Summary Administration in Polk County, Florida

Summary administration is Florida’s short-form probate under Chapter 735, Florida Statutes. The court enters an order sending each asset to the person entitled to it, and no personal representative is appointed. The law is the same in every county. What changes from county to county is where the case is filed, which circuit’s judges review it, what that circuit requires before an order is signed, and what the clerk charges. This page covers those specifics for Polk County, so a family in Bartow, Lakeland, and Winter Haven knows what to expect before anything is filed.

Where a Polk County Summary Administration Is Filed

Venue for a Florida probate is the county where the decedent was domiciled (Fla. Stat. § 733.101). A Polk County resident’s estate is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Polk County, part of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, which also covers Hardee and Highlands counties. The county seat is Bartow. The petition and its attachments are e-filed through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, so nobody has to appear at the courthouse in the ordinary uncontested case. Two things cannot be e-filed: the original will, which the custodian must deposit with the clerk within 10 days of learning of the death (Fla. Stat. § 732.901), and the certified death certificate. Those go to the clerk by mail or by hand.

What the Tenth Judicial Circuit Requires Before It Signs

The Tenth Circuit requires its Summary Administration Checklist with the petition, a verified Affidavit of Heirs in every probate case, and proposed orders submitted in editable Word format through the e-filing portal. No order advances to the judge without the checklist.

The checklist culture is the practical reason a summary administration takes weeks in one family’s hands and months in another’s. A petition that is missing one of the twelve elements Probate Rule 5.530 requires, or an order that names an account without its number, comes back. We draft the proposed Order of Summary Administration asset by asset and distributee by distributee, because the order is the document the bank, the motor vehicle office, and the title company will actually read. Current circuit forms and orders: Tenth Judicial Circuit.

Court Costs in Polk County

Florida sets the clerk’s fee for a summary administration by statute (Fla. Stat. § 28.2401), so the base charge in Polk County is the same as in every other county. What varies is any local surcharge the clerk adds and the number of certified copies the family needs.

Charge	Amount	Basis
Filing fee, estate valued at $1,000 or more	$340 + $4 service charge	Fla. Stat. § 28.2401(1)(e), (3)
Filing fee, estate valued under $1,000	$230 + $4 service charge	Fla. Stat. § 28.2401(1)(f), (3)
Disposition without administration (if that applies instead)	$230	Fla. Stat. § 28.2401(1)(d)
Certified copies of the orders	A few dollars each; one per bank or asset holder	Clerk schedule
Recording orders affecting real property	Per page, in the county where the property sits	Polk County official records

Every one of these is a government charge, billed to you at cost. The attorney fee is separate and flat.

Does the Estate Qualify?

A Polk County estate qualifies for summary administration through either of two doors (Fla. Stat. § 735.201). The first is value: the probate estate, after taking out exempt property and protected homestead, is worth $150,000 or less. That figure doubled from $75,000 on July 1, 2026, and applies to deaths on or after that date. The second door is time: the person died more than two years ago, at which point every creditor claim is barred (Fla. Stat. § 733.710) and the value of the estate no longer matters. If there is a will, it must not direct formal administration under Chapter 733. Assets that already have a named beneficiary, a joint owner with survivorship, or a payable-on-death designation pass outside probate and do not count.

A House in Polk County

A Polk County home the decedent lived in is usually protected homestead. It generally does not count toward the $150,000, but the title still has to be cleared, which is done with a petition to determine homestead status filed alongside the summary administration petition. The court’s order determining homestead and the order of summary administration are then recorded in the official records of Polk County. That recording is the act that lets the heirs sell, refinance, or insure the property. If the property sits in a different county, the orders are recorded there as well. This is the work covered by our $2,495 tier.

How Long It Takes in the Tenth Circuit

Once the Tenth Circuit has a complete file, an uncontested summary administration is decided on the papers. Most are done in a matter of weeks rather than the six to twelve months a formal administration takes, because there is no personal representative to appoint, no letters of administration, and, when the two-year door applies, no creditor period. Delays come from incomplete files: a missing joinder from a beneficiary, an asset schedule without account numbers or a legal description, or a checklist the circuit requires that was not filed. We build the file to the circuit’s checklist before it is submitted.

What Truestead Charges for a Polk County Summary Administration

Court costs at cost. Statewide, flat fees for the same petition commonly run $1,500 to $3,500, and some firms charge $4,500. Start online, or book a free 20-minute call first.

Cities in Polk County

We handle Polk County summary administrations from our Ormond Beach office by phone, email, and e-filing, for families in:

• Bartow
• Lakeland
• Winter Haven
• Haines City
• Auburndale
• Lake Wales
• Davenport
• Dundee
• Lake Alfred
• Mulberry
• Frostproof
• Fort Meade
• Eagle Lake
• Polk City
• Lakeland Highlands
• Highland City

Probate pages for Lakeland, and the county overview at Polk County estate planning & probate.

Read the Full Guide Series

• Florida Summary Administration: The Complete Guide
• What It Costs · How Long It Takes · Forms and the Rule 5.530 Checklist
• With a House · The Two-Year Rule · The New $150,000 Limit
• Summary administration in every Florida county

Attorney advertising. Flat fees cover an uncontested summary administration under Chapter 735, Florida Statutes, with cooperative, locatable beneficiaries and the services listed; court filing fees, recording, and publication are government charges billed at cost. Matters that become contested, involve unknown heirs, exceed the statutory threshold, or require formal administration are quoted separately before any additional work. Purchasing initiates an engagement completed by intake, conflict check, and our engagement terms; if the estate does not qualify, the fee is refunded less any qualification-review time actually incurred, as stated in the engagement letter. Circuit procedures summarized here were taken from the circuit court’s published materials as of 2026-09-22 and can change; we confirm current requirements before every filing. Responsible attorney: Arthur Simpson, Esq., Florida Bar #529265, Ormond Beach.