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Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 732.107 (2025)

Escheat.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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732.107 Escheat.—
(1) When a person dies leaving an estate without being survived by any person entitled to a part of it, that part shall escheat to the state.
(2) Property that escheats shall be sold as provided in the Florida Probate Rules and the proceeds paid to the Chief Financial Officer of the state and deposited in the State School Fund.
(3) At any time within 10 years after the payment to the Chief Financial Officer, a person claiming to be entitled to the proceeds may reopen the administration to assert entitlement to the proceeds. If no claim is timely asserted, the state’s rights to the proceeds shall become absolute.
(4) The Department of Legal Affairs shall represent the state in all proceedings concerning escheated estates.
(5)(a) If a person entitled to the proceeds assigns the rights to receive payment to an attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or private investigative agency which is duly licensed to do business in this state pursuant to a written agreement with that person, the Department of Financial Services is authorized to make distribution in accordance with the assignment.
(b) Payments made to an attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or private investigative agency shall be promptly deposited into a trust or escrow account which is regularly maintained by the attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or private investigative agency in a financial institution authorized to accept such deposits and located in this state.
(c) Distribution by the attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or private investigative agency to the person entitled to the proceeds shall be made within 10 days following final credit of the deposit into the trust or escrow account at the financial institution, unless a party to the agreement protests the distribution in writing before it is made.
(d) The department shall not be civilly or criminally liable for any proceeds distributed pursuant to this subsection, provided such distribution is made in good faith.
History.—s. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 10, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 89-291; s. 9, ch. 89-299; s. 953, ch. 97-102; s. 32, ch. 2001-36; s. 17, ch. 2001-226; s. 1896, ch. 2003-261.
Note.—Created from former s. 731.33.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1980–2021 · leading case: Amendments to the Florida Prob. Rules, 848 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 2003).
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Amendments to the Florida Prob. Rules, 848 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 2003). · cites it 6× “§ 732.107, Fla. Stat. Escheat. § 732.21235, Fla.”
Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 1986). · cites it 2× “The scope of the 1981 amendment is so expansive that it allows the estate to recover the loss of prospective net accumulations if the decedent has no surviving relatives.”
Florida Bar, 537 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 1988). · cites it 3× “F.S. 732.107 Escheat. F.S. 732.212 Time of election.”
Weimer v. Wolf, 641 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). · cites it 2× “§ 732.107, Fla. Stat. (1981). Second, if read literally, it also provided no recovery of net accumulations for a parent who was not dependent on the decedent at the time of death.”
Choice Plus, LLC v. Dep't of Fin. Servs., etc., 244 So. 3d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). · cites it 28× “The probate court ordered “[t]hat under [section 732.107, Florida Statutes (2007)] the assets of the estate shall escheat to the State of Florida.”
Wadsworth v. First Union Nat. Bank, 564 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). “[4] This does not mean that either the constitutional prohibition against devise or the present statutory provisions for the descent of homestead are not in need of reform, see Article: An Update on the Legal Chameleon: Florida's Homestead Exemption and Restrictions, 40…”
In Re Amend. to Florida Prob. Rules, 986 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 2008). · cites it 2× “§ 732.107, Fla. Stat. Escheat. § 732.2135, Fla.”
Vildibill v. Johnson, 802 F.2d 1347 (11th Cir. 1986). “In many such situations the monetary damages would ultimately escheat to the state pursuant to section 732.107(1), Florida Statutes (1983).”
In re Amendments to the Florida Prob. Rules, 607 So. 2d 1306 (Fla. 1992). · cites it 2× “Committee Notes This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in R&section 732.107, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of the statute from *1355 which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with the structure of these rules.”
Vildibill v. Johnson, 802 F.2d 1347 (11th Cir. 1986). “The scope of the 1981 amendment is so expansive that it allows the estate to recover the loss of prospective net accumulations if the decedent has no surviving relatives.”
In Re Est. of Russell, 387 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). · cites it 2× “§ 732.107, Fla. Stat.; Johnson v. Wilson, 48 Fla.”
In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Florida Rules of Gen. Practice & Jud. Admin., Florida Rules of Crim. Procedure, Florida Prob. Rules, Florida Rules of Traffic Court, Florida Small Claims Rules, Florida Rules of Juv. Procedure, Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, & Florida Fam. Law Rules of Procedure (Fla. 2021). · cites it 2× “ESCHEAT (a)-(c) [NO CHANGE] Committee Notes This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found in section 732.107, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with…”
Show all 18 citing cases →
— 732.107(1) — 6 cases
Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 1986). “The scope of the 1981 amendment is so expansive that it allows the estate to recover the loss of prospective net accumulations if the decedent has no surviving relatives.”
Wadsworth v. First Union Nat. Bank, 564 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). “[4] This does not mean that either the constitutional prohibition against devise or the present statutory provisions for the descent of homestead are not in need of reform, see Article: An Update on the Legal Chameleon: Florida's Homestead Exemption and Restrictions, 40…”
Vildibill v. Johnson, 802 F.2d 1347 (11th Cir. 1986). “In many such situations the monetary damages would ultimately escheat to the state pursuant to section 732.107(1), Florida Statutes (1983).”
Vildibill v. Johnson, 802 F.2d 1347 (11th Cir. 1986). “The scope of the 1981 amendment is so expansive that it allows the estate to recover the loss of prospective net accumulations if the decedent has no surviving relatives.”
Choice Plus, LLC v. Dep't of Fin. Servs., etc., 244 So. 3d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). “The probate court ordered “[t]hat under [section 732.107, Florida Statutes (2007)] the assets of the estate shall escheat to the State of Florida.”
— 732.107(2) — 1 case
Choice Plus, LLC v. Dep't of Fin. Servs., etc., 244 So. 3d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). “The probate court ordered “[t]hat under [section 732.107, Florida Statutes (2007)] the assets of the estate shall escheat to the State of Florida.”
— 732.107(3) — 1 case
Choice Plus, LLC v. Dep't of Fin. Servs., etc., 244 So. 3d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). “The probate court ordered “[t]hat under [section 732.107, Florida Statutes (2007)] the assets of the estate shall escheat to the State of Florida.”
— 732.107(4) — 2 cases
In re Est. of Hagman, 46 Fla. Supp. 2d 146 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1991).
Sando v. State, 512 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

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