Hillsborough County Probate Court Guide

This guide explains how probate, guardianship and trust cases actually move through the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County: where cases are filed, how the Clerk assigns them to a division, and every administrative order currently governing the probate bench. Every order cited links to the court’s official PDF.

The courthouse and the Clerk

Probate for all of Hillsborough County is filed with the Clerk of Court & Comptroller at the Hillsborough County Courthouse, 800 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa, FL 33602 — (813) 276-8100, hillsclerk.com. Filings go through the statewide E-Portal; the 13th Circuit is one of Florida’s highest-volume circuits, so allow several business days of processing lead time before any hearing, and submit proposed orders (PDF format) well in advance.

How the Clerk assigns your case to a division

Division assignment is governed by standing administrative orders, and it depends on the kind of case:

• Probate estates (Fla. Stat. chapters 731–735): assigned to Probate, Guardianship, Mental Health & Trust Divisions “A” and “B” on a 5:3 ratio — unless the decedent was domiciled in the East Division boundaries, in which case the case goes to East Circuit Division O, U or W by random equitable distribution (AO S-2024-013).
• Guardianships — including guardian advocacy under § 393.12, conservatorships under chapter 747, and injunctions against exploitation of a vulnerable adult under § 825.1035 — follow the same A/B 5:3 assignment, and any mental-health companion case follows the guardianship into the same division (AO S-2026-008).
• Trust cases (chapter 736): the East-Division test follows the trustee’s usual place of business (or residence), not the decedent’s domicile — a detail that regularly surprises out-of-county trustees (AO S-2024-017).

Filing mechanics that control the calendar

• The original will must be deposited with the Clerk within 10 days of learning of the death (Fla. Stat. § 732.901) — e-filing a scan does not satisfy the deposit requirement.
• Certain probate and guardianship matters may be referred to a general magistrate with the parties’ consent (AO S-2022-020) — often the faster calendar for uncontested matters.
• Guardianship examining committee fees are set by standing order (AO S-2024-077), so incapacity petitions carry predictable committee costs.
• Annual guardianship accountings are strictly enforced; late filings draw show-cause orders.

Current administrative orders governing probate & guardianship

These are the administrative orders currently in force for the probate, guardianship, mental health and trust divisions of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Each links to the official PDF on fljud13.org. This table is regenerated from the circuit’s published orders — when the court supersedes an order, it drops off this list.

Verified against the circuit’s published administrative orders as of August 10, 2026. Superseded orders are removed automatically when the court replaces them. Click a subject to jump to the explanation.

The orders, explained

What each order actually requires, in plain terms. These summaries are written from the text of the orders themselves; the linked PDF always controls.

S-2002-005 — Veterans’ guardianship cases

For guardianships of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries under chapter 744, Part VIII, the VA can substitute for the Clerk’s audit function: when the court grants the VA’s waiver request, the annual accounting is audited and approved by the VA (and filed by the VA in the court file) instead of the Clerk — and the Clerk’s audit fee is waived with it. The VA can also carry the guardian- and attorney-fee approval function. For qualifying veterans’ guardianships this meaningfully reduces annual compliance cost.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2021-027 — Baker Act hearings

Baker Act (involuntary examination) hearings are conducted at three designated host receiving facilities under a memorandum of understanding among the facilities, DCF, the courts, the Public Defender and the State Attorney — not at the courthouse by default. The administrative judge of the division retains discretion to move hearings to the courthouse when circumstances require.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2021-075 — Medical treatment & advance directive proceedings

Petitions for expedited judicial intervention over medical treatment (Probate Rule 5.900) and health-care advance directive disputes (ch. 765) follow the A/B 5:3 assignment, with a defined cascade when speed matters: emergencies go to the presiding judge of the assigned division; if that judge is absent, to the other division’s judge; if both are absent, to the chief judge or designee. If a division judge is disqualified, the case moves to the other division, then to the chief judge. In end-of-life and consent disputes, hours matter — this order is why a properly-filed emergency petition never waits on one judge’s calendar.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2022-020 — General magistrates

Appoints standing general magistrates for the division and defines what they may hear: probate, guardianship, mental health, trust, involuntary treatment, adult protective services and conservatorship matters, plus the review of guardianship inventories, accountings and plans that backstops the judges’ compliance enforcement. Referral requires the parties’ consent under Rule 1.490 and Probate Rules 5.095 and 5.697 — and for uncontested matters, consenting to the magistrate is often the faster calendar. Magistrates may conduct mental-health proceedings outside the Edgecomb courthouse.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2024-013 — Probate proceedings (master order)

The master order for probate estates. When a probate case is filed under chapters 731–735, the Clerk assigns it automatically: Divisions A and B share new cases on a 5:3 rotation, unless the decedent was domiciled within the East Division boundaries (defined by AO S-2024-014) — those estates go to East Circuit Divisions O, U or W by random equitable distribution. There is no judge-shopping in Hillsborough probate: the decedent’s address decides downtown versus East Division, and the rotation decides the rest. The order also governs how transferred and reopened cases are routed.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2024-017 — Trust administration proceedings

Trust cases under chapter 736 follow the same A/B 5:3 rotation — but the East Division test is different from probate: it turns on the trustee’s usual place of business (or, if none, the trustee’s residence), not on where the settlor or any beneficiary lived. A Plant City trustee administering a trust for a South Tampa family will find the case in East Circuit Division O, U or W. Counsel who assume trust venue tracks the decedent’s domicile get this wrong regularly.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2024-077 — Guardianship examining committee fees

Sets the fees for § 744.331(3) examining committee members in incapacity proceedings, effective December 1, 2024: $350 per case for psychiatrists, other physicians, psychologists and other doctoral-level members, $175 for all other members — covering document review, examination, report, testimony and travel. The same schedule applies when the petition is dismissed or denied. When a guardianship is established over a non-indigent ward, the presiding judge sets the committee fees instead. For planning purposes: a standard three-member committee on a dismissed or indigent-ward petition is a predictable, capped cost.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

S-2026-008 — Guardianship proceedings (master order)

The most operationally important order in the division, reissued January 2026 at 17 pages. It governs every guardianship, guardian advocacy (§ 393.12), conservatorship (ch. 747) and vulnerable-adult exploitation injunction (§ 825.1035). The provisions that most often catch families and even out-of-county counsel:

• Every proposed guardian must file a sworn application for appointment; professional guardians must maintain a guardian file with the Clerk and update their application annually (nonprofit corporate guardians file quarterly disclosure statements instead).
• Initial reports are due by the last day of the anniversary month in which the letters were signed — a verified inventory for a guardian of the property (a snapshot of assets as of the letters date), an initial guardianship plan for a guardian of the person — and the court strongly prefers its own posted forms.
• Courtesy copies of any case law or authority relied on must be handed to the judge at the hearing, and documents not timely filed can get the hearing postponed.
• The court does not provide court reporters (except for vulnerable-adult injunction proceedings) — if you want a record, you arrange and pay for the reporter.
• Emergency applications filed with the Clerk by 4:59 p.m. on a weekday are routed to a division judge; every § 825.1035 exploitation injunction is automatically treated as an emergency; and even emergency matters require at least 48 hours’ actual notice before hearing.
• A mental-health companion case involving the same person follows the guardianship into the same division.

Read the full order (official PDF) →

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about court procedure, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Administrative orders change; always confirm the current order on the circuit’s website before relying on it.