Q: I am the Personal Representative and custodian of an original Last Will of a decedent, Broward Co., FL. Small estate.
The decedent has no children, divorced and I am to receive 100% of the estate. I have the death certificate of the decedent and am ready to deposit the Will with the Broward County Clerk of the Court having the venue of the estate of the decedent.
What other documents should I present to the Clerk of the Court ?
A: I am very sorry for your loss and please accept my sympathy and condolences at this difficult time. You will also want to provide them with a copy of the death certificate. Depending on how small the probate estate is and what needs to be done, you can possibly get the forms online from the Broward County Clerk for Disposition of Property Without Administration if it applies for this case, if this is not the case then the Summary Administration may need to be used if the estate is worth $75,000 or less, you may or may not be able to get these forms online, but this generally starts to complicate things further with the various filings and requirments and in many instances you will want and need a probate attorney. There are also reasons why you would need and want to pursue a Formal Probate if any assets need to be searched for or sought out and for various other reasons. So, generally, you can pull many of the documents often for the first two from the clerk of the court website, but it is often the case that you end up needing an attorney if the probate filing is anything but the Disposition of Property Without Administration, most instances that I see, someone tries to start a Summary Administration but they end up needing an attorney or are directed to get an attorney by the court for various reasons.
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