FL · rules
Fla. Prob. R. 5.171
Evidence of Death
In a proceeding under these rules, the following shall apply:
(a) Death Certificate. An authenticated copy of a death
certificate issued by an official or agency of the place where the
death purportedly occurred or by an official or agency of the United
States is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date, and time of death
and the identity of the decedent.
(b) Other Records. A copy of any record or report of a
governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is dead,
alive, missing, detained, or, from the facts related, presumed dead
is prima facie evidence of the status, dates, circumstances, and
places disclosed by the record or report.
(c) Extended Absence. A person who is absent from the
place of that person’s last known domicile for a continuous period
of 5 years and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after
diligent search and inquiry is presumed dead. The person’s death is
presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is
evidence establishing that death occurred earlier.
History
Committee Notes This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in section 731.103, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure or modify an existing procedure, except that additional language has been added which was not in the statute, to permit issuance of a death certificate by an official or agency of the United States. An example would be such a certificate issued by the Department of State or the Department of Defense. Rule History 1988 Revision: New rule. 1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. Statutory References § 731.103, Fla. Stat. Evidence as to death or status. § 744.521, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship. Rule References Fla. Prob. R. 5.205 Filing evidence of death. Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship.
Provenance
- Source
- floridabar.org
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-14
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
12557a73c3101bb8ef5217d2d496e006417b372204b1b20619d0c381a20fff77
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