Dying without a valid will is intestacy. Florida then decides two different things: who takes the property, and who may open a court file. Unmarried partners often mix those questions. They are not the same.
Who takes is settled. Section 732.102 gives the surviving spouse's intestate share. If there is no spouse -- or for the part that does not go to the spouse -- section 732.103 sends the estate to descendants, then to the decedent's father and mother, then to brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased siblings, then to grandparents and collateral kindred, and, if there is no kindred of either part, to the kindred of the last deceased spouse. An unmarried partner is not on that list. Section 731.201(20) defines "heirs" as the persons entitled under those statutes, including the surviving spouse. Florida does not recognize a new common-law marriage entered into after January 1, 1968 (section 741.211). Years under one roof do not create a spouse. A local domestic-partnership card does not create an heir. Same-sex spouses of a lawful marriage are spouses for this list. Unmarried partners of any gender are not. The 2026 small-estate changes did not amend sections 732.102 or 732.103.
Who may open a file is broader than who inherits. Section 733.202 is one sentence: "Any interested person may petition for administration." Section 731.201(23) defines "interested person" as any person who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding involved. The meaning, as it relates to particular persons, "may vary from time to time and must be determined according to the particular purpose of, and matter involved in, any proceedings." The personal representative is deemed an interested person in a proceeding affecting the estate or a beneficiary's rights. A beneficiary who has received complete distribution is not. The definition does not say "partner." It does not say "heir only." It is a facts question about the proceeding in front of the court.
That is the opening a surviving partner sometimes has, and the limit they often miss. A partner who is a creditor -- funeral bills paid, a loan outstanding, a joint credit card the decedent left -- may reasonably be expected to be affected by administration. A partner who occupies a house whose title will be determined in the estate may be affected by that homestead proceeding even if they take nothing. A partner who has no claim, no instrument, and no title is not converted into an interested person by grief. Whether a given partner may petition under section 733.202 is that facts question. It is not a standing bonus for cohabitation.
Even a partner who can petition for administration does not become an heir by filing. The petition opens a court file. It does not rewrite section 732.103. The people who take are still the statutory heirs. The partner who paid the funeral is, at most, a creditor with a claim to present -- not a residuary beneficiary.
Several family statutes are closed to the partner even if a file is open. Exempt property under section 732.402 is a right of the surviving spouse, or, if there is no surviving spouse, the children of a Florida-domiciled decedent: household furniture, furnishings, and appliances in the usual place of abode up to a net value of $20,000 as of death; two qualifying motor vehicles; certain section 529 tuition programs; and listed line-of-duty death benefits. An unmarried partner is not a spouse and is not a child. Family allowance under section 732.403 is for the surviving spouse and the decedent's lineal heirs the decedent was supporting or was obligated to support, not to exceed $18,000 in total. "Lineal heir" in that section means lineal ascendants and lineal descendants. A partner is neither. Elective share remains a spouse right, as an earlier post in this series explained; it is not restated here. Homestead descent and the six-month one-half election in section 732.401 are spouse tools. Occupying the house is not that election.
Summary administration is narrower still. Section 735.203(1) says a petition for summary administration may be filed by any beneficiary or person nominated as personal representative in the decedent's will offered for probate. The petition must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and any beneficiaries, except that joinder is not required of a beneficiary who will receive a full distributive share under the proposed distribution -- those non-joining beneficiaries must be served with formal notice. A partner who is not a beneficiary and is not nominated in a will is not a section 735.203 petitioner. "Interested person" in section 733.202 is not the same door as "beneficiary" in section 735.203.
If the partner is the custodian of a will, a different statute is not optional. Section 732.901(1) requires the custodian to deposit the will with the clerk of the court having venue within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead, and to supply the date of death or the last four digits of the social security number. Upon petition and notice, a delinquent custodian may be compelled to produce the will, with costs, damages, and a reasonable attorney's fee if there was no just or reasonable cause for the failure (section 732.901(2)). Holding the paper in a desk because the family is unfriendly is not a plan. It is a 10-day statute.
Notice of administration, once a personal representative is appointed, is served on the surviving spouse, beneficiaries, certain trustees and qualified beneficiaries, and persons who may be entitled to exempt property (section 733.212(1)). A partner is not on that required list as a partner. The personal representative "may similarly serve" a copy on devisees under a known prior will, or on heirs or others who claim or may claim an interest. That sentence is permission, not a duty to hunt down a cohabitant. A partner who wants notice has to use the tools that actually produce it -- a caveat, a request for copies, or a claim -- which is the next post in this cluster, not this one.
Venue for a Florida-domiciled decedent is the county of domicile (section 733.101(1)(a)). What the surviving partner cannot do, without a will, a funded trust, or a nonprobate designation, is take the estate. What they may be able to do is deposit a will they hold, present a creditor claim if they have one, and, if they are in fact an interested person for that proceeding, petition for administration. None of those filings makes them an heir. The documents that make them a taker are still a valid will, a funded trust, or title and beneficiary forms that already name them.
This article is general information, not advice about a particular estate. The Law Office of Shawn C. Newman, P.A. offers a free consultation in person or by Zoom. Call (954) 563-9160 or visit www.shawnnewman.com. The office is at 710 NE 26th Street, Wilton Manors, Florida 33305, and serves Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties.
