Official sources checked October 12, 2026. Use this guide to organize questions for your attorney and closing professional, not to choose a probate proceeding or decide who can sign.
Start with the Florida inherited-land guide for statewide ownership, probate and tax questions. This page covers Palm Beach County's local records and contacts. An estate can involve both court work and land-use research; completing one does not settle the other. If you are weighing a sale, see selling land in Palm Beach County.
1. Connect the deed to the Palm Beach parcel record
Look for the parcel control number on a deed, property-tax notice or estate inventory. The Property Appraiser's property search finds records by owner, address or parcel number. The 17-digit PCN starts with two digits that show whether the parcel is unincorporated (00) or in a municipality, which tells you early which zoning office to call.
The recorded deed and any prior estate or quiet-title documents are in the Clerk's Official Records search. Compare the owner shown there with the decedent's name; a deed from an earlier generation that was never updated is a common reason title takes longer.
2. Palm Beach probate and the 15th Judicial Circuit
Palm Beach estates are handled by the Probate Division of the 15th Judicial Circuit. The Clerk & Comptroller's probate office is at the Main Courthouse, 205 North Dixie Highway, 3rd Floor, Room 3.2300, West Palm Beach, and its number is (561) 355-2986. The Clerk's probate page lists the case types, including formal administration, summary administration and disposition of personal property without administration. The last of these covers personal property only, so it does not transfer land.
Palm Beach filing details
The Clerk says proposed probate orders must go through the circuit's online scheduling system, not in person, by mail or through the e-filing portal. The Clerk also does not send Notices to Creditors to a newspaper for non-indigent parties; once the notice is issued, the filer arranges publication and files the proof. As of our check, the circuit's probate page says the ex parte probate docket is suspended and that original wills, codicils and death certificates must be mailed or overnighted to the courthouse where the matter is pending. It lists the Main Courthouse, South County (Delray Beach) and North County (Palm Beach Gardens) addresses. Those rules can change, so confirm them with your attorney before filing.
The circuit also publishes approved probate checklists, including ones for summary administration, formal administration, determining homestead and a petition to sell real property. If a will exists, its custodian must deposit it with the Clerk within ten days of learning of the death.
Land location does not always decide probate venue
Florida's venue statute starts with the decedent's domicile; if the person was not a Florida resident, property location can control. Owning Palm Beach land does not automatically put the estate in Palm Beach, and a Palm Beach estate does not automatically cover land elsewhere. Your attorney should confirm venue before filings begin.
3. Confirm which documents establish sale authority
For land, sale authority usually comes from letters of administration issued in a formal administration, an order of summary administration that distributes the parcel, or a chain of title that already placed the property in the heirs' names. A name on the tax roll or a death certificate alone does not let anyone sign a deed.
Before agreeing to a closing date, let the title company or closing attorney review the estate documents. They will identify what is missing - an open estate, an unsigned deed, an unresolved heir - and what resolves it.
4. Research the land while the estate questions are being answered
Which zoning office answers
Palm Beach County has 39 incorporated municipalities. A city parcel is zoned by the city. An unincorporated parcel falls under the county's Unified Land Development Code; see the county's zoning maps. The Planning, Zoning & Building main office is at 2300 N Jog Road, West Palm Beach, 561-233-5000.
The Agricultural Reserve and western parcels
The county's Agricultural Reserve Tier is set aside for agricultural and environmental preservation, with limited residential development. For inherited acreage in the west, confirm the growth tier, future land use designation and zoning before assuming the land can be divided.
Native vegetation and environmental records
Environmental Resources Management regulates native vegetation removal under Article 14 of the county code, and larger wetland impacts may need an SFWMD environmental resource permit. Do not assume clearing is allowed because a neighbor did it.
Refresh flood information instead of keeping an old map
The county says FEMA's updated flood maps took effect December 20, 2024. Use its flood zone page and FEMA map page for the current parcel zone instead of a map stored with estate papers.
Keep liens, access documents and costs in the file
Unpaid taxes, code-enforcement liens and association obligations can attach to vacant land. Many recorded items appear in Official Records; the title review will find the rest. Add carrying costs to any decision about keeping the land.
5. Choose a next step without rushing the estate
Heirs can keep the land, list it publicly, or explore a direct sale once authority to sign is clear. Each path has real costs: taxes and upkeep while you hold, commissions and time when you list, or a discounted price for a simpler direct closing. None is automatically right.
If a direct sale fits, Abundant Land Group can review the parcel and discuss a written offer while your attorney handles the estate. An offer does not bypass probate, remove valid liens, or settle who must sign. We cannot give legal advice, and not every parcel will qualify for an offer. For the land side, see selling Palm Beach County land.
Questions to bring to your attorney
- Which probate proceeding fits this estate, given that it includes land, and is Palm Beach the proper venue?
- Is the parcel homestead property, and how does that change who must sign?
- Which circuit checklists apply to our filing, including any petition to sell real property?
- Does the parcel sit in a city or unincorporated Palm Beach County, and in which growth tier?
- What should each heir sign, and in what order, before a sale closes?
Official resources for inherited Palm Beach County land
- Palm Beach Clerk: Probate of Estates - case types, order submission and publication; probate (561) 355-2986.
- Clerk contact directory - probate office address and branch locations.
- 15th Judicial Circuit: Probate Division - checklists and filing notices.
- Florida probate venue statute.
- Palm Beach Property Appraiser - parcel lookup, and what a PCN means.
- Palm Beach Official Records - deeds, plats, liens and recorded estate documents.
- Planning, Zoning & Building zoning maps and land development code.
- Native vegetation removal - county Environmental Resources Management.
- County flood zone update - December 20, 2024 FEMA maps.
Nearby Florida counties
Land near a county line often touches the next county's records, so compare our local guides for inherited land: Broward County.