Probate Attorneys Serving Pinellas County

Pinellas County Probate, Handled Right

Pinellas County probate runs through the Sixth Judicial Circuit and the Clerk of Court in Clearwater. Whether you are opening formal administration, qualifying for summary administration, or facing a will dispute, the process involves strict deadlines, creditor notices, and court filings. A single misstep can delay distribution by months or expose the personal representative to personal liability. We have guided hundreds of Florida families through probate efficiently and correctly.

The Florida Law That Governs Your Pinellas County Estate

Probate in Pinellas County is governed by the Florida Probate Code. Which path your estate takes, and which deadlines bind you, comes down to a handful of statutes. These are the ones that decide most cases.

Summary administration: section 735.201

Florida allows a shortened proceeding called summary administration when the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $75,000, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. In a testate estate, the will must also not direct administration as required by chapter 733. That exempt-property subtraction matters: a Pinellas County estate whose gross value looks too large often still qualifies once protected homestead and statutory exempt property come out of the calculation.

The creditor window: section 733.702

Creditor claims are barred unless filed in the probate proceeding by the later of two dates: three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, or, for a creditor entitled to be served with a copy of that notice, thirty days after service on that creditor. A late claim is barred even if nobody objects to it. A court may extend the period only on grounds of fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claims period, which is why serving reasonably ascertainable creditors correctly is one of the most consequential things a personal representative does.

The two-year wall: section 733.710

Separately, and notwithstanding any other provision of the Probate Code, two years after a person’s death neither the estate, the personal representative, nor the beneficiaries are liable for any claim against the decedent, whether or not letters of administration were ever issued. This is a different rule from the two-year figure in the summary administration statute, and the two are frequently confused. Section 733.710 does not apply to a creditor who filed a claim within the two years and whose claim has not yet been paid or disposed of, and it does not affect a duly recorded mortgage or security interest.

Filing in Pinellas County: where it actually goes

Pinellas County probate is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Clearwater and heard in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. Pinellas files probate, guardianship, Baker Act and Marchman Act petitions together at Room 106 of the Clearwater Courthouse, and the Clerk runs a dedicated probate mailbox at [email protected]. St. Petersburg residents still file in Clearwater.

Sixth Judicial Circuit local practice

Florida’s probate code is statewide, but each circuit layers its own administrative orders, mandatory checklists, and submission rules on top of it. Getting these wrong is the most common reason a Pinellas County filing sits without an order. In this circuit:

• A will may be scanned and electronically filed, but the original must still be delivered to the Clerk under Administrative Order 2023-038 PI-CIR. Filing the scan does not satisfy the deposit requirement.
• Checklists are used for summary administration (both testate and intestate), disposition of personal property without administration, and the orders on formal administration and discharge.
• Proposed orders are uploaded to the Judicial Automated Workflow System (JAWS) in PDF format, which is the opposite of the Word-format rule used in the Orlando-area circuits.
• Hearings are generally scheduled by telephone call to the judicial assistant and conducted remotely.

What Pinellas does differently

Pinellas runs its filing under Administrative Order 2023-038 PI-CIR, signed October 31, 2023, which rescinded the earlier order 2022-029. A few of its requirements catch filings that would have been fine in a neighboring county.

• Probate is carved out of the proposed-order restriction. The order provides that, with the exception of probate and guardianship cases, proposed orders and judgments, letters and correspondence directed to a judge may not be e-filed through the Portal. Probate and guardianship sit inside that exception, which is why a habit formed in a Pinellas civil case does not transfer to a Pinellas estate, or the other way round.
• A scanned will is not a deposited will. Wills, codicils, and separate writings identifying devises of tangible property may be scanned and electronically filed, but the original still has to be submitted to the Clerk. Filing the scan does not discharge the deposit obligation.
• Do not e-mail the court or the clerk a pleading. Filings come through the Portal. The order tells attorneys directly not to e-mail pleadings or papers for filing.
• Portal submissions must be in PDF/A, with each attachment separated and labeled. Anything exceeding the Portal size limit must be divided into clearly numbered parts, described as Part 1 of 5, Part 2 of 5 and so on.
• There is a defined procedure for when the Portal fails. An attorney facing a deadline must attempt to file after 12:00 noon on at least two occasions separated by at least an hour before asking the court to treat the filing as timely nunc pro tunc.
• The filing date is the date the Portal receives it, and a document must be time stamped by 11:59 p.m. local time to count for that day.
• The Clerk may reject an attorney’s paper filing made without an order excusing that attorney from e-service, and must notify the attorney of the rejection and report repeat filers to the court.
• Confidential material in a proposed order has its own rule. The order points to Administrative Order 2013-027, or any subsequent order, for preparing proposed orders and judgments that contain confidential information.

Pinellas probate sits in the Sixth Judicial Circuit alongside Pasco, but the two counties are administered separately and file in different courthouses. A Pinellas estate is not filed in New Port Richey, and St. Petersburg residents file in Clearwater rather than in their own city.

Administrative orders that govern Pinellas County cases

These are the local orders a filing in this county has to satisfy. Each links to the court’s own published order.