At a glance
| State estate tax | No |
|---|---|
| Estate top rate | — |
| Inheritance tax | No |
| Small-estate ceiling | $150,000 effective July 1, 2026Fla. Stat. § 735.201, as amended by Ch. 2026-57 · eff. Jul 1, 2026 |
| TOD deed for real estate | Not availableFlorida Statutes — no statutory real-property TOD deed · 2026 |
| Community-property state | No |
Estate tax
Florida does not levy its own estate tax. An estate here is subject only to the federal estate tax, which most estates never owe — the federal exclusion is measured in the millions. See the federal lifetime exemption for how that works.
Inheritance tax
Florida has no inheritance tax — beneficiaries are not taxed on what they receive by the state. Florida imposes no inheritance tax; beneficiaries owe no Florida tax on what they inherit.
Probate basics
Effective July 1, 2026, Fla. Stat. § 735.201 states a $150,000 summary-administration ceiling; before that effective date, the statutory ceiling was $75,000. Chapter 2026-57 (CS/HB 1337) contains no express applicability provision, so any transition issue involving a proceeding commenced or pending around the effective date may require separate analysis. Summary administration may also be available when the decedent has been dead more than two years. "Disposition without administration" under § 735.301 is narrower — it is limited to exempt personal property plus nonexempt personal property whose value does not exceed the preferred funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the final illness. Ch. 2026-57 also raised the separate limited intestate personal-property amount in § 735.304 from $10,000 to $20,000.
Florida is a common-law (separate-property) state for ownership between spouses. A transfer-on-death deed for real estate is Not available Florida Statutes — no statutory real-property TOD deed · 2026 — see the full Florida transfer-on-death deed guide for the requirements, revocation, and alternatives. The probate deadlines for this state — filing the will, the creditor-claim window, the inventory — are cited in the Executor & Heir’s Guide.
State-specific quirks
Summary-administration threshold doubled, effective July 1, 2026
Effective July 1, 2026, Fla. Stat. § 735.201 states a $150,000 summary-administration ceiling; before that effective date, the statutory ceiling was $75,000. Chapter 2026-57 (CS/HB 1337) contains no express applicability provision, so any transition issue involving a proceeding commenced or pending around the effective date may require separate analysis. The same chapter raised the § 735.304 limited intestate personal-property amount from $10,000 to $20,000.
Florida uses the Lady Bird deed, not a statutory TOD deed
Florida has not enacted a statutory transfer-on-death deed procedure for real property. Practitioners instead use the enhanced life-estate ("Lady Bird") deed — a common-law conveyance in which the life tenant reserves powers that can include selling or mortgaging the property without the remainderman's joinder. It is a fact- and title-specific deed technique that rests on Florida case law and title practice, not a statutory TOD deed. See Varano v. Varano, No. 4D2024-1571 (Fla. 4th DCA June 11, 2025). Before using one, review documentary-stamp tax, homestead and property-tax status, mortgage terms, insurance, creditor protection, and title requirements.
Homestead is protected but restricted
Florida's constitutional homestead protection shields the residence from most creditors, and protected homestead value is not counted toward the summary-administration threshold ($150,000 effective July 1, 2026; $75,000 before that date). But if the decedent is survived by a spouse or minor child, the homestead is subject to devise restrictions and cannot be freely devised — analyze it under the Florida Constitution and statutes.
Summary administration appoints no personal representative
In summary administration no personal representative is appointed, and those who receive estate assets can remain personally liable to creditors for up to two years after death — a trade-off against the speed of the process.
Where to read next
- the federal lifetime exemption — how the far larger federal exclusion works — and why a state tax can still apply below it
- funding a revocable trust — the most common way to keep property out of probate entirely
- the ILIT cluster — keeping a life-insurance death benefit out of a taxable estate
- the Executor & Heir's Guide — the probate deadlines for this state, cited to the statute
- ← Back to the 51-jurisdiction comparison
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
Every tax figure on this page links to the primary source it was verified against — a Florida statute or department-of-revenue page — with that source’s own effective date. Aggregator round-ups are never used as a source. State death and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified, and any figure that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged for you to check with the state rather than guessed. See our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal or tax advice. Whether a death tax applies turns on residency, where property sits, and how title is held — details a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with a professional licensed in Florida.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
Corrections & updates
- — Legal-accuracy corrections applied and verified against official primary sources (Wave E-1 correction pass): updated Florida summary administration to the current $150,000 threshold as a date split ($75,000 for proceedings under the prior law) per Ch. 2026-57 (CS/HB 1337), effective July 1, 2026; noted the § 735.304 limited intestate personal-property increase from $10,000 to $20,000; tightened the disposition-without-administration and homestead descriptions; and described the enhanced life-estate ("Lady Bird") deed as a case-law and title-practice technique (Varano v. Varano), not a statutory transfer-on-death deed.
- — Re-review pass: restated the Florida summary-administration ceiling in the reviewer's verbatim effective-date wording — $150,000 effective July 1, 2026; $75,000 before that date, with no express applicability provision so a proceeding pending around the effective date may require separate analysis — replacing the earlier 'date split' phrasing across the current-law figure, simplified-probate description, and homestead note.
- — Reviewer attribution activated (Evan Miller, Esq., Florida Bar No. 112646) and the page-level and related-card verification dates refreshed to July 29, 2026, per the signed Final URL Approval Memorandum.