Do underwriters still have to worry about getting through the probate creditor period? In our opinion, no. Sec. 733.613(3) Fla. Stat., which was amended in 2001 to provide that a purchaser or lender of estate real property takes title free of claims of creditors of the estate (except those holding mortgages or other liens, of course) when the sale is authorized by the will or by court order. Previously some title underwriters were requiring that the 90-day period for creditors’ claims expire before they would deem the title as clear, for fear that an unpaid creditor of the estate could argue that it held a lien on all estate property. We still run into underwriters who take that position, or who require an order of discharge, but usually they are persuaded otherwise when we refer them to the clear language of the statute. The statute is found here.

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