Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

If the house is owned by your mother, it is in her estate, which is distributed to her beneficiaries through probate court. Specific probate action depends on the value of

the property, any claims of her creditors, whether the will is contested, etc. An attorney is required for probate. If the house is transferred to you, it presumably becomes your homestead and should be exempt from described creditor action. Of course, this is general advice based on your described situation. Take your documents to an attorney for consultation.

She has an estate. It must go to probate and her creditors get notified. Retain counsel.

If the house was her homestead, it passes to you free of the claims of creditors. However, you must go through a probate process to have the court make that determination. Since it sounds like she has outstanding creditors, you would have to go through the full-blown probate process if you proceed at this time. Two years after your mother's death, creditors are wiped out, so you could probably go through the simpler (and cheaper) probate at that time. Either way, homestead passes to heirs free of creditors' claims (except any mortgage on the property and outstanding rea estate taxes).