Can someone who lives out of state be your personal representative in Florida?
Zacharia Frey PLLC. Updated November 2026.
Only if they are a close enough relative. Florida lets a nonresident serve as personal representative only if they are related to you as the statute lists: by blood, adoption, or marriage within certain degrees. A friend, business partner, or advisor who lives outside Florida cannot serve.
The Florida rule
A personal representative (what other states call an executor) generally must be a Florida resident at the time of death. A person who is not domiciled in Florida may still serve if they are your legally adopted child or adoptive parent, related to you by lineal consanguinity (children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents), your spouse, your brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece, someone related by lineal consanguinity to one of those people, or the spouse of a person who qualifies.
That covers more of the family than people expect. Your son in Ohio qualifies. So does your niece's daughter. Your college roommate in Connecticut does not, and neither does your longtime accountant in New Jersey.
What happens if your will names someone who can't serve
The court will not appoint them. Someone else has to be appointed instead, usually a named alternate or a person chosen under Florida's order of preference. That can mean delay and a result you did not choose.
Trustees are different
Florida law does not apply this residency rule to the trustee of your trust. That is one more reason a funded revocable trust works well for people with family spread across the country: the trustee you choose can act without a court appointment.
How we Floridize it
We check every named fiduciary against the statute, and against where they actually live today. Then we make sure your new will names people who can serve, with alternates, and that your trust holds the assets so the personal representative has little to do.
How this shows up on a scorecard
- Will Not WorkWill names a friend in Connecticut as sole personal representative.
- Works in FloridaWill names spouse, then a daughter in Ohio as alternate.
Illustrations, not real clients.
Common questions
- Can my son who lives in another state be my personal representative in Florida?
- Yes. A child of the decedent may serve even if they live outside Florida, as long as they are otherwise qualified.
- Can a friend who lives out of state serve?
- No. A nonresident who is not related to you as section 733.304 lists cannot qualify as personal representative in Florida.
- Does my trustee have to live in Florida?
- Florida law does not impose the personal representative residency rule on trustees.
Law cited on this page
- § 733.302, Fla. Stat. (Florida Statutes)
- § 733.304, Fla. Stat. (Florida Statutes)
General information about Florida law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.