Petition for discharge
The filing that asks a court to release the executor and close the estate — and that starts your deadline to object.
What it means
When administration is complete except for handing out what is left, the personal representative asks to be released. The petition sets out that the estate has been fully administered, that claims have been dealt with, that taxes and expenses are provided for, what everyone is being paid, and how the remaining property will be distributed.
In Florida it must also warn the reader of their own deadlines: thirty days to object, and ninety days after filing an objection to serve a notice of hearing on it.
Discharge is the operative event rather than the filing. Once it is granted, a Florida discharge bars any action against the representative — individually, as representative, and against the surety.
Why it matters
It is usually the last document that contains the whole picture, and the last moment at which a question can be asked.
The compensation statement inside it is often the first time a beneficiary sees what the executor and the lawyer were paid, and how the figure was arrived at.
The deadline it starts is short, and it runs whether or not anybody has found a lawyer.
When you are likely to meet it
- When a document arrives saying the estate is being closed.
- When you are asked to sign a waiver or a receipt so that distribution can happen.
- When you want to know what the estate actually paid out.
How this varies by state
What the petition must contain, and how long there is to object to it, is set by state law or court rule.