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For a full breakdown of what those costs look like state by state — including Florida’s statutory fee schedule and North Carolina’s ancillary requirements — see What It Costs to Own Rental Properties in Multiple States Without a Trust.
What Ancillary Probate Is
Ancillary probate is a secondary probate proceeding required in any state where a deceased person owned real property — separate from the primary probate proceeding in their home state. If you are a Georgia resident who owns a rental property in Florida, your Georgia estate goes through Georgia probate. The Florida property goes through Florida ancillary probate. These are separate court proceedings running at the same time.
Each proceeding requires its own court filings, its own attorney licensed in that state, and its own timeline. Florida probate does not wait for Georgia probate to close. Georgia probate does not control the Florida proceeding. Each state follows its own law on its own schedule.
What Ancillary Probate Costs
The cost of ancillary probate adds up fast. For each state where you own property, you need:
- A probate attorney licensed in that state — your Georgia attorney cannot appear in Florida court
- Court filing fees in each jurisdiction
- Potential bond requirements in states that require them
- 9 to 18 months of timeline in each state — not shared, running in parallel
A Georgia investor with properties in three states can easily spend $15,000 to $30,000 in attorney fees across all three ancillary proceedings — on top of Georgia probate costs. And the family cannot access rental income from any of those properties while the proceedings run.
Why an LLC Does Not Fix Ancillary Probate
Many investors assume that holding out-of-state properties inside a Georgia LLC avoids the ancillary probate problem. It does not completely solve it. The Georgia LLC owns the Florida property — but the investor’s LLC membership interest is a Georgia asset that goes through Georgia probate. The Florida property is not separately subject to Florida ancillary probate because the LLC (not the investor personally) holds title.
However, if the investor held the Florida property in their personal name — even in a Florida LLC — ancillary probate in Florida would apply. The structure matters: a Georgia entity holding out-of-state property avoids ancillary probate for that property. But the Georgia LLC membership interest still goes through Georgia probate unless assigned to a trust. For details on that step, see How to Connect Your LLC to Your Trust in Georgia.
How a Trust Eliminates Ancillary Probate
A revocable living trust is the cleanest solution to ancillary probate for out-of-state properties. When real property is titled in the name of the trust before the owner’s death, it is not part of the probate estate — in any state. There is no ancillary proceeding because there is no probate estate in that state.
1
Transfer each property into the trust before death
Each out-of-state property requires a deed transfer into the trust — executed in the state where the property is located. Georgia deed rules do not apply to Florida property.
2
The trust owns the property — not the investor personally
Once titled in the trust, the property is no longer a personal asset subject to probate. The successor trustee takes over immediately at death.
3
Successor trustee acts in every state simultaneously
One successor trustee has authority over all trust-held properties in all states — no separate court proceedings, no state-specific attorneys, no parallel timelines.
The key requirement is that the deed transfer must be completed before the investor dies. A trust document alone does not transfer property — the deed is the operative step. For the complete picture of what goes into a real estate investor’s estate plan, see What an Estate Plan for a Georgia Real Estate Investor Actually Includes.
Holding Out-of-State Properties: Personal Name vs. Trust
An investor who holds a Florida rental in their personal name will trigger Florida ancillary probate. An investor who holds the same property in a Florida LLC still triggers ancillary probate on the LLC membership interest if that interest is in their personal name. An investor who holds the property in a trust — or whose LLC membership interest is assigned to a trust — avoids ancillary probate entirely.
The difference is title, not intent. What the deed says is what controls. For the full breakdown of why ownership structure determines everything, see Estate Planning for Real Estate Investors in Georgia.
