The Broward estate file
A market this dense with estates and trusts produces title files that are legally interesting — which is a euphemism for 'stalled at ordinary agencies.' Long-held family property adds a second layer: Broward's 31 municipalities each run their own permit and code systems, and the coastal cities' older stock (Hollywood, Pompano, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale) generates permit and violation findings that only a municipal lien search surfaces. On estate files we match the search package to the city, because decades of ownership usually means decades of renovation history.
The Broward mechanics that frame every estate closing:
- Owner's title policy: the buyer customarily selects the title company and pays the premium — always negotiable in the contract
- Deed documentary stamps at the statewide $0.70 per $100 (Broward has no surtax)
- Recording: Broward County Records, Taxes & Treasury Division — e-recording standard, fast turnaround
- Property taxes paid in arrears; closings prorate them day-precise
How we run estate files
The title commitment on an estate property reads like a law exam: letters of administration, homestead determinations, spousal and heir joinders, court orders authorizing sale, creditor periods. A processor can list those requirements; only legal work can satisfy several of them. If no probate has been opened — the most common situation — the 'title problem' is actually an unstarted legal proceeding.
Milestone Title closes the identification gap: the title team states exactly what the record requires. Where a probate must actually be opened and run, that is legal work the family procures separately and directly from Muroff, Milestone & Milestone, P.A. — an estate planning and probate firm since 1980, engaged under its own terms and fees — or from any probate counsel they choose; either way, the title file is coordinated with the proceeding's timeline instead of oblivious to it.
The questions that decide your timeline:
- Has probate been opened, and in the right court? Florida property generally requires a Florida proceeding even for out-of-state decedents
- Was the property the decedent's homestead? Constitutional rules govern who takes it and how it can be sold — it is the first question our team asks on every estate file
- Does the personal representative have authority to sell, or is a court order needed?
- Who are the heirs, and will any need to join in the deed?
- Are there estate creditors or liens that must be addressed from the proceeds?
Start here
The Probate-to-Closing Track runs both tracks together — authority determined first, homestead answered early, the listing calendar built around honest dates. Run the Probate & Trust Estimator for a net sheet plus a curative-risk checklist built for estate sales; proceeds routinely flow to the estate account — not directly to heirs — until administration allows distribution, and the settlement statement gets built around that legal reality. Already under contract with a probate gap and a closing date approaching? Use the title-defect escalation lane and get same-business-day triage.