Probate Attorney's Corner

Probate Checklists

Please review the estate and guardianship checklists to learn what information is required to support specific petitions. Please confirm compliance with these checklists in advance of a hearing or submission of a proposed order. These checklists are general requirements and additional information may be required in certain instances. For checklists, click here.

Probate Forms

Approved estate and guardianship Smart Form proposed orders are posted here. As per this Court’s July 11, 2016 Administrative Memo, attorneys must use the Smart Form petition or order if one exists for a given matter. Judges may refuse to sign orders that do not use the Smart Forms.

Mental Health Hearings

When a mental health case requiring a hearing is filed, it is usually set on the calendar immediately by the assigned judge or general magistrate. If you have filed a case but have not received the notice of hearing, contact the mental health clerk at: 305-349-7475. If you need to request that a mental health hearing date be re-set you will need to contact chambers for the assigned general magistrate or the section judge if no general magistrate has been assigned. Contact information for the Probate general magistrates is available here:

• PMHGMA
• PMHGMB

Mental Health files are confidential and not viewable through Odyssey Public Access. The Attorney of Record must go to the Mental Health Clerk’s Office to view any Mental Health case file.

Special Set Hearings

All petitions and motions must be filed and served upon all parties prior to scheduling a special set hearing through courtMAP. Counsel for the moving party shall confer with counsel representing all opposing parties and attach to the motion a statement certifying that he/she has conferred with counsel for all opposing parties in a good faith effort to resolve by agreement the issues raised, and that counsel have been unable to agree.

If evidence is to be introduced into the record, attorneys may contact the judge's clerk to mark the evidence for identification purposes in advance of the hearing.

Please review each judge’s directory page to confirm the judge’s specific instructions for special set hearings.

https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/About-the-Court/Judges/Judicial-Directory

For information regarding remote evidentiary hearings please refer to the Probate Division Administrative Memo Re Introduction of Evidence in Remote Hearings

https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/coronavirus/ArtMID/2392/ArticleID/3588/Administrative-Memos-Regarding-Introduction-of-Evidence-in-Remote-Court-Proceedings

Special set hearings are requested through courtMAP. For guidance on how to schedule a special set hearing through CourtMAP please refer to the tutorial videos here: https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Programs-and-Services/Online-Services/courtMAP/courtMAP-Video-Tutorials

In preparation for a special set hearing, please submit any petitions, motions, and all supporting documents to courtMAP, selecting the special sets calendar in queue folder for the judge to review in advance of the hearing. Please review the directory page for the assigned section judge to confirm how many days in advance to submit documents to courtMAP and under what circumstances the judge prefers to receive physical binders of supporting documents instead of courtMAP submissions. If the judge’s website does not indicate how many days in advance to submit documents to courtMAP, please submit them ten days in advance.

If an order was not signed at the Special Set Hearing, submit the petition and proposed order from the hearing along with a cover letter explaining the date and time of the hearing to courtMAP, selecting the Proposed Order courtMAP Folder.

Motion Calendar

First visit the directory page for the assigned section judge to confirm their policy regarding holding motion calendar and what matters may be set on calendar. Once you have confirmed that the matter may be set on motion calendar, it can be set through courtMAP in the same manner as a special set hearing.

Emergency Petitions and Motions

To submit an emergency petition or motion, first it must be filed and docketed. Once the submission appears on the docket, upload the emergency petition or motion to the courtMAP Emergency Motion queue and the Probate emergency duty judge will review and respond to the submission within 24-48 hours.

The emergency duty judge rotation along with schedule and contact information can be found here:

Requests for a Hearing Scheduled for 30 Minutes or More

Please also review the assigned section judge’s directory page for the judge’s specific instructions regarding requests for hearings that take 30 minutes or more.

Physical File Requests

Physical files are only needed for hearings that involve court documents filed before April 28, 2014, and that are not viewable through Odyssey Public Access. To request a physical file, please e-mail the request to Probate@miamidade.gov , no later than 9:00 a.m. the day before the hearing for which the file is needed or make an in-person request to the Probate Clerk at room 238 of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse at 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33130.

Notices of Non-Jury Trial

Notices of Non-Jury Trial should be e-filed, then a courtesy copy should be emailed to the judicial assistant for the assigned section judge. The judicial assistant may direct you to submit the notice through courtMAP selecting the Notices for Trial Folder. In the notice, indicate how many days are needed to try the case. After the judge’s review, the judge may send an Order Setting Status Conference. Please also review the judge’s directory page for specific instructions.

Motions to Transfer Case to Another Division

Submit the motion to transfer the case to another Division through the Florida courts e-filing portal. Then email a copy of the motion to the Judicial assistant for the administrative judge of the probate division. All motions to transfer cases to another division are heard by the administrative judge.

Please visit the administrative judge’s directory page linked below for more information regarding hearing policy and procedure.

Electronic Access to Imaged Estate and Guardianship Files by the Attorney of Record

Attorneys must register for Odyssey Public Access to view estate and guardianship case files. Registration is available on the Clerk of Courts website under records and advanced search https://www.miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/records.page

Probate Clerk Procedures

For more information on Clerk of Court Procedures click here (https://www.miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/probate-court.page) to visit the Probate Clerk webpage.

Requests for Audio Recordings of Court-Recorded Hearings

Please refer to the Court Reporting Services Division page here: https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Court-Reporting-Services

Attorneys must e-file a petition to release and transcribe CD through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. The petition must include the date of the hearing and the name, address, and telephone number of the Court Reporting Service designated to receive and transcribe the CD. Once the petition appears on the docket, the attorney must submit a proposed order through CourtMAP.

After the Order to Release and Transcribe CD has been signed, the Court Reporting Service must bring the order to either the Probate Clerk’s Office (Room 238) or the Mental Health Clerk’s Office (Room 234) located at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street Miami, Florida 33130. The Clerks will provide the CD to the Court Reporting Service to transcribe on the premises.

APS and Guardianship Matters Registry (Wheel)

Information on applying to be placed on the Guardianship Attorney Registry (wheel) can be found here.

Important Guardianship Filing Due Dates

The initial guardianship inventory and the initial guardianship plan are due 60 days from the date the Letters of Guardianship are executed by the judge. § 744.362, Fla. Stat.