Why Beneficiaries get Paid Last in a Florida Estate

Why do beneficiaries get paid last in a Florida estate? Well that’s because of our Florida probate law. What our Florida probate law says is, the estate administrator, the personal representative, goes out and gathers all those assets that the person who just passed away had. And then after marshaling those assets, they have to pay off the obligations of the deceased person. So if the deceased person had a mortgage, they need to pay that off. Credit card bills, pool cleaning bills, dry cleaning bills, and don’t forget Uncle Sam, that person’s last federal income tax. All those get paid first. Expenses of administration including those probate attorneys, they get paid too. Whatever is left over, then the estate beneficiaries get paid.