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Florida · South Florida · Palm Beach and West Palm Beach · #27 Most Populous County in the US
Palm Beach County, Florida
Government offices, property tax appeals, public records, courts, senior services, and local resources for West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County residents
County SeatWest Palm Beach
Population1,520,000
Founded1909
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
What is the Palm Beach County property tax appeal deadline?
Palm Beach County TRIM Notices are mailed in August and you have exactly 25 days to file a VAB petition — for 2025, the deadline was September 15. The VAB filing fee is up to $20 per petition. File online at mypalmbeachclerk.com. Important: an informal review with the Property Appraiser does not pause the deadline — file the petition simultaneously and withdraw it later if the review resolves your concern. Ownwell can manage the process and only charges if you save.
What is the 75 percent payment rule for pending VAB petitions?
Florida law requires petitioners to pay at least 75 percent of their total property tax bill by March 31, even if a VAB petition is pending. Failure to make this payment can result in the VAB denying all pending petitions by written decision in April. Pay at least 75 percent on time and wait for your hearing — if you prevail, a refund of the remaining balance will be issued.
What is Save Our Homes and how does it benefit Palm Beach County homeowners?
Save Our Homes caps annual assessment increases on homesteaded properties at 3 percent or the CPI rate, whichever is lower. In 2025, the cap was 2.9 percent. Long-term Palm Beach County homeowners with years of SOH protection may have assessed values far below current market value — saving thousands annually compared to a recent buyer. When moving to a new Florida homestead, portability allows transfer of up to $500,000 of the accumulated benefit. Apply for portability by March 1.
Where is Palm Beach County Probate Court?
The Probate Division of the 15th Judicial Circuit is at the Palm Beach County Courthouse, 205 N Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach. Call 561-355-2996. Summary Administration is available for non-exempt estates of $75,000 or less. Florida has no state estate tax, so only federal estate tax applies.
What senior services are available in Palm Beach County?
The Area Agency on Aging (561-684-5885) serves residents 60 and older with home-delivered meals, transportation, caregiver support, SHINE Medicare counseling, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. Low-income seniors 65 or older may qualify for an additional property tax exemption on the county portion of the tax bill — contact the Property Appraiser at 561-355-2866 for current income limits. Given the county's high cost of living in coastal communities, families should budget significantly for assisted living and memory care.
Shelter Info: Multiple shelter locations; Palm Beach County Convention Center; discover.pbcgov.org for current info; Red Cross Southeast Florida
FEMA Region: Region 4
Notes: Southeast Florida Gold Coast county; West Palm Beach is county seat; EXTREME hurricane risk (Frances and Jeanne 2004 both struck Palm Beach County in the same season causing billions in damage; Wilma 2005; Matthew 2016; Dorian 2019 near-miss; ongoing extreme risk); coastal flooding (Lake Worth Lagoon; Atlantic Ocean; Loxahatchee River; L-8 Canal connections to Lake Okeechobee); sea level rise (rapidly advancing – flooding in low-lying coastal communities is already regular during king tides); severe thunderstorms; sinkholes; significant wealth concentration (Palm Beach Island (via the Lake Worth Bridge) is one of the wealthiest communities in the US – Mar-a-Lago; Worth Avenue; Palm Beach mansions); second most populous county in Florida; 1.5 million residents
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
County Roads: Palm Beach County Engineering – (561) 684-4000
Transit: Palm Tran (Palm Beach County Transit) – (561) 841-4287 | palmtran.org (excellent county bus network); Tri-Rail (South Florida Commuter Rail – connects Palm Beach County to Broward and Miami-Dade; PBI Airport, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach stations); Brightline (West Palm Beach Station – high-speed private intercity rail connecting Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Orlando; one of the most significant stations in the Brightline network); Amtrak (West Palm Beach – Silver Service/Palmetto)
Airport: Palm Beach International Airport (PBI – American, Delta, Southwest, United, JetBlue, Spirit service; excellent mid-sized regional airport)
Notes: I-95 (the primary north-south corridor; extremely congested throughout Palm Beach County; the I-95/I-595/Florida Turnpike complex is one of South Florida’s most significant interchanges); Florida Turnpike (inland parallel); US-1 (the coastal route through all the coastal cities); A1A (the barrier island scenic route); SR-80 (west toward Lake Okeechobee and the Glades communities); Palm Beach County’s geography is linear – 47 miles of Atlantic coastline with barrier island communities and the mainland communities behind the Intracoastal Waterway; Brightline at West Palm Beach is a major transit development
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Palm Beach County Development Services Department – (561) 233-5500 | discover.pbcgov.org
Services: County permits; West Palm Beach (separate – active waterfront and downtown development), Boca Raton (separate – very active luxury development), Palm Beach (separate – heavily restricted luxury redevelopment on the island), Delray Beach (separate – active), Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, Riviera Beach, North Palm Beach, Jupiter, Tequesta, Palm Beach Gardens (separate – very active), Juno Beach, Palm Springs, Greenacres, Lake Clarke Shores, Wellington (separate – equestrian capital), Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves, Pahokee, Belle Glade, South Bay and many others
Notes: Palm Beach County is one of Florida’s most active building counties; Boca Raton’s luxury residential and commercial market is continuously active; Palm Beach Gardens is extremely active; Wellington (equestrian community) has specialized development for horse facilities; the Glades communities (Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay) have very different development needs from the coastal communities; the contrast between the ultra-wealthy Palm Beach Island and the impoverished Glades is among the most extreme economic disparities in Florida
VA Medical: West Palm Beach VA Medical Center – (561) 422-8262 (one of the most active VA hospitals in Florida; serves a very large veteran population in one of Florida’s most veteran-dense areas; associated with several research programs and VA specialty clinics); multiple CBOCs throughout the county
Services: Full range; West Palm Beach VAMC is excellent and well-staffed; large and diverse veteran community; Palm Beach County attracts military retirees
Notes: West Palm Beach VAMC serves one of the largest veteran populations in the Southeast; the county’s wealth concentration and military retiree demographics create a large and vocal veteran community; the VA’s services are extensive; active VSO chapter network
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Palm Beach County Library System – (561) 233-2600 | pbclibrary.org; 17 branches; one of Florida’s finer county library systems
Branches: Main Library (West Palm Beach – excellent flagship), Acreage (western county), Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Belle Glade (critical for the Glades community), Delray Beach, Greenacres, Hagen Ranch (Boynton), Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, North County (Palm Beach Gardens), Okeechobee (southern county), Palm Springs, Royal Palm Beach, Tequesta, West Boca Raton
Services: Books, e-books, public computers, Wi-Fi, genealogy (excellent Florida collections; South Florida history; Caribbean history), maker spaces, children’s programs; multilingual (Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese); Belle Glade agricultural heritage collections
Notes: Palm Beach County Library System is excellent; the Belle Glade branch serves the impoverished Glades community with critical internet access and services; the Main Library in West Palm Beach is comprehensive; the genealogy collections are strong for South Florida families; multilingual services are essential given Palm Beach County’s diversity
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
County Parks: Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation – (561) 966-6600; 110+ parks; John Prince Park (Lake Worth Beach – one of the county’s largest parks; camping; recreation; bird watching); Grassy Waters Preserve (West Palm Beach – one of Palm Beach County’s finest natural areas; freshwater wetlands and pine flatwoods protecting the drinking water supply; excellent birding; trails; Everglades connection); Okeeheelee Park (West Palm Beach – BMX; dog park; golf; recreation); Loxahatchee Slough; Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (Delray Beach – the only museum in the continental US dedicated solely to the living culture of Japan; beautifully designed Japanese gardens; the Yamato Colony agricultural community heritage)
State Parks: Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Hobe Sound – Martin County but accessible); John D. MacArthur Beach State Park (North Palm Beach – one of the finest natural beach parks in Southeast Florida; barrier island ecology; sea turtle nesting; Atlantic beach; mangroves; nature center; one of the best examples of natural North Palm Beach ecology)
Federal: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Boynton Beach – one of the most significant NWR units in Florida; protecting the last remaining northern Everglades ecosystem; the Loxahatchee marsh is one of the last areas where the original Everglades sawgrass-based ecosystem survives; significant wildlife (snail kite; wood stork; alligator; wading birds; migratory waterfowl; the NWR is one of the finest birding sites in Southeast Florida; the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee NWR was named for the father of South Florida ecology – Marshall pioneered the understanding of the Everglades ecosystem; open to the public for canoeing, birding, and nature walks on the impoundment levees)
Cultural: Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach – one of the finest art museums in Florida; major collections of American, European, Chinese, and 20th century art; excellent photographic collections; beautifully designed building with significant holdings; one of the Southeast’s most significant art museums); Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (West Palm Beach – one of the finest performing arts venues in Florida; Florida Grand Opera; Palm Beach Symphony; Broadway touring productions); Worth Avenue (Palm Beach Island – one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the US; luxury boutiques, galleries, and the Moorish-influenced via architecture designed by Addison Mizner; the iconic Palm Beach shopping experience); Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach Island – the Spanish-Moorish estate built by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1924-1927; purchased by Donald Trump in 1985; the former and current President’s Florida residence; now a private members club; one of the most significant historic landmarks on Palm Beach Island); Flagler Museum (Henry Morrison Flagler Museum – Whitehall; Palm Beach Island; the 55-room Gilded Age mansion of Henry Flagler (the Standard Oil co-founder and Florida’s most transformative developer); beautifully preserved and interpreted; Flagler’s private railroad car on display; one of Florida’s finest historical museums); Boca Raton Museum of Art; Palm Beach Polo (Wellington – one of the premier polo venues in the world; the winter polo season (January-April) draws the world’s finest players and horses; the Valiente and other top-level teams compete weekly; Wellington’s equestrian community is the largest winter equestrian venue in the world)
Sports: Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals spring training at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter); Miami Marlins spring training (also Jupiter); Palm Beach Marlins (Miami Marlins minor league); Palm Beach Breakers (MISL indoor soccer)
Notes: Palm Beach County’s extraordinary wealth (Palm Beach Island is consistently among the highest per-capita income communities in the US; the Breakers Hotel has defined Palm Beach luxury since 1896) coexists with extreme poverty (Belle Glade in the Glades has one of the highest poverty rates in Florida); the Flagler Museum (Whitehall) is genuinely world-class – the Gilded Age opulence of Flagler’s Palm Beach mansion (complete with his private railroad car) is extraordinary; Worth Avenue’s Moorish revival architecture (designed by Addison Mizner who also built most of Boca Raton’s distinctive Spanish-Mediterranean landmark buildings) is one of Florida’s finest streetscapes; the Norton Museum of Art is a major Southeast cultural institution; the Loxahatchee NWR (the northern Everglades remnant) provides one of the finest accessible birding experiences in Southeast Florida; Wellington’s polo and equestrian scene is genuinely one of the world’s finest equestrian centers
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Palm Beach County GIS – discover.pbcgov.org/pbc_gis (excellent county GIS); SFWMD Loxahatchee NWR and Everglades watershed maps; NOAA coastal maps; sea level rise vulnerability maps; Tri-Rail and Brightline corridor maps; lake Okeechobee discharge routing maps; Palm Beach Island property maps
Notes: Palm Beach County GIS is excellent; sea level rise vulnerability mapping is important for long-term planning; Lake Okeechobee discharge routing (via the St. Lucie Canal to the north and C-51 Canal to the Loxahatchee area) is tracked; Loxahatchee NWR hydrological management maps; Worth Avenue and Palm Beach Island historic district maps
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Shelter: Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control – (561) 233-1200 | discover.pbcgov.org/animal; Peggy Adams Animal Rescue (West Palm Beach – one of the Southeast’s finest animal shelters; nationally recognized); Palm Beach County Humane Society
Services: Stray intake (large volume), adoptions, owner surrenders, spay/neuter; Peggy Adams is consistently rated among the top shelters in the US for programming and adoption rates; wildlife management (manatees; sea turtles on all Palm Beach County beaches; alligators throughout; gopher tortoises; snail kites at Loxahatchee NWR; bald eagles; Florida scrub jays in remaining scrub)
Notes: Peggy Adams Animal Rescue is nationally recognized as one of the finest animal welfare organizations in the US – its progressive adoption programs, community outreach, and medical care are exemplary; sea turtle nesting on Palm Beach County’s Atlantic beaches (one of the most significant loggerhead nesting areas in the country) is carefully monitored; the Loxahatchee NWR’s snail kite population is significant
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid Waste: Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority – (561) 697-2700 | swa.org (one of the finest county solid waste authorities in Florida; comprehensive waste-to-energy; recycling; excellent HHW programs; the SWA’s Renewable Energy Park (waste-to-energy plant) generates electricity from municipal solid waste)
Recycling: Excellent programs; the SWA’s comprehensive single-stream recycling; HHW events; e-waste; composting; one of Florida’s most progressive solid waste management programs
Environmental: Florida DEP; South Florida Water Management District (manages the C-51 Canal; Lake Worth Lagoon; and connections to the Loxahatchee NWR); EPA Region 4; Loxahatchee NWR (USFWS); the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation; Palm Beach Lake Worth Lagoon restoration
Key Issues: Sea level rise and coastal flooding (Palm Beach County’s barrier island and coastal communities are acutely vulnerable; the flat topography, the porous limestone, and the accelerating sea level rise create flooding challenges; Miami Beach’s experience is instructive for Palm Beach County; several coastal communities are beginning to invest in adaptation; Palm Beach Island’s expensive and elegant oceanfront properties face an uncertain long-term future); Lake Worth Lagoon restoration (the Lake Worth Lagoon (the Intracoastal Waterway section between Palm Beach Island and the mainland) has been significantly degraded by stormwater runoff, dredging, and development; SFWMD and Palm Beach County have been implementing the Lake Worth Lagoon Management Plan which includes oyster reef restoration, seagrass restoration, and stormwater treatment improvements; early results are promising); Loxahatchee NWR and northern Everglades protection (the Loxahatchee NWR’s ecology is connected to the broader Everglades water management; the C-51 Canal (which connects to Lake Okeechobee through the Water Conservation Areas) delivers freshwater to the NWR’s wetlands; the timing and quantity of water must be managed carefully to maintain the wetland ecology; mercury contamination from atmospheric deposition is present in the NWR’s ecosystem, affecting wildlife food chains); Belle Glade environmental justice (the Glades communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay are among Florida’s most impoverished communities; they are located directly adjacent to the sugarcane fields of the Everglades Agricultural Area and experience air quality impacts from sugarcane burning (pre-harvest burning of cane to facilitate harvest creates dense smoke that is a significant air quality impairment for Glades communities; the practice is controversial and the subject of ongoing environmental justice advocacy); water quality issues in the Glades communities)
Notes: Palm Beach County’s extraordinary wealth (Palm Beach Island; Boca Raton; Worth Avenue) and its profound poverty (Belle Glade; the Glades communities) create one of the most extreme economic contrasts in any US county; the sugarcane field burning issue in Belle Glade is one of Florida’s most significant environmental justice cases – predominantly Black and Latino communities near the sugarcane fields breathe the smoke from thousands of acres of pre-harvest burning while the industry avoids transitioning to mechanical harvest (which would eliminate the burning); advocates have pushed for regulations; the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority is genuinely one of the nation’s finest solid waste management operations – its Renewable Energy Park (one of the largest waste-to-energy facilities in the US) and its comprehensive recycling programs provide an excellent model; the Flagler Museum at Whitehall provides extraordinary historical context for Palm Beach’s development – Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway (which Flagler built south to Key West as his final project) created virtually every coastal community in South Florida; without Flagler, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and the entire Florida Gold Coast would have developed decades later, if at all
About Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County is Florida’s third most populous county and the twenty-seventh most populous in the United States, stretching 2,034 square miles from the Atlantic Coast communities of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach through suburban communities like Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Greenacres to the agricultural Glades communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay along Lake Okeechobee. The county anchors the northern end of South Florida’s tri-county corridor and contains some of the most dramatic wealth disparity of any county in the country – Palm Beach island is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the United States, while inland Glades communities are among the poorest in Florida. County government is structured around a five-member Board of County Commissioners, with independently elected offices including the Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Clerk and Comptroller, Sheriff, State Attorney, and Supervisor of Elections.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Palm Beach County follows Florida’s statewide property tax framework, with the same 25-day TRIM Notice appeal window that makes early action essential. For the 2025 tax year, TRIM Notices were mailed August 21 with a VAB petition deadline of September 15. Missing this deadline forfeits the right to challenge that year’s assessment. The VAB filing fee in Palm Beach County is up to $20 per petition – the lowest in the South Florida tri-county corridor.
Important caution specific to Palm Beach County: Requesting an informal review with the Property Appraiser does not pause your 25-day VAB deadline. If you contact the Property Appraiser to discuss your value, simultaneously file a VAB petition online at mypalmbeachclerk.com. You can withdraw the petition later if the informal review resolves your concern.
The Palm Beach homestead exemption removes up to $50,000 from the assessed value for primary residences. An additional CPI-indexed exemption (up to $25,722 in 2025) applies automatically for properties assessed above $50,000 but below $75,000. Save Our Homes caps annual assessment increases on homesteaded properties at 3 percent or the CPI rate, whichever is lower – in 2025, the cap was 2.9 percent. Portability allows homeowners moving to a new Florida homestead to transfer up to $500,000 of their accumulated SOH benefit to the new property. Apply for portability by March 1 when filing your new homestead exemption.
Payment rule during appeals: If you file a VAB petition, you must pay at least 75 percent of your total tax bill by March 31 to avoid forfeiture of your petition rights. Failure to make this payment can result in the VAB denying all pending petitions.
OWNWELL CTA: Are you overpaying Palm Beach County property tax? The VAB appeal window is just 25 days from the August TRIM mailing. Ownwell analyzes your assessment and handles the petition. You only pay if you save. The filing fee is just $20.
LINK CLUSTER: How to appeal your Palm Beach County assessment, TRIM Notice explained, VAB petition online filing, Save Our Homes cap explained, Homestead exemption application, Portability application, Non-homestead 10% cap, Low-income senior exemption, Pay Palm Beach County property taxes, PAPA property search
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Are you overpaying Palm Beach County property tax? The VAB appeal window is just 25 days from the August TRIM mailing. Ownwell analyzes your assessment and handles the petition. You only pay if you save. The filing fee is just $20.
Public Records
Florida’s Public Records Law gives residents broad access to government records held by Palm Beach County. The Clerk and Comptroller at 205 N Dixie Hwy maintains all court records and all recorded property documents including deeds, mortgages, and liens. Court records are accessible through the Clerk’s online portal. Arrest records are maintained by the Palm Beach County Sheriff and by city police departments within incorporated municipalities.
The Property Appraiser’s PAPA database is one of the most comprehensive publicly accessible property databases in Florida, allowing free searches of any Palm Beach County property by address, owner name, or Parcel Control Number (PCN), including full assessment history, exemption status, sales history, and property characteristics.
Recommended
Search Palm Beach County public records, including arrests, court filings, property history, and background information for West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County residents.
Search Palm Beach County arrest and court records. TruthFinder aggregates publicly available arrest records, court filings, and background information for Palm Beach County residents.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
The 15th Judicial Circuit Court serves Palm Beach County and is one of the largest circuit courts in Florida. The main courthouse is the Palm Beach County Courthouse at 205 N Dixie Hwy in West Palm Beach. Branch courthouses in Delray Beach and Belle Glade serve the southern and western portions of the county. The Probate Division handles wills, estates, guardianships, and conservatorships at the main courthouse.
Courts Directory
Court
Type
Phone
Address
Palm Beach County Courthouse
Civil, criminal, family, probate
561-355-2996
205 N Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach
South County Courthouse
Civil, criminal, family — South County
561-274-1633
200 W Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach
Glades Courthouse
Civil, criminal, family — Western County
561-992-1428
10176 SW 81st Dr, Belle Glade
Clerk and Comptroller
Court records, VAB, official records
561-355-2996
205 N Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach
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Senior Services
Senior services in Palm Beach County are coordinated through the Area Agency on Aging of Palm Beach/Treasure Coast (also known as the Senior Resource Alliance for this sub-region), which administers federally funded programs under the Older Americans Act for residents 60 and older. Services include home-delivered meals, transportation, caregiver support, in-home care coordination, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, and SHINE Medicare counseling. The main aging services line for Palm Beach County is 561-684-5885. The county also operates a 211 information and referral helpline that connects residents with social services.
Palm Beach County’s extraordinary wealth concentration creates a distinctive senior care landscape. The coastal communities – Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Jupiter – have high-end assisted living communities, life plan communities (continuing care retirement communities), and concierge medical practices catering to affluent retirees. In contrast, Glades communities face very limited local senior care options and significant transportation barriers to accessing services in coastal communities.
The Save Our Homes cap and portability benefit are especially valuable for long-term Palm Beach County homeowners who have accumulated years of SOH protection. Seniors 65 or older with household income below the annually adjusted limit may also qualify for the Low-Income Senior Exemption, which provides additional property tax reduction on the county portion of the tax bill. Contact the Property Appraiser at 561-355-2866 for current income limits.
Florida Medicaid funds long-term care for eligible seniors through managed care organizations operating in Palm Beach County. The SHINE Medicare counseling service (561-684-5885) provides free one-on-one guidance on Medicare plan selection and benefits.
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Genealogy
County-level record sources
Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Palm Beach County Vital Statistics Department, 705 North Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33402, (561) 653-2350.
Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, housed in the historic 1916 courthouse, West Palm Beach – a permanent collection spanning over 12,000 years of local and Florida history.
Local societies
South Bay Genealogical Society – a member society of the Florida State Genealogical Society, serving the Palm Beach County area.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County – Probate Division 205 North Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 (561) 355-2996
Palm Beach County sits in Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit. Palm Beach County was split off from Miami-Dade County in 1909; its modern boundaries were set in 1963. It’s the third-most-populous county in Florida.
IMPORTANT – a major statewide law change just took effect: Florida’s summary administration threshold DOUBLED from $75,000 to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026, under CS/HB 1337 (Chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida). Confirm which threshold applies based on date of death when helping someone (see
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Health & Human Services
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Florida DOH in Palm Beach County – (561) 840-4500 | palmbeach.floridahealth.gov (one of Florida’s largest county health departments)
Services: Comprehensive; immunizations; WIC; STI/HIV testing (Palm Beach County has significant HIV rates); behavioral health; environmental health; restaurant inspections; epidemiology; Lake Okeechobee discharge monitoring; agricultural worker health (Belle Glade-Pahokee communities)
Hospital: St. Mary’s Medical Center (West Palm Beach – Trinity Health; (561) 844-6300); Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center (HCA; (561) 622-1411); Bethesda Hospital East (Boynton Beach – Baptist Health South Florida); Delray Medical Center (HCA); Jupiter Medical Center (HCA); Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Baptist Health); Wellington Regional Medical Center; Palm Beach Children’s Hospital (St. Mary’s system); Good Samaritan Medical Center (West Palm Beach); many others
Notes: Palm Beach County has extraordinary hospital infrastructure reflecting its wealth and population size; St. Mary’s Medical Center and Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center are major regional hospitals; the county’s healthcare serves both the wealthy Palm Beach communities and the extremely poor Glades agricultural communities; health disparities in the Glades (Belle Glade had the highest HIV rate per capita of any city in the US in the 1980s-90s due to agricultural labor and injection drug use dynamics; the rate has declined but health disparities persist); behavioral health; opioid crisis is significant on the Treasure Coast
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