In Florida probate, the inventory is a sworn list of the decedent’s probate assets and their date-of-death fair market value, and the accounting is a chronological record of every dollar that moved through the estate during administration. As personal representative, you are required to prepare both; the inventory is generally due within 60 days after letters of administration are issued, and a final accounting accompanies your petition for discharge before the estate can be closed. Together they form the financial backbone of the case and the primary way beneficiaries and the court verify that you handled the estate correctly.
If you have just been appointed personal representative (Florida’s term for what other states call an executor or administrator), these two documents are where most of your fiduciary exposure lives. Get them right and the case tends to close quietly. Get them sloppy, late, or incomplete, and you invite objections, surcharge claims, and litigation. Below is a practical walkthrough from the perspective of how these requirements actually play out in South Florida probate courts.
What the Florida Probate Inventory Must Contain
The inventory requirement comes from section 733.604, Florida Statutes, and Florida Probate Rule 5.340. The rule is deceptively simple: list the estate’s property “with reasonable detail” and assign each item its estimated fair market value as of the date of death. The work, though, is in the detail.
The inventory covers probate assets — property that passed through the decedent’s name alone with no surviving co-owner and no beneficiary designation. That distinction trips up new personal representatives constantly. A few examples of what does and does not belong:
- Included: a home titled solely in the decedent’s name, a checking account with no payable-on-death beneficiary, a brokerage account in the decedent’s name only, a vehicle, personal property, and an interest in a closely held business.
- Excluded (non-probate): jointly titled real estate with right of survivorship, accounts with a valid POD or TOD designation, life insurance and retirement accounts with named living beneficiaries, and assets held in a revocable living trust.
For real property, you list a good-faith estimate of value; many personal representatives use a recent appraisal or the county property appraiser’s just value as a starting point, then refine it. For unique or hard-to-value assets — a closely held LLC interest, art, a coin collection — a formal appraisal is often the prudent move, because the value you swear to is the baseline against which beneficiaries will later measure the gains, losses, and distributions in your accounting.
The 60-Day Inventory Deadline and Safe-Deposit Boxes
Under section 733.604, a personal representative who is not a curator or a successor must file the inventory within 60 days after the issuance of letters. That clock starts the day the judge signs your letters of administration, not the day you finish gathering paperwork — so begin tracking down assets immediately.
Safe-deposit boxes have a separate, tighter rule. When you open the decedent’s safe-deposit box, you must file an inventory of its contents with the court within 10 days after the box is opened. If you discover assets after the original filing — a forgotten account, a previously unknown parcel — you file an amended or supplementary inventory rather than ignoring it.
Who Can See the Inventory
Florida treats probate inventories as confidential. Unless the court orders otherwise for good cause, the inventory may be inspected only by the clerk, the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney, and other interested persons of the estate. A beneficiary or other interested person who asks for it is entitled to a copy, but the document is not laid open to the general public the way many court filings are. That confidentiality is intentional — it keeps the decedent’s financial picture out of casual view while still giving the people with a stake in the estate full access.
Accountings: Telling the Money’s Story
If the inventory is a snapshot taken on the date of death, the accounting is the movie that runs from your appointment through the close of the estate. A Florida probate accounting must show, in an organized format, where the estate started, everything that came in, everything that went out, and what remains. The governing standard is Florida Probate Rule 5.346, “Fiduciary Accounting.”
Rule 5.346 requires that an accounting include all cash and property transactions since the last accounting (or, if there was none, since administration began) plus a schedule of the assets on hand at the end of the period. In practice, a compliant accounting is built from standardized schedules:
- Starting balance — the assets at the beginning of the accounting period, tied back to your inventory values.
- Receipts — income and other money received: interest, dividends, rent, refunds, proceeds of sale.
- Disbursements — funeral expenses, debts and creditor claims, taxes, attorney’s and personal representative’s fees, and administration costs.
- Capital transactions and adjustments — gains or losses when assets are sold, and reconciliations between carrying value and sale price.
- Distributions — partial or final distributions to beneficiaries.
- Assets on hand at the end — what is left, ready to be distributed.
Two technical points matter here. First, accountings must also conform to Florida’s principal and income law in chapter 738, Florida Statutes, which dictates how items are allocated between income and principal — a distinction that becomes important when an estate has both income beneficiaries and remainder beneficiaries. Second, the math has to reconcile to the penny. Florida judges and opposing attorneys read these schedules closely, and a beginning balance that does not tie to the prior period or an ending balance that does not foot is the fastest way to draw a formal objection.
The Final Accounting and Petition for Discharge
You cannot simply distribute the assets and walk away. To close a formal administration, the personal representative files a final accounting together with a petition for discharge under Florida Probate Rules 5.400 and 5.346. As a general benchmark, formal administration is expected to be completed within roughly 12 months of the issuance of letters, though courts routinely extend that period for estates with litigation, tax returns, real estate to sell, or contested claims.
The final accounting and the plan of distribution must be served on all interested persons, who then have a window to object. If no one objects and the court approves, you make the final distributions, obtain receipts, and petition for discharge. The payoff for doing this correctly is significant: under section 733.901, Florida Statutes, the order of discharge releases the personal representative — and the surety on any bond — and bars later claims arising from the administration. That statutory release is precisely why you do not want to cut corners on the accounting that earns it.
When Beneficiaries Can Waive — and When They Can’t
Florida allows interested persons to waive a formal accounting and the more detailed elements of a petition for discharge, and in small, harmonious family estates they often do. A signed waiver and consent from every beneficiary can dramatically streamline closing. But waivers are only as good as the disclosure behind them and the unanimity of the signers. If even one beneficiary declines to sign, or if a minor, incapacitated, or unborn interest is involved, you are back to a full Rule 5.346 accounting. My standing advice to personal representatives: prepare your records as if a full accounting will be required, even when you hope for waivers. It is far easier to simplify a complete file than to reconstruct one under deadline.
Common Mistakes That Turn Routine Estates Into Litigation
Most accounting disputes I see in South Florida estates trace back to a short list of avoidable errors:
- Commingling funds. Open a dedicated estate bank account using the estate’s EIN and run every transaction through it. Personal and estate money must never touch.
- Missing receipts and documentation. Keep every invoice, statement, closing document, and canceled check. The burden is on the personal representative to prove each disbursement was proper.
- Undervaluing or omitting assets on the inventory. An inventory that understates value invites surcharge claims if assets later “appear” or sell for far more.
- Paying yourself or beneficiaries early. Creditors generally come before beneficiaries; distributing too soon can leave you personally exposed for unpaid valid claims.
- Treating deadlines as suggestions. A late inventory or stale accounting signals mismanagement to the court and the beneficiaries, even when nothing improper happened.
These problems are most damaging in contested estates. When beneficiaries are already at odds, the inventory and accounting become the battlefield, and a careful estate-litigation attorney will dissect every schedule. Firms that handle will contests and estate litigation see the same pattern over and over: the fight is rarely about whether money moved, but about whether the personal representative can document that it moved properly. The same financial-transparency principles apply whether the estate sits in a New York probate proceeding or a Florida administration — the schedules look different, but the duty to account is the heart of the job in every jurisdiction.
Practical Steps for a New Personal Representative
If you have just been appointed, here is a sensible order of operations. Secure and identify all assets right away. Obtain date-of-death values, ordering appraisals for anything hard to value. File the inventory within 60 days, and the safe-deposit box inventory within 10 days of opening any box. Open a single estate account and route everything through it. Keep a running ledger from day one — receipts, disbursements, sales — so the final accounting is a matter of formatting, not reconstruction. And handle creditor claims before you distribute.
None of this requires you to become a forensic accountant overnight, but it does reward discipline and good counsel. An experienced probate attorney will keep your filings on schedule, structure the accounting to satisfy Rule 5.346, and protect the statutory discharge that ultimately ends your personal exposure. If your matter has Florida-specific complexity, the team at Morgan Legal’s Florida probate practice handles these administrations regularly, and you can learn more about the documents that drive them on our pages covering wills and the broader Florida probate process. When you are ready to talk through your specific estate, reach out for a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a personal representative have to file the inventory in Florida?
Generally 60 days after the issuance of letters of administration, under section 733.604, Florida Statutes. If you open the decedent’s safe-deposit box, you must file an inventory of its contents within 10 days of opening it. Assets discovered later are added through an amended or supplementary inventory.
What is the difference between a probate inventory and an accounting in Florida?
The inventory is a date-of-death snapshot listing the estate’s probate assets and their fair market values. The accounting is the running financial record of the entire administration — receipts, disbursements, gains, losses, distributions, and assets on hand — prepared under Florida Probate Rule 5.346 and filed with the petition for discharge to close the estate.
Can beneficiaries waive the final accounting?
Yes. If every interested person signs a waiver and consent, Florida allows a personal representative to skip a formal final accounting and streamline the discharge. But if any beneficiary refuses, or a minor, incapacitated, or unborn interest is involved, a full Rule 5.346 accounting is required. It is wise to keep complete records as if a full accounting will be needed.
What value do I use for assets on the Florida inventory?
You use the estimated fair market value as of the decedent’s date of death. For real property, an appraisal or the county property appraiser’s value is a common starting point; for unique assets like business interests, art, or collections, a formal appraisal is often prudent because that value becomes the baseline for your later accounting.
What happens if the accounting is wrong or incomplete?
Errors invite formal objections from beneficiaries and can lead to surcharge claims holding the personal representative personally liable. Because the schedules must reconcile exactly and every disbursement must be documented, an inaccurate or undocumented accounting is the most common trigger for probate litigation. A correct, court-approved final accounting earns the statutory discharge under section 733.901 that releases you from future claims.
For more on our Florida practice, see our overview of Florida probate administration. Morgan Legal Group's affiliated New York office also handles Article 81 guardianship in New York.