E-Filing and Physically
Filing Documents with the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts
Attorneys must e-file all documents, except for the documents listed below, through the Florida Courts E-Filing
Portal below.
Attorneys must physically file the following documents with the Probate Clerk at
Room
238 of the
Miami-Dade County Courthouse at 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33130:
-
Original Wills
-
Original Codicils
-
Commissions
-
Subpoenas
-
Defaults
-
Bonds
-
Authenticated copies and exemplified copies (have raised seals) from other
jurisdictions
-
Original Death Certificates (please physically file within two working days
of
electronically filing the case and receiving a case number)
-
Original Birth Certificates (please physically file within two working dates
of
electronically filing the case and receiving a case number)
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:
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
Setting A Special Set Hearing
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
Procedures to Follow Prior to a Special Set Hearing
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.
Procedures to Follow After a Special Set Hearing
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.
Visit the Judicial Directory
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:
https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/About-the-Court/Judges/Emergency-Judges
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.
Visit the Judicial Directory
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.
Visit the Judicial Directory
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.
https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Judge-Details?judgeid=899§ionid=32
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
Requests for Audio Recordings of Court-Recorded
Hearings
For hearings that took place after October 1, 2018
Please refer to the Court Reporting Services Division page here: https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Court-Reporting-Services
For hearings that took place before October 1, 2018:
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
Initial Inventory and Initial Plan
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.