In short: Often not quickly, and sometimes not without a court. If you are incapacitated, only an agent under a durable power of attorney or a court-appointed guardian can act on accounts in your name alone. If you die, a joint owner with survivorship or a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary can usually collect with proof of death under section 655.79, section 655.82 and section 711.507, but anything else waits for probate.
Matt’s Dry Run
Matt Weidner says he and his office spend, cumulatively, 40 to 50 hours a week trying to get records and money out of banks and financial institutions for people who already hold valid court orders directing those institutions to pay. His description is blunt: it is a nightmare, the barriers are systemic, and it is getting worse as institutions cut staff and route customers to automated and AI systems.
So he asks viewers to run a test while things are normal. Log in and try to turn a small amount, say $1,000 or 1%, into actual cash. Then ask the harder question: could your husband or wife do the same thing with your account if you were in the hospital or had died? Could your children do it for you?
If the answer is no, or “I don’t even know where the accounts are,” that is the problem to fix now. Matt’s view is that spouses, and parents and adult children, should not keep financial accounts secret from each other, that a trusted family member or fiduciary should be able to put the right people in touch with the right information, and that an old-fashioned written list of accounts kept somewhere the family knows about is one of the most reliable tools there is. If you keep such a list, store it securely.
If You Are Alive but Can’t Act
Incapacity is the situation people forget. A spouse or child has no automatic authority over accounts titled in your name alone. Two things change that.
A durable power of attorney. Under chapter 709, a power of attorney signed with two witnesses and a notary under section 709.2105 and containing durable language under section 709.2104 lets your agent act for you even if you lose capacity. A bank or broker-dealer asked to honor it for a banking or investment transaction it expressly authorizes is presumed to have a reasonable time of four days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, to accept or reject it under section 709.2120.
A convenience signer. Under section 655.80, you can name an agent on a deposit account who may make deposits, write checks and withdraw funds. The money remains yours only, and the agent does not inherit it. That gives a helper access without making them an owner.
Without either, the usual route is a guardianship under chapter 744: a petition, an examining committee and a court order before anyone can touch the money.
If You Die
A power of attorney ends at death under section 709.2109. After that, who can collect depends on how each account is titled.
Joint accounts. Under section 655.79, a deposit account in two or more names is presumed to belong to the survivor when one owner dies, unless the account agreement says otherwise, and an account held by spouses is treated as a tenancy by the entirety unless otherwise specified in writing. The presumption can be overcome only by proof of fraud or undue influence or clear and convincing proof of a contrary intent.
Payable-on-death (POD) accounts. Under section 655.82, a POD beneficiary has no right to the money while you are alive. When the last owner dies, the funds belong to the surviving beneficiaries in equal shares, and the bank may pay them on proof of death. If no beneficiary survives, the money goes to your estate.
Transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts. Under Florida’s uniform TOD security registration act, chapter 711, a sole owner or owners with right of survivorship can register securities in beneficiary form (section 711.502). On the death of all owners, ownership passes to the surviving beneficiaries under section 711.507, on proof of death and compliance with the brokerage’s requirements.
Everything else. An account in your name alone with no POD or TOD designation is frozen until someone has legal authority. That means a personal representative with letters of administration, an order of summary administration, which under section 735.201 is available when the estate subject to administration in Florida, less exempt property, is not more than $150,000 or the decedent has been dead more than two years, or, for the smallest estates, a court letter under section 735.301 when the estate is only exempt property plus nonexempt personal property worth no more than the funeral expenses and the reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the final illness.
The safe-deposit box. Under section 655.935, on proof of death, the bank must let a spouse, parent, adult descendant, or a person named as personal representative in a copy of a purported will open the box, in the presence of a bank officer, to look for a will, a burial plot deed or burial instructions, or a life insurance policy. The will goes to the probate court; nothing else comes out without authority.
Common Mistakes
- No list of accounts. The family cannot claim what it cannot find, and paper statements no longer arrive in the mail.
- Relying on a spouse to “handle it” without a power of attorney or joint title.
- Adding a child as a joint owner for convenience. Under section 655.79, the child is presumed to take the account at death, which may not match your will. A convenience signer or POD designation may fit better.
- Assuming a power of attorney works after death. It ends at death.
- Never testing whether the institution will actually let your agent or beneficiary in.
Lessons
- Do Matt’s dry run: try to get a small amount of cash out of your own accounts, and ask whether your spouse or children could do the same. Check for early-withdrawal penalties first on certificates of deposit and retirement accounts.
- Write down every account and institution, and tell a trusted person where the list is.
- Sign durable powers of attorney so someone can act if you are incapacitated.
- Check the POD, TOD and beneficiary designations on every account so they match your plan.
- For accounts without a designation, expect probate or a summary procedure, and expect the institution to ask for court papers.
Source: Sections 655.79, 655.80, 655.82, 655.935, 709.2104, 709.2105, 709.2109, 709.2120, 711.502, 711.507, 735.201 and 735.301, Florida Statutes (2026).
Watch the Video
In this short video Matt Weidner asks viewers to run a dry run: try to get cash out of your own accounts, then imagine your spouse or children trying to do it without you. The statutes are linked above.
October 7, 2026
Read the Law on FloridaRules.net
The statutes and court rules discussed in this article, free to read on FloridaRules.net:
Go Deeper
- Bank Account Frozen After Death in Florida? How to Get Access to a Loved One's Accounts
- Joint Account or Convenience Account? Florida's § 655.79 Presumption Can Be Rebutted (Larkins v. Mendez)
- Who Gets Your Email, Social Media & Online Business When You Die in Florida? Chapter 740 Explained
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my wife access my bank account if I'm in the hospital?
Only if she is a joint owner, a convenience signer under section 655.80, or your agent under a durable power of attorney. Marriage alone does not give her authority over an account in your name only. Without one of those, the family may need a guardianship.
How do I get money from a parent's account after they die in Florida?
If you are a POD beneficiary or a surviving joint owner, the institution can pay you on proof of death under section 655.82 or section 655.79. If the account was in your parent’s name alone with no beneficiary, you will usually need letters of administration or a summary administration order under section 735.201.
Does adding my child to my bank account avoid probate?
Usually it does, because under section 655.79 a joint account is presumed to pass to the surviving owner. But it also makes your child a co-owner now, and the survivor may take the money even if your will says otherwise. A POD designation or a convenience signer can give access or a death transfer without that tradeoff.
Does a power of attorney still work after death?
No. Under section 709.2109, a power of attorney ends when the principal dies. After death, the account passes by its joint, POD or TOD designation, or through the estate’s personal representative.
Talk to a Florida probate litigation lawyer
Weidner Law, P.A. handles Florida probate disputes and probate appeals from St. Petersburg. If you need a probate litigation lawyer, call (727) 954-8752 or email weidner@mattweidnerlaw.com.
Read the law yourself, free: the full Florida Probate Code and Probate Rules and the Florida Trust Code are on floridarules.net.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your situation. Reading it, watching the videos, or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
