Florida Probate for Digital and Financial Accounts: A South Florida Attorney’s Guide

Florida probate for digital and financial accounts is the court-supervised process of identifying, valuing, and transferring a deceased person’s bank accounts, brokerage holdings, retirement funds, cryptocurrency, and online accounts to the people entitled to receive them. Under Florida law, financial accounts that lack a surviving joint owner or a valid beneficiary designation generally fall into the probate estate and must pass through the courts. Digital accounts are governed by a separate framework, the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which controls when and how a personal representative can reach a decedent’s online life.

In our South Florida practice, most estates are anchored by real property — the homestead in Boca, the condo in Aventura, the rental duplex in Fort Lauderdale. But the accounts that fund those properties, pay the carrying costs, and hold the family’s liquid wealth are where probate quietly gets complicated. Below is how an experienced Florida probate lawyer thinks through the money side of an estate.

Which Financial Accounts Actually Go Through Probate in Florida

The single most important question is not how much money sits in an account. It is how the account is titled and whether it names a beneficiary. Title controls.

Accounts that typically avoid probate include:

• Joint accounts with rights of survivorship. A bank account held jointly with a spouse usually passes to the survivor automatically, outside probate.
• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts. Florida banks and brokerages routinely offer POD/TOD registrations. A valid beneficiary designation moves the asset directly to the named person.
• Retirement accounts with living beneficiaries. IRAs, 401(k)s, and annuities pass by contract to the designated beneficiary, not through the will.
• Life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary other than the estate.

Accounts that usually do go through probate include any individual account in the decedent’s sole name with no surviving beneficiary, a beneficiary who predeceased the owner with no contingent named, or an account that names “the estate” as beneficiary. We also see accounts pulled into probate when a beneficiary form was never updated after a divorce, a death, or a remarriage. That is one of the most common and most painful mistakes families discover too late.

The Role of the Personal Representative

Once a Florida court issues Letters of Administration under Chapter 733 of the Florida Statutes, the personal representative holds the legal authority to deal with financial institutions. Until those Letters issue, no bank in Florida is going to release funds or even discuss account details, no matter how many family members show up. This is why getting the case opened promptly matters — bills, insurance, and property taxes on the homestead do not pause while everyone grieves.

Formal Administration vs. Summary Administration for Account-Heavy Estates

Florida offers two main probate tracks, and the choice often turns on the value of the probate assets.

1. Summary administration. Available under section 735.201 when the value of the probate estate (less exempt property) is $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. It is faster and cheaper, but no personal representative is appointed, which can make dealing with banks awkward.
2. Formal administration. The standard process for larger estates and the route most account-heavy and real-property estates take. A personal representative is appointed, receives Letters, and is empowered to marshal, manage, and liquidate accounts.

For our typical South Florida client, an estate with a homestead plus a few six-figure brokerage and bank accounts will almost always require formal administration. The brokerage firms in particular — think the large national custodians — will not transfer securities without Letters and, frequently, their own internal transfer paperwork and a certified death certificate. Plan for friction.

Digital Assets: What Florida’s RUFADAA Does and Doesn’t Allow

Florida adopted its version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in Chapter 740 of the Florida Statutes. This statute is the backbone of how a personal representative gains access to a decedent’s digital life. It draws a critical line that surprises most families: there is a difference between the content of electronic communications and the catalogue of them.

Under the Act, a fiduciary can more easily obtain a catalogue of electronic communications — the record that an email was sent, to whom, and when — than the actual content of those messages. Content of emails and private messages enjoys stronger protection, rooted in federal privacy law, and generally requires either the decedent’s express consent or a court order.

The Act also establishes a priority order for instructions, which every Floridian should understand:

• Online tools come first. If a platform offers a built-in legacy or inactive-account tool — Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Apple’s Legacy Contact, for example — the decedent’s choices in that tool override the will.
• The estate plan comes second. If no online tool was used, directions in a will, trust, or power of attorney control.
• The provider’s terms of service come last. Only if nothing above applies does the click-wrap agreement govern.

The practical takeaway: a beautifully drafted will can be silently overridden by a forgotten setting in a Google account. We urge clients to align their estate documents with their online tool settings so the two do not contradict each other.

Cryptocurrency and Self-Custodied Assets

Cryptocurrency is the area where Florida probate most often breaks down — not because of the law, but because of physics. If a decedent held Bitcoin or other tokens in a self-custodied wallet and the private keys or seed phrase die with them, the asset is effectively lost. There is no bank to subpoena, no custodian to compel. We have seen real wealth evaporate this way.

For estate purposes, crypto is treated as intangible personal property that belongs in the probate estate if it was held in the decedent’s individual name without survivorship features. A personal representative must locate the holdings, value them as of the date of death, and report them. Crypto held on a custodial exchange is far more recoverable, because the exchange can be approached with Letters and a death certificate. The lesson for South Florida clients with meaningful crypto holdings is blunt: document the existence and access method securely, and tell your estate planning attorney it exists.

Valuing and Securing Accounts: A Personal Representative’s Checklist

Once appointed, the personal representative has a fiduciary duty to find and protect every account. In account-heavy estates, that work is methodical:

• Order multiple certified death certificates — each institution will want its own.
• Review the last two years of mail and email for statements, 1099s, and account confirmations.
• Check the decedent’s tax returns for interest, dividends, and capital gains that reveal hidden accounts.
• Notify each financial institution promptly and freeze unauthorized access.
• Obtain date-of-death valuations for brokerage and investment accounts, which also matters for the heirs’ stepped-up cost basis.
• Search Florida’s unclaimed property database, which holds dormant accounts the decedent may have forgotten.
• Inventory digital accounts and apply the RUFADAA access order before contacting providers.

This inventory becomes part of the formal estate accounting the personal representative files with the court. Sloppy work here is a frequent source of disputes among beneficiaries — and disputes are expensive. When heirs suspect that accounts were missed, hidden, or mishandled, the matter can escalate into litigation, the same way contested estates do in other jurisdictions. Our colleagues at Morgan Legal handle exactly these fights; their overview of illustrates how quickly an accounting dispute can turn adversarial.

How Florida Compares, and Why Account Titling Is Universal Wisdom

The mechanics of which assets avoid probate are remarkably consistent across states, even though the procedures differ. The same beneficiary-designation logic that keeps a Florida brokerage account out of probate applies in New York and elsewhere. For families with assets or relatives in multiple states, it helps to see how another jurisdiction frames the question; Morgan Legal’s discussion of is a useful comparison that reinforces a Florida truth: the way you title an account today determines whether your family stands in a courtroom tomorrow.

For Floridians who own property in more than one state, ancillary probate becomes a real concern. Out-of-state real estate generally requires a separate probate proceeding where the property sits, while financial accounts are typically administered in the decedent’s state of domicile. South Florida estates often touch this issue because of seasonal residents and snowbirds who never fully changed their financial home base.

Reducing What Has to Go Through Probate

The best probate is the one your family never has to file. Tools that keep financial and digital assets out of court include:

• A funded revocable living trust holding brokerage and bank accounts.
• Properly completed POD/TOD designations reviewed every few years.
• Coordinated retirement-account beneficiaries with named contingents.
• Online legacy tools configured to match the written plan.
• A secure, attorney-known record of crypto access for self-custodied holdings.

If you are administering an estate now, or planning to keep your own out of the courts, our firm guides South Florida families through both. You can learn more about our Florida probate services or contact our office to discuss your situation. For estates with Florida real property and a parallel financial footprint, our partners at offer additional regional depth.

Money and data are the two things that don’t fit neatly in a deed. Handle them deliberately, and the rest of the estate — even a real-property-heavy one — tends to follow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all bank and brokerage accounts in Florida have to go through probate?

No. Accounts held jointly with rights of survivorship, or those with a valid payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary, pass directly to the survivor or named beneficiary and avoid probate. Only accounts in the decedent’s sole name with no living beneficiary typically become probate assets administered under Chapter 733 of the Florida Statutes.

How does a Florida personal representative access a deceased person's online and digital accounts?

Access is governed by Florida’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in Chapter 740. The law applies a priority order: a platform’s online legacy tool (like Google Inactive Account Manager or Apple Legacy Contact) controls first, then directions in the will or trust, then the provider’s terms of service. The content of emails and private messages is harder to obtain and often requires the decedent’s consent or a court order.

What happens to cryptocurrency in a Florida probate?

Cryptocurrency held in the decedent’s sole name is treated as intangible personal property and belongs in the probate estate. The personal representative must locate it and value it as of the date of death. The practical problem is access: if private keys or a seed phrase are lost, self-custodied crypto can be unrecoverable. Crypto on a custodial exchange is easier to reach because the exchange can act on Letters of Administration and a death certificate.

When can an estate use summary administration instead of formal probate in Florida?

Under section 735.201, summary administration is available when the value of the probate estate (excluding exempt property) is $75,000 or less, or when the person has been deceased for more than two years. Larger or more complex estates, especially those with significant brokerage accounts and real property, generally require formal administration with an appointed personal representative.

Can a beneficiary designation override what my Florida will says about an account?

Yes. A valid POD, TOD, or retirement-account beneficiary designation is a contract that passes the asset directly and overrides the will for that account. This is why outdated designations after a divorce, death, or remarriage cause so many problems. Review your designations periodically and coordinate them with your overall estate plan.