside that relationship.

This is one reason a simple statement such as “the spouse gets everything” can be dangerously wrong. Children from prior relationships—and children the surviving spouse had with someone else—can change the statutory split.

If there is no spouse, follow Florida’s family order

When no surviving spouse inherits, the estate passes first to the decedent’s descendants. If none survive, it passes to the decedent’s parents equally, or to the surviving parent. If there are no surviving parents, brothers, sisters, and descendants of deceased siblings come next.

More remote paternal and maternal relatives may inherit if none of those people survive. Florida also has rules for adoption, relatives of the half blood, children born outside marriage, relatives who died before the decedent, and other less common situations.

• Descendants inherit per stirpes, meaning a deceased descendant’s branch may take that person’s share.
• An adopted person is generally treated as a descendant of the adopting parent for intestate succession.
• Stepchildren do not automatically inherit under intestacy merely because of the stepparent relationship.
• The probate attorney may need family records or affidavits to establish distant or disputed heirs.

Florida homestead needs its own analysis

The succession map cannot answer every homestead question. If the property was the decedent’s protected Florida homestead and a spouse or minor child survives, constitutional and statutory restrictions may override an attempted devise.

When homestead is not validly devised and both a spouse and descendants survive, the spouse may receive a life estate with the descendants holding the remainder. Florida law also allows the spouse, within the applicable deadline, to elect an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common while the descendants receive the other half.

A homestead order is often needed to confirm how the property descended and clear title. Do not sign a deed or assume the Personal Representative alone can sell until the estate’s attorney and title company resolve homestead.

Who can sign a contract to sell the inherited house?

Knowing who inherits and knowing who can sign are related but different questions. A court-appointed Personal Representative may have authority to contract for estate property, subject to the will, Florida law, and any required court approval. If title descended directly to several heirs, all owners may need to participate.

The house can often go under contract before the probate case is fully complete. A probate-aware agreement can make closing contingent on Letters of Administration, a homestead determination, court authorization when needed, and confirmation of every required signer.

What to gather before asking who inherits

A probate attorney can give a more useful answer when the family brings documents instead of assumptions.

• The recorded deed and any trust or enhanced life-estate deed.
• The original will and later amendments, if any.
• The death certificate and the decedent’s marital history.
• Names of children, adopted children, deceased children, and their descendants.
• Information about the surviving spouse’s descendants from other relationships.
• Any prenuptial agreement, waiver, divorce order, or pending probate filing.