Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In Florida, once the personal representative publishes notice to creditors, a creditor has 3 months to file a claim; and if notice is never published, the absolute deadline is 2 years from the date of death; and a creditor who is personally mailed notice gets 30 days.
What is the creditor-claim deadline in Florida?
| Once notice to creditors is published | 3 months |
| If notice is never published (absolute deadline) | 2 years from the date of death |
| Creditor personally mailed notice | 30 days |
“the later of the date that is 3 months after the time of the first publication of the notice to creditors or, as to any creditor required to be served with a copy of the notice to creditors, 30 days after the date of service… 2 years after the death of a person, neither the decedent’s estate, the personal representative, if any, nor the beneficiaries shall be liable for any claim or cause of action against the decedent.”
Source: Fla. Stat. §§ 733.702, 733.710
What makes Florida different
Florida bars even known creditors who were never properly served after 2 years from death no matter what; an essentially exception-free jurisdictional bar, harsher than the shorter 3-month/30-day track.
Does this deadline apply the same way if the estate never opens probate?
These deadlines are creatures of the probate process itself; they run once an estate is opened (by publication, mailing, appointment, or the grant of letters, depending on Florida’s own rule above). A creditor of a decedent whose estate never enters probate at all is not cut off by this particular statute, though the underlying debt’s own ordinary statute of limitations still applies.
Sources
| Statute | Fla. Stat. §§ 733.702, 733.710 |
| Florida courts (general reference) | Florida judicial branch |
| Confidence | High |
Every statute quoted on this page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; the exact deadline in a given estate can turn on facts (whether a personal representative was appointed, whether notice was ever published or mailed) that only your own probate court file can confirm.