How to Remove an Executor in Florida — Grounds, Steps, and Deadlines (2026)

✓ Verified September 2026

To remove an executor in Florida, you ask the court that appointed the personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat. 731.201(28)) to take the job away, and the court will do it only on a ground the statute recognizes.

This guide gives the Florida answer in plain English: the grounds, who has standing, what the filing is called, what the court can do the same day to protect the estate, and what happens after. All facts are from Florida law, verified as of September 2026.

Remove an Executor in Florida: At a Glance

Here are the Florida facts that decide most requests to remove an executor in Florida:

When a Court Will Let You Remove an Executor in Florida

An executor who is slow, unfriendly, or making decisions you disagree with is not, by itself, removable. Courts appoint a personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat. 731.201(28)) to carry out the will, and they protect that appointment.

What changes the picture is a breach of duty: money missing or mixed with the executor’s own, an inventory or accounting that was never filed, a sale to a relative below value, a refusal to communicate with beneficiaries for months, a conflict of interest, or a conviction or incapacity that makes the job impossible.

Every state’s statute lists the grounds, and the request to remove an executor in Florida succeeds when the facts fit one of them.

Grounds to Remove an Executor in Florida

Under Fla. Stat.

733.504 a personal representative may be removed and letters revoked for: (1) adjudication that the personal representative is incapacitated; (2) physical or mental incapacity rendering the personal representative incapable of discharging the duties; (3) failure to comply with any court order unless the order has been superseded on appeal; (4) failure to account for the sale of property or to produce and exhibit the assets of the estate when required;

(5) wasting or maladministration of the estate; (6) failure to give bond or security for any purpose; (7) conviction of a felony; (8) insolvency of, or appointment of a receiver or liquidator for, a corporate personal representative;

(9) holding or acquiring conflicting or adverse interests against the estate that will or may interfere with administration as a whole (this ground does not apply to a surviving spouse merely for exercising the elective share, family allowance, or exemptions); (10) revocation of the probate of the will that authorized or designated the appointment; (11) removal of domicile from Florida if Florida domicile was required for the initial appointment;

(12) the personal representative was qualified when appointed but would not now be entitled to appointment (see Fla.

Stat. 733.303, 733.304 disqualification rules)

The Steps to Remove an Executor in Florida

Step one is to confirm you have standing — Any interested person (Fla. Stat. 733.506) — commonly beneficiaries, devisees, heirs, creditors, co-personal representatives, or a guardian/attorney-in-fact for an interested person; “interested person” is defined at Fla. Stat. 731.201(23). The court may also commence removal proceedings on its own initiative under Fla. Stat. 733.506.

Step two is the paper trail: write to the personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat. 731.201(28)) asking for the inventory, the accounting, and an explanation, and keep the letter.

Step three is the filing — Verified “Petition for Removal of Personal Representative” (often styled “Petition for Removal of Personal Representative and Revocation of Letters”), filed in the existing probate file in the circuit court that has jurisdiction of the administration (Fla. Stat. 733.505). It must be served by formal notice under Fla. Prob. R. 5.440(a) and 5.040 — with the ground stated and the documents attached.

Step four is the hearing, where the personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat. 731.201(28)) answers and the court decides. Many courts let you ask for interim protection in the same filing, which is the part families miss.

Protecting the Estate While the Court Decides

While a removal petition is pending the court may act to protect estate assets — it may suspend or restrict the personal representative’s powers, require or increase a bond under Fla. Stat. 733.402 and 733.403, order the assets produced or accounted for, restrain transfers or distributions, and appoint a curator under Fla. Stat. 733.501 to take custody of and preserve estate assets.

Interested persons may also seek an order to show cause (Fla. Prob. R. 5.025, 5.150) or injunctive relief under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which apply to adversary proceedings

What Happens After Removal

On removal the court revokes the letters (Fla. Stat. 733.506) and under Fla. Stat. 733.5061 appoints a successor personal representative, or appoints a curator to serve until a successor is appointed. The successor is chosen using the preference order in Fla. Stat.

733.301 — for a testate estate: the personal representative or successor nominated by the will or by a power conferred in the will, then the person selected by a majority in interest of the persons entitled to the estate, then a devisee (court may pick the best qualified if more than one applies); for an intestate estate: the surviving spouse,

then the person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs, then the heir nearest in degree.

The successor must still meet the qualification rules of Fla. Stat. 733.302–733.305 (including the limits on nonresidents, who generally must be a qualifying relative)

Repaying losses: Yes — a removed personal representative can be held personally liable. Fla. Stat.

733.609 states the personal representative’s fiduciary duty is the same as a trustee’s and makes the personal representative liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from breach of that duty, and directs the court to award taxable costs including attorney’s fees in breach-of-fiduciary-duty actions, payable from the party’s interest in the estate or by judgment against other property, or both. Fla. Stat.

733.506 further provides that removal does not exonerate the removed personal representative or the surety from liability, and Fla. Stat. 733.508 requires a removed personal representative to file a final accounting and permits the court to enter appropriate orders on it. Related provisions: Fla. Stat. 733.619 (liability of co-representatives) and Fla. Stat. 733.402 (bond available to satisfy a surcharge)

Other Florida rules: (1) Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 requires the personal representative in a formal administration to be represented by a Florida attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested person or is licensed to practice law in Florida — this practically means removal litigation is attorney-driven. (2) Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 and Fla. Stat.

733.604 require the inventory to be filed and served within 60 days after issuance of letters; failure to file is a common removal ground under 733.504(4). (3) Fla. Prob. R. 5.440(b) requires a removed personal representative to file an accounting within 30 days after removal, and Fla. Stat. 733.508 requires that final accounting to be served on interested persons. (4) A removal petition must be served by formal notice (Fla.

Prob. R. 5.440(a), 5.040), and if the matter is declared adversary under Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure govern, including discovery. (5) Fla. Stat. 733.402 bonding: the court may require a bond at any time; the amount may be increased while removal is pending. (6) Fla. Stat. 733.304 restricts nonresident personal representatives to specified close relatives of the decedent, so a nonresident successor may be disqualified.

(7) Fla. Stat. 733.504(9) expressly exempts a surviving spouse from the conflict-of-interest ground for merely claiming the elective share, family allowance, or exemptions. (8) Fla. Stat. 733.505 requires the petition to be filed in the court already administering the estate — it cannot be filed as a separate civil case in another county

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

The court filing fee to remove an executor in Florida is small; the real cost is the hearing. If the personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat.

731.201(28)) contests the motion, both sides usually retain counsel, and a contested removal can run several months and several thousand dollars in fees, which the court may or may not order the estate to pay. Uncontested removals — a fiduciary who has stopped responding or has moved away — are faster and cheaper, and courts grant them routinely when the missed filings are on the record.

Two facts decide the economics. First, the estate’s size: a removal fight over a small estate can consume what is left, so beneficiaries of small estates often ask the court to compel the accounting and set deadlines instead of removing the fiduciary outright. Second, the evidence: a missing inventory is proved with a docket printout, while suspected self-dealing needs bank records and sometimes an appraisal.

The stronger the paper, the shorter the case. Ask the court clerk what the personal representative (Florida uses “personal representative” for both what other states call an executor and an administrator; Fla. Stat. 731.201(28)) has actually filed before deciding which path to take, and get the docket printout in writing — it is the exhibit every remove an executor in Florida motion starts with.

What to Expect When You Remove an Executor in Florida

A request to remove an executor in Florida is a contested proceeding inside the probate case, not a separate lawsuit. The court will want the ground stated plainly, the documents that prove it, and a proposed replacement. Hearings are usually short; the decision turns on whether the executor breached a duty, not on whether the family gets along.

Two things surprise people. The first is that the court can act before the hearing — a bond, a freeze on the estate account, or a special administrator — if the estate is at risk. The second is that the estate keeps running while the motion to remove an executor in Florida is pending: creditor deadlines, tax filings, and property upkeep do not pause.

Ask the court to address both in the same filing.

Official Florida Sources & Resources

• Florida Probate Court: https://www.flcourts.gov/Courts-System/florida-courts-help/other-resources/probate
• Florida Removal Statute: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0733.504
• Internal Revenue Service — Estate Tax: irs.gov
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: law.cornell.edu/wex

This Florida guide was last verified against official sources in September 2026. Laws change — verify with your state court or a licensed attorney.

More Florida Estate Guides

• Contest a Will in Florida
• Florida Probate Process
• Dying Without a Will in Florida
• What to Do When an Executor Is Not Doing Their Job
• All State Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Estate, probate, and tax laws change and vary by state and county. Verify current rules and dollar figures with your state’s court, statute, or a licensed attorney or tax professional before acting. For urgent matters like an active probate or a tax deadline, consult a licensed professional in your state right away.