Florida Statute 717.1242 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XL
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY

Chapter 717
DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY

View Entire Chapter

717.1242 Restatement of jurisdiction of the circuit court sitting in probate and the department.—

(1) It is and has been the intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to s. 26.012(2)(b), circuit courts have jurisdiction of proceedings relating to the settlement of the estates of decedents and other jurisdiction usually pertaining to courts of probate. It is and has been the intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to this chapter, the department determines the merits of claims and entitlement to unclaimed property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter. Consistent with this legislative intent, any beneficiary, devisee, heir, personal representative, or other interested person, as those terms are defined in the Florida Probate Code and the Florida Trust Code, of an estate seeking to obtain property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter must file a claim with the department as provided in s. 717.124.

(2) If any estate or heir of an estate seeks or obtains an order from a circuit court sitting in probate directing the department to pay or deliver to any person property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter, the estate or heir shall be ordered to pay the department reasonable costs and attorney’s fees in any proceeding brought by the department to oppose, appeal, or collaterally attack the order if the department is the prevailing party in any such proceeding.

History.—s. 16, ch. 96-301; s. 126, ch. 2004-390; s. 12, ch. 2005-163; s. 49, ch. 2024-140.

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Amendments to 717.1242

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 717.1242

Total Results: 3

Atwater v. City of Cape Coral

120 So. 3d 595, 2013 WL 3449645

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 10, 2013 | Docket: 60234146

Cited 1 times | Published

delivered to the department under this chapter.” § 717.1242(1). Although this provision expressly relates

Choice Plus, LLC v. Department of Financial Services, etc.

244 So. 3d 343

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 17, 2018 | Docket: 6365062

Published

duty to “determine the merits of the claims.” Section 717.1242(1), Florida Statutes (2013), provides,

Yergin v. Georgopolos

217 So. 3d 155, 2017 WL 1277995, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 4659

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 5, 2017 | Docket: 4669316

Published

Legislature reconciled these provisions in section 717.1242(1), finding that “consistent with [the] legislative

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