dropping off a will for Pinellas clerk

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by trixie11

I need to have the will with me to transfer the title of the car - this is according to the FL DMV website. So if I need the will for that - and probably several other things, how can I get rid of it before that by giving it to the court? 10 days will pass over the weekend so I hope they mean 10 business days instead. The whole thing is an unexpected nightmare. I knew it was going to be complicated and time consuming but I didn't expect to have to deal with some insane 10 day deadline before I had any time to sort through things and learn what I needed to do, which may very well include eventually seeing an attorney. But not this soon.

Disclaimer: I have not dealt with probate in your state, but I have done it for my parents in CA (which isn't known for making things easy ).

Once the court issued me the administrative decree it established my authority to act on behalf of the decedent and their estate. It was no longer necessary to present an original will to anyone else. I had made multiple copies of it, and IIRC I had some notarized, but that turned out not to be necessary. Once probate was concluded I still had almost all of them left. Presenting an official copy of the court decree (original signatures), a copy of the will, and an official copy of the death certificate (again, original signature and seal), plus my official ID was enough to do pretty much everything I needed to do. Including transferring the titles of the cars to the people they were intended for. In a way, the decree replaced the will. What you will most likely need are multiple copies of the court decree and death certificate to present to other entities, not the original will.

If you don't want to give up the will to anyone yet, call a legal aid office and ask them your questions. Or, when you submit the will to the county clerk's office, ask them. I suspect the DMV will accept your court decree and a copy of the will so you can transfer the car title.