The shape of the whole thing
Settling an estate in Florida generally means: someone is given legal authority over the deceased person's property; that person gathers and protects it; debts and taxes are paid; and what remains is distributed to the people entitled to it. The tangible contents of the home — everything from the dining room to the garage — are part of that property, and they're usually the part that takes the most time and causes the most friction.
Step one — who's in charge
If there's a will, it names a personal representative (what other states call an executor). If the home and contents are held in a revocable trust, the successor trustee steps in — often without a court process at all. If there's no will, Florida's intestacy rules decide who inherits, and the court appoints a personal representative, typically the surviving spouse or a close relative.
Florida also has rules about who may serve: a personal representative generally must be a Florida resident, or a close relative (spouse, child, parent, sibling and so on) if living elsewhere. Out-of-state friends named in an old will are sometimes surprised to learn they can't serve.
Until the court issues Letters of Administration (or the trustee's authority is established), no one has the legal right to sell the contents. You can secure, inventory and plan — and you should — but hold off on selling.
Step two — which kind of probate
- Formal administration is the full process, used for most estates of any size. In Collier County it's filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court's probate division at the courthouse complex on East Tamiami Trail. Expect six months to a year, sometimes longer.
- Summary administration is a shorter route available when the estate subject to administration (less exempt property) is small — under a statutory threshold, currently $75,000 — or when the person has been dead more than two years.
- Disposition without administration exists for very small estates consisting mostly of exempt property and final expenses.
- Trust administration happens outside the court entirely, but the trustee has the same duties of care and record-keeping.
Which one applies depends on numbers only the attorney will have. The point for you: the contents of the house are part of what determines the route, so an early, honest sense of what they're worth matters.
Step three — the inventory, and why the contents matter to it
In formal administration the personal representative must file an inventory of the estate's property with the court — Florida requires it within sixty days of the Letters being issued. Tangible personal property is on that inventory at its fair market value at the date of death.
That is where a dealer's walk-through and a written evaluation earn their keep. For most Naples estates the contents are valued as a reasonable lump sum; for estates with genuinely valuable pieces — a significant collection, fine art, important silver — the attorney may want a formal appraisal from a credentialed appraiser, and the same is true if there's an estate-tax filing, a charitable donation of valuable items, or a dispute among heirs. Here's how a free evaluation differs from a certified appraisal, and when you need which.
Step four — exempt property and the "separate writing"
Two Florida wrinkles that specifically concern the things:
- Exempt property. A surviving spouse — or, if none, the children — can claim certain property as exempt from creditors' claims and from the general estate: household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the decedent's usual home up to a statutory net value (currently $20,000), plus vehicles and some other items. It's a claim that has to be made within a set time, so the attorney should raise it early — before the furniture is sold.
- The separate writing. Florida lets a will refer to a separate signed list that says who gets particular items of tangible personal property — "the Delft tulipière to my niece." People write these on a legal pad and put them in a drawer. Look for one before anything is divided or sold; it's binding if it meets the statute's requirements.
Step five — creditors, and why nothing should leave yet
Formal administration includes publishing a notice to creditors; creditors then have a window (three months from first publication, as of this writing) to file claims. Until the estate's debts are known, the personal representative has a duty to preserve estate property — which is a formal way of saying: don't distribute the silver to the grandchildren in week two. Sorting, photographing and evaluating are fine. Distribution and sale come when the attorney says so.
Step six — the contents, practically
- Secure the house and gather the small valuables and documents. The first-week checklist is here.
- Photograph every room before anything moves — it's the informal inventory the formal one gets built from.
- Get a written evaluation of the whole house from someone who does this professionally. It informs the inventory, the exempt-property claim, the family division and the sale. Ours is free. How the walk-through works.
- Check for the separate writing and for anything the will names specifically.
- Divide by agreement among the heirs, using values rather than guesses.
- Sell the rest by the right route — buyout for the ordinary contents, consignment or auction for the genuinely good pieces, donation for the serviceable everyday things. The routes compared. Keep every receipt for the estate file.
- Clear the house for the listing or the handover, with receipts for donations and a paid invoice for the clean-out.
Naples-specific realities
- Condominiums and HOAs often forbid estate sales and restrict moving days. Ask for the rules before scheduling anything.
- Season. Movers, appraisers, attorneys and buildings are all busiest January through April. If a closing is planned for season, start the contents in the fall.
- Homestead. Florida's homestead rules affect who can inherit the house and what creditors can reach; they don't change how the contents are handled, but they're a reason the attorney is involved early.
- Out-of-state heirs. Most of ours are. Evaluations, photographs, approvals and payments all work remotely; you don't have to be here.
Where to look things up
- Florida Statutes, Chapters 731–735 (the Florida Probate Code) — available free on the Florida Legislature's website.
- Collier County Clerk of the Circuit Court — probate department, for filing information and fees.
- The Florida Bar's consumer pamphlets on probate and wills, for plain-language overviews.
Statutory figures and time limits above are as of September 2026 and do change; confirm them with your attorney.