Background
The Florida Bar’s Probate Rules Committee proposed amendments to Florida Probate Rules 5.171, governing evidence of death, and 5.205, governing when that evidence must be filed. After the Florida Supreme Court published the proposal, it received one comment, and the Committee revised its proposal in response.
Existing rule 5.171 largely repeated section 731.103, Florida Statutes. Existing rule 5.205 required the personal representative or petitioner to file a copy of an official death record at specified stages of various probate proceedings and allowed a court to order that record filed at any time.
The Court’s Holding
The Court adopted the Committee’s revised amendments. It deleted rule 5.171 in its entirety because the rule merely reiterated section 731.103. It also amended rule 5.205(a) to require timely filing of evidence of death recognized under section 731.103, rather than specifically requiring a copy of an official death record. The change clarifies that a death certificate is not required to open a formal estate administration.
The Court also replaced rule 5.205(c) with a provision titled “No Authority to Require Early Filing.” Under the amended rule, a court may not require an official death record earlier than rule 5.205 otherwise requires unless there is reasonable cause to believe the decedent is alive. The amendments take effect January 1, 2027, at 12:01 a.m., and a rehearing motion will not alter that effective date.
Key Takeaways
- Rule 5.171 is deleted because section 731.103, Florida Statutes, already governs evidence of death.
- Rule 5.205 now permits the forms of evidence of death recognized by section 731.103 instead of categorically requiring an official death record.
- Courts generally may not demand an official death record before the rule’s stated deadline unless reasonable cause exists to believe the decedent is alive.
Why It Matters
The amendments make clear that opening a formal administration does not depend on first producing a death certificate. Probate practitioners may rely on evidence authorized by section 731.103 and file it according to rule 5.205’s existing proceeding-specific deadlines.
The revised rule also restricts courts from accelerating the filing of an official death record without the specified concern that the purported decedent may still be alive, providing greater consistency in the timing of proof-of-death requirements.