How Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Handle Guardianship Cases

The same law, three different courthouses

Florida guardianship law does not change when you cross a county line. Every incapacity petition in the state, whether it is filed in Doral or Delray Beach, is governed by Chapter 744, Florida Statutes. The judge must appoint a three-member examining committee, the alleged incapacitated person keeps the right to a lawyer and a hearing, and the court must consider less restrictive options, such as a durable power of attorney, a health care surrogate, a trust, or a pre-need guardian designation, before it removes anyone's rights.

What changes from circuit to circuit is not the law itself but the administration of it: which building you file in, how the clerk's office processes your paperwork, how many judges are hearing guardianship dockets, and how long it takes to get in front of one of them. For a family managing two guardianship matters at once, like Esteban, those local differences matter almost as much as the statute.

Esteban is 47 and lives in Doral. His father's health had declined to the point where Esteban felt he had no choice but to petition for guardianship in Miami-Dade County. At roughly the same time, his sister was doing the same thing for their aunt in Palm Beach County. Esteban and his sister are a composite example, not actual Truestead clients, but their situation reflects something we see often: adult children in different South Florida counties navigating parallel guardianship cases under the same law, but through two different courthouses.

Miami-Dade: the Eleventh Circuit's high-volume Probate Division

In Miami-Dade County, guardianship petitions are filed with the Probate Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. This is one of the busiest probate and guardianship dockets in the state, and the division is staffed accordingly, with multiple circuit judges and general magistrates hearing incapacity petitions, examining committee reports, and contested guardianship matters.

Because of that volume, Miami-Dade has built out fairly structured systems: a formal registry of professional guardians eligible for court appointment, dedicated probate operations staff who manage the Chapter 744 case registry, and set procedures for how attorneys apply to serve on guardianship matters. The division has also recently moved its physical operations, so families and their attorneys should always confirm the current courthouse location and filing procedures rather than assume last year's address is still correct.

For Esteban, filing in Miami-Dade meant working within a system built for high case volume. That is not a bad thing. It generally means clerks and judges who see guardianship petitions constantly and have refined procedures for handling them, but it also means a family should expect a real process: a petition, an examining committee evaluation, a hearing, and appointment of counsel for his father, all before any guardian is named.

Broward and Palm Beach: similar structure, different rhythm

Broward County guardianship cases go through the Probate Division of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, based at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. The Seventeenth Circuit has developed its own set of standardized "Smart Forms" for probate and guardianship filings, which can simplify some of the paperwork for self-represented petitioners, though most families in a contested or complex incapacity case still benefit from counsel. Once a guardian is appointed in Broward, the initial inventory and guardianship plan are due on a set timeline after the letters of guardianship are issued, and the court continues to monitor the file through annual reporting after that.

Palm Beach County's guardianship matters fall under the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit's Probate Division, which likewise handles incapacity petitions, appointment of examining committees, and ongoing supervision of guardians. Palm Beach has moved substantially toward online filing and case management, which means petitioners and their attorneys need an online court account set up early in the process, not as an afterthought.

Esteban's sister, filing in Palm Beach County for their aunt, encountered a Fifteenth Circuit process that follows the same Chapter 744 roadmap as Miami-Dade, but through a different clerk's portal, different local forms, and a different courthouse rhythm. Neither circuit is more or less "correct": they are simply administered by different clerks and judges applying the same statute.

Court monitors, clerk audits, and why oversight looks similar everywhere

All three circuits take post-appointment monitoring seriously, because Chapter 744 requires it statewide. Once a guardian is appointed, whether in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach, that guardian must file an initial guardianship plan and inventory of the ward's assets, then continue filing annual reports on the ward's condition and finances for as long as the guardianship remains open. Courts in all three counties use clerk audit staff or court monitors to review these filings, flag missing reports, and refer irregularities back to the judge.

This is one of the built-in protections of the guardianship system: it is not a one-time court order that fades into the background. A family member who becomes a guardian in Doral, Weston, or Boca Raton takes on an ongoing fiduciary relationship with the court, not just with the ward.

Professional guardians, interpreters, and translated documents in South Florida

All three circuits maintain relationships with professional guardians registered through Florida's Office of Public and Professional Guardians, and courts may appoint a professional guardian rather than a family member when no suitable family guardian is available, when family members disagree, or when the ward's needs are complex. Miami-Dade in particular maintains a formal registry process for professional guardians and attorneys seeking court appointments, reflecting the sheer number of guardianship cases moving through that docket.

Given the demographics of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, Spanish-language and other interpretation needs come up constantly in guardianship hearings. Courts in these circuits regularly provide interpreters for hearings involving the alleged incapacitated person, family witnesses, and examining committee testimony, and petitioners should ask the clerk's office early about interpreter availability and whether key filings, such as notice to the alleged incapacitated person, need to be provided in a language the person understands. This is not a special favor. Florida courts are required to provide meaningful access to non-English speakers in these proceedings.

It is also worth remembering that guardianship is entirely separate from an involuntary examination under the Baker Act, Chapter 394. A Baker Act hold addresses an acute mental health crisis and is short-term by design. It does not appoint anyone as a long-term decision-maker. Families sometimes confuse the two, but a Baker Act episode does not by itself create or end a guardianship, and the reverse is also true.

Why local counsel helps in high-volume South Florida courts

Because Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach each run substantial guardianship dockets, familiarity with local practice, not just the statute, tends to move a case forward more smoothly. An attorney who regularly appears in the Eleventh Circuit's Probate Division knows which judges hear guardianship matters, how the examining committee process typically unfolds there, and what the clerk's office expects on filing. The same is true for attorneys who work regularly in Broward's Smart Forms system or Palm Beach's online filing environment.

There is also a practical reality worth naming: a nonresident of Florida may only serve as a guardian if related to the ward within the degrees listed in Chapter 744. Families with relatives scattered across the country, which is common in South Florida given how many residents relocated here from elsewhere, should confirm early whether the person they have in mind is even eligible to serve, before building a plan around that assumption.

Esteban's father's case proceeded through Miami-Dade's Probate Division, with an examining committee evaluation and a hearing where his father had his own appointed counsel. His sister's case for their aunt moved through Palm Beach's Fifteenth Circuit on a similar timeline, but using that court's own forms and online filing steps. Both cases followed the same Chapter 744 framework. Neither courthouse experience directly resembled a generic online description of "how guardianship works," because in South Florida, the volume and structure of these three circuits shapes the day-to-day experience as much as the statute does.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does reading it create an attorney-client relationship. Florida estate, elder, probate, and real estate law are fact-specific and change over time. Consult a licensed Florida attorney about your individual circumstances. Arthur Simpson, Esq. is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. Attorney advertising.