Types of Deeds in Florida: All 12 and Which One You Need

There are about a dozen types of deeds in Florida, and they are not interchangeable. The deed you sign decides what the seller has promised you, whether your homestead exemption survives, what tax you owe, and — in one situation that catches families every year — whether the transfer worked at all.

This page covers every deed Florida uses, three instruments commonly called deeds that are not, the two Florida does not have, and the consequences that follow from choosing wrong. Every statute is cited and linked.

The short answer. Selling to a stranger: warranty deed. Transferring within a family or into your own trust: quitclaim deed — but understand what you give up. Planning around death: enhanced life estate deed. Selling out of an estate: personal representative’s deed. There is no such instrument as a “fee simple deed” — that phrase names an estate, not a document.

What is a deed, and how is it different from title?

A deed is the written instrument that conveys an interest in real property from a grantor to a grantee. Title is the legal right of ownership itself. The deed is the vehicle; title is the cargo.

Florida has no document that works the way a car title works. There is no certificate the state issues to prove you own your house — only a chain of recorded instruments in the Official Records of the county where the land sits, the last of which is your deed. Two consequences surprise people:

• Who holds the deed to your house? You do. Florida is a lien-theory state. You hold title; the lender records a mortgage lien against it and, when the loan is paid, records a satisfaction. The recorded original is returned to you or to whoever prepared it — the bank never has it.
• Florida does not use deeds of trust. It uses mortgages under chapter 697. A form that says “deed of trust” was written for another state.

A valid Florida conveyance needs a writing, an identifiable grantor and grantee, a legal description, words of conveyance, the grantor’s signature before two subscribing witnesses under §689.01(1), and delivery to and acceptance by the grantee. Notarization is a separate question — it goes to whether the deed can be recorded, not whether it is valid.

What are the types of deeds in Florida?

The types of property deeds in Florida sort into three families: conveyance deeds, which differ by how much the grantor promises about the title; estate-planning and fiduciary deeds, which differ by who signs and in what capacity; and court-issued instruments, which are not deeds at all but do the same job.

How do you know what type of deed you have? Read the granting clause and the warranty language, not the caption at the top — the title on a deed is not always accurate. The table below sorts by those two things.

Instrument	What the grantor promises	Statutory basis	Typical use	Title-insurance consequence
Warranty deed (statutory / general)	Five covenants, against all claims in the property’s history	§689.02, §689.03	Arm’s-length sale	Standard. Insurable on ordinary terms.
Special warranty deed	Only against claims arising by, through or under the grantor	Case law — no statute prescribes it	Commercial, bank-owned, fiduciary sales	Insurable; underwriter looks harder at the prior chain.
Quitclaim deed	Nothing at all	§689.025	Family transfers, divorce, funding a trust	Can break a clean chain; may forfeit a reissue rate.
Enhanced life estate (lady bird) deed	Drafted either way; usually limited	Common law — no statute	Probate avoidance with retained control	Insurable; underwriters scrutinize the retained-powers language.
Traditional life estate deed	Drafted either way	Common law	Rarely advisable	Life tenant cannot convey alone.
Personal representative’s deed	None, or limited to the PR’s own acts	§733.613	Selling real property out of a probate estate	Requires letters and, often, a court order.
Trustee’s deed	None, or limited to the trustee’s own acts	§736.1013, §736.1017	Selling out of a trust	Certification of trust required.
Guardian’s deed	None	§744.441(12), §744.447	Selling a ward’s property	Void without prior court approval.
Certificate of title (not a deed)	Nothing — no grantor signs it	§45.031(5)–(6)	Judicial foreclosure sale	Insurable after the objection period runs.
Tax deed (issued by the clerk)	Nothing	§197.552	Tax deed sale for delinquent taxes	Generally uninsurable without quiet title.
Corrective deed / curative notice	Follows the deed being corrected	§689.041	Fixing an error in a recorded deed	Curative notice relates back to the original recording.
Deed in lieu of foreclosure	Whatever the parties negotiate	Case law	Handing the property to the lender	Junior liens survive — that is the catch.

What is a warranty deed in Florida?

A warranty deed in Florida is the instrument used in an ordinary sale, and it carries the most protection available to a buyer: the grantor guarantees the title against every claim in the property’s history and agrees to defend it. It is also called a statutory warranty deed or a general warranty deed.

§689.02 prescribes a statutory short form using the granting words “has granted, bargained and sold” and the covenant that the grantor “does hereby fully warrant the title to said land, and will defend the same against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.”

The short form does not shortchange you: under §689.03 a deed in that form carries the full common-law covenants without writing them out. Florida recognizes five, enumerated in B.W.B. Corp. v. Muscare, 349 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977):

1. Seisin — the grantor holds the very estate the deed purports to convey.
2. Good right to convey — the grantor has authority to make the transfer.
3. Quiet enjoyment — possession will not be disturbed by a superior claim.
4. Against encumbrances — free of encumbrances other than those excepted.
5. Warrant and defend — the grantor will defend the title against lawful claims.

Some sources list a sixth, further assurances. That is an English covenant; Florida courts do not separately enumerate it and §689.03 does not imply it.

A warranty deed is a promise, not a policy. The covenants give you a contract claim against the grantor if title fails. They give you no one to call, no lawyer to defend you, and no fund to pay the loss — and a grantor who is insolvent, unfindable or dead is worth nothing. That is what title insurance is for, and why a buyer needs both. As Harris v. Sklarew, 166 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964) puts it, the covenants have no operative effect on the conveyance; they define the grantor’s liability if less than an indefeasible title passes.

Where several people sign one deed containing a general warranty, each is jointly and severally liable unless the deed says otherwise. Pathare v. Goolsby, 602 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992).

Special warranty deed (limited warranty deed)

Warrants the title only against claims arising by, through or under the grantor — not the whole history of the property. It is a creature of case law; no statute prescribes a form, so the language varies and is worth reading closely.

Harris v. Sklarew states the rule: the special warranty limits the covenant to claims “by, through or under the grantor,” as distinguished from the general warranty running against “all persons whomsoever.” PGA North II of Florida, LLC v. Division of Administration, 126 So. 3d 1150 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) confirms it still conveys the grantor’s entire estate — the narrower warranty limits liability, not the conveyance.

You will see one from a corporate seller, a bank disposing of foreclosed property, a builder, a fiduciary, or a tax title holder who has not quieted title. Each has the same reason: willing to say they did not damage the title, unwilling to vouch for what happened before they arrived. On new construction or a commercial purchase, accepting one is market practice and your owner’s policy does the real work. On a resale from an individual, ask why.

Quitclaim deed

Conveys whatever interest the grantor has, if any, and promises nothing. Granting words: “remise, release, and quitclaim.” Since July 1, 2023 Florida prescribes a statutory quitclaim form at §689.025, requiring a legibly printed legal description and a space for the parcel identification number.

If the grantor owned nothing, the grantee receives nothing and has no recourse. If the grantor owned only a life estate, that is all that passes — Perdew v. Townley, 623 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). That is why the quitclaim is the weakest form of deed from a buyer’s point of view: it is the only common instrument that promises nothing at all.

It is the right tool for a divorce, for moving a home into your own revocable trust, for consolidating inherited interests among siblings, and for adding or removing a name from a deed. It is the wrong tool for buying from someone you do not know. Full detail on the Florida quitclaim deed. Two things it does not do: it does not remove anyone from the mortgage, and it does not necessarily avoid documentary stamp tax.

Life estate deeds: enhanced (lady bird) and traditional

A traditional life estate deed gives the life tenant the right to occupy for life and vests a remainder in named remaindermen. Its defect is severe: the life tenant cannot sell or mortgage without the remaindermen joining. Anemaet v. Martin-Senour Co., 114 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959).

An enhanced life estate deed — the “lady bird” deed — fixes that. The grantor retains a life estate plus the power to sell, mortgage, convey or revoke without anyone’s consent. At death, what is left passes to the remaindermen outside probate.

No Florida statute creates the enhanced life estate deed. It is a creature of common law and title-industry practice, resting on the principle that a grantor may convey subject to reservations of the grantor’s own choosing. Four District Courts of Appeal have recognized it: Hirschenson v. Compu-Link Corp. of MI, 389 So. 3d 574 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023); Varano v. Varano, 415 So. 3d 1100 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025); Johnson v. Johnson, 413 So. 3d 872 (Fla. 1st DCA 2025); Agee v. Brown, 73 So. 3d 882 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). Any source saying the lady bird deed exists “under §689.01” has the wrong statute — §689.01 governs how every Florida deed is signed.

Because there is no statutory form, the retained-powers language is the whole instrument, and title underwriters read it closely. Full treatment on lady bird deeds in Florida, compared with a living trust, and the tax consequences.

Fiduciary deeds: personal representative’s, trustee’s and guardian’s

Signed by someone acting for another, and sharing one feature: the fiduciary does not personally warrant the title. They convey the authority the fiduciary holds and nothing more. A buyer’s protection comes from the title policy and the court file, not the signature.

That is the whole of the fiduciary deed vs. warranty deed question, and it is the one buyers ask most often about estate sales. A personal representative’s deed compared with a warranty deed conveys the same fee simple estate; what differs is that the warranty deed comes with five enforceable covenants and the personal representative’s deed comes with none. Price the difference into the title policy, not into the deed.

Personal representative’s deed. §733.613 divides the world in two: where the will confers a power of sale, §733.613(2) permits a sale without a court order; where it does not, §733.613(1) requires one. §733.612(5) confirms real property is excluded from the personal representative’s general disposal authority. A purchaser under a specific power or court order takes free of estate creditors’ and beneficiaries’ claims, except existing mortgages and liens. See becoming a personal representative and selling a house during probate.

Trustee’s deed. The Trust Code prescribes no warranty covenants. §736.1013 shields the trustee from personal liability on contracts entered in a disclosed fiduciary capacity; §736.1017 supplies the certification of trust a title company will ask for instead of the trust instrument.

Guardian’s deed. Under §744.441(12) a plenary guardian may sell a ward’s real property only after court approval on a petition under §744.447. Skip that and the transaction is void — Bryan v. Century National Bank, 498 So. 2d 868 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). See Florida guardianship.

What does “as trustee” after a name on a deed mean?

This is the most expensive trap in Florida conveyancing and almost nobody writes about it.

Under §689.07, a deed to a grantee described merely as “trustee” — without naming the beneficiaries and without setting out the trust powers in the deed or a recorded declaration — vests fee simple in that person outright, with full power to sell, convey and encumber. The purpose is to stop secret trusts and protect anyone relying on the public record. Arundel Debenture Corp. v. Le Blond, 190 So. 765 (Fla. 1939).

Put the family home into “Jane Doe, as Trustee” and record nothing else, and the record shows Jane Doe owning it personally — free to sell it, and exposed to her creditors and her divorce. Identifying the trust by name and date takes the deed out of the statute: Raborn v. Menotte, 974 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 2008). Where the only hint is the word “trustee,” fee simple is deemed: Heiskell v. Morris, 175 So. 3d 892 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). Third parties relying on the record are protected: Meadows v. Citicorp Leasing, Inc., 511 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987).

Certificate of title and tax deed

Neither is a deed anyone signs as grantor, and both are routinely miscalled one.

At a Florida foreclosure sale, title passes by certificate of title. Under §45.031(5)–(6) the clerk files a certificate of sale; if no objection is filed within ten days, the clerk files a certificate of title, the sale stands confirmed, and title passes “without the necessity of any further proceedings or instruments.” Documentary stamp tax is computed solely on the highest and best bid, §201.02(9).

At a tax deed sale, the clerk issues a tax deed. Under §197.552 it is issued in the name of the county, signed by the clerk, witnessed and sealed, and is prima facie evidence of the regularity of every proceeding from valuation through issuance. Except as chapter 197 provides, no right, interest, restriction or covenant survives it — with limited exceptions for certain governmental liens. §197.562 gives the grantee immediate possession. Practical point: a tax deed is generally uninsurable without a quiet title action, which is why tax deed property trades at a discount.

How do I fix a mistake on a recorded deed in Florida?

It depends on the error, and the commonly repeated answer — “file a scrivener’s affidavit” — is wrong for most of them.

§689.041 provides a curative notice for a single error or omission in exactly one of three categories: a lot or block identification; a unit, building or phase of a condominium; or a directional designation or numerical fraction in a fractional section, township or range description. It cannot fix a metes-and-bounds description, and it cannot fix more than one error. When it does apply, the recorded notice relates back to the date of the erroneous deed — which is its whole value. The statute says its remedies are not exclusive.

Everything else — a misspelled name, the wrong grantee, the wrong tenancy, a metes-and-bounds error, two errors instead of one — requires a corrective deed re-executed by the original grantor. Which is a problem when the grantor has died or has no reason to cooperate. At that point the route is a quiet title or reformation action.

Is a “fee simple deed” a type of deed?

No. Fee simple is an estate — the largest quantum of ownership Florida law recognizes — not a document. There is no instrument called a fee simple deed, and a Florida deed does not need to say “fee simple” to convey one: §689.10 dispenses with words of limitation, so a deed without them conveys the grantor’s whole estate unless it says otherwise.

A warranty deed, a special warranty deed and a quitclaim deed can each convey a fee simple. They differ in what the grantor promises, not in the size of the estate transferred. The §689.02 form conveys to the grantee “her or his heirs and assigns forever” — the classic words of inheritance. The related estates, so you can recognize them on a deed:

• Fee simple absolute — ownership with no conditions. The default.
• Fee simple determinable — ends automatically on a stated condition (“so long as,” “until”), leaving a possibility of reverter.
• Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent — the grantor may re-enter (“but if,” “provided that”), leaving a right of entry.
• Life estate — ownership measured by a lifetime, with a remainder over.
• Leasehold — possession for a term, not ownership. Some Florida condominiums and ground-lease properties are leasehold, which changes what you own and what you can finance.

Where the phrase “fee simple deed” usually turns up is a foreclosure or bank-owned sale, where the actual instrument is a certificate of title, a tax deed, or a special warranty deed.

Deeds Florida does not use, and one Florida does not have

• Grant deed — a California-style instrument. Not used in Florida.
• Deed of trust — used in title-theory states in place of a mortgage. Florida uses mortgages.
• Bargain and sale deed — not a separate Florida type. The words “granted, bargained and sold” appear inside the §689.02 warranty form; they do not describe an independent instrument.
• Transfer on death deed — Florida does not have one. The Legislature has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act and no statute authorizes a beneficiary deed for real property. Transfer-on-death and payable-on-death designations exist for securities and bank accounts only. There is no Florida transfer on death deed form to download, because the instrument does not exist here — any template offering one was written for another state, and a deed captioned “transfer on death” recorded against Florida land does not do what it says. The Florida analogue is the enhanced life estate deed, which reaches a similar practical result by a different mechanism — a present conveyance of a remainder with retained powers, treated differently for the remaindermen’s creditors and for title insurance.

What does a Florida deed look like?

A Florida deed looks like one or two typed pages carrying the same blocks every time: a preparer line at the top left, the clerk’s recording stamp at the top right, the names of the grantor and grantee, a legal description, the granting and habendum clauses, two witness signatures and a notary acknowledgment. It is plain paper — there is no seal, no certificate stock and no state-issued form. What a house deed in Florida looks like on the county website is a scanned image of exactly that.

Reading yours takes about a minute once you know what the blocks are.

• “This instrument prepared by and return to.” Top left. Since January 1, 2024 §695.26 requires the name and post office address of the person who prepared it.
• The clerk’s space. 3 inches by 3 inches at the top right of page one, 1 inch by 3 inches on later pages. The recording stamp — instrument number, book and page, date — goes here.
• Parcel identification number. The property appraiser’s folio number.
• The granting clause. “Has granted, bargained and sold” on a warranty deed; “remise, release, and quitclaim” on a quitclaim.
• Consideration. Almost always “$10.00 and other good and valuable consideration.” A recital convention, not the price — and it does not determine the documentary stamp tax.
• The legal description. Not the street address. Either lot and block from a recorded plat, or metes and bounds running the boundary by bearing and distance. Take it from the recorded deed, never from the tax bill.
• The habendum clause. “To have and to hold.” It defines the estate conveyed.
• Two witness blocks. Signature, printed name and post office address for each — the address requirement is new as of January 1, 2024 and is the most common reason a deed is rejected at the counter.
• The notary block. Acknowledgment, printed name beneath the signature, seal.
• Grantee’s name and post office address. Required on anything other than a mortgage.

To get a copy and confirm it was recorded: deeds are recorded in the Official Records of the county where the land sits, with the Clerk of the Circuit Court — not with any state office. Every county publishes a searchable index. Search by grantor or grantee name; the result gives the instrument number and book and page, and most counties sell certified copies online. If you cannot find it, the deed was never recorded, which is a different problem.

How is title held in Florida? Tenancy in common, joint tenancy and tenancy by the entireties

How title is held in Florida is decided by the words in the deed, and the default rule is the opposite of what most people assume. Choosing the instrument is only half the decision; the other half is how the grantees take title.

There are three forms of co-ownership, and they are what people mean by Florida real estate title types, types of real estate ownership in Florida, or types of property ownership in Florida: tenancy in common, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy by the entireties. Which one you get is decided by the words in the deed, not by the relationship between the owners — and the rules on rights of survivorship in Florida catch families out constantly.

§689.15: “The doctrine of the right of survivorship in cases of real estate and personal property held by joint tenants shall not prevail in this state; that is to say, except in cases of estates by entirety, a devise, transfer or conveyance heretofore or hereafter made to two or more shall create a tenancy in common, unless the instrument creating the estate shall expressly provide for the right of survivorship.”

Read that again before deeding a house to two children. Without express survivorship language they take as tenants in common — and when one dies, that share goes through probate. The transfer meant to avoid probate produces one.

	Tenancy in common	Joint tenancy with right of survivorship	Tenancy by the entireties
Who can hold it	Anyone	Anyone	Married couples only
How it is created	The default under §689.15	Express survivorship language required	Presumed on a conveyance to spouses
On death of one owner	Share passes by will or intestacy — probate	Passes automatically to the survivor	Passes automatically to the surviving spouse
Can one owner sell alone?	Yes, their undivided share	Yes — and doing so severs the survivorship	No
Creditors of one owner	Can reach that share	Can reach that share	Generally cannot reach it

Express survivorship language works. In La Pierre v. Kalergis, 251 So. 2d 885 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971), a recital that “pursuant to Section 689.15 Florida Statutes, provision is hereby and in this instrument expressly made for the right of survivorship between the grantees” created a joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

And it can be undone unilaterally. A joint tenant can sever the survivorship by deeding to himself, without telling the other owner. Weisblat v. Feldman, 358 So. 3d 1238 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023); Harelik v. Teshoney, 337 So. 2d 828 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). Worth knowing before you rely on survivorship as an estate plan.

Right of survivorship in Florida is never assumed. Outside marriage it exists only where the deed says so, in words, on the face of the instrument. Nothing about the grantees’ relationship — siblings, partners, parent and child — creates it. See right of survivorship in Florida for how the same rule applies to bank and brokerage accounts, where it works differently.

Tenancy by the entireties is available only to married couples and is the strongest form of co-ownership in Florida. Neither spouse owns a divisible share; each is seized of the whole, and only creditors of both spouses jointly can reach the property. Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001). A conveyance from a grantor-spouse to herself and her husband is presumed to create it. United States v. Morales, 36 F. Supp. 3d 1276 (M.D. Fla. 2014). On dissolution of marriage §689.15 converts it to a tenancy in common automatically.

What type of deed do I need to keep my homestead exemption?

No deed grants a homestead exemption — you apply for that with the county property appraiser under §196.031. But the deed you sign can destroy an exemption you already have, and it can reset an assessment cap worth far more than the exemption itself.

Will adding my child to the deed reset my Save Our Homes cap?

It can, and that is usually the largest number in the whole transaction.

Save Our Homes — Art. VII, §4(d), Fla. Const. and §193.155 — caps annual increases in the assessed value of homestead property at 3% or CPI, whichever is lower. On a house owned twenty years, the gap between assessed and just value can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. A change of ownership wipes that gap out: under §193.155(3) the property is reassessed at just value the following January 1. Deed the house to your daughter and the accumulated benefit disappears permanently.

The exception that saves most planning transfers. §193.155(3)(a)1.b. provides there is no change of ownership where the same person is entitled to the homestead exemption before and after, the transfer is between legal and equitable title, and no additional person applies for a homestead exemption. That is why deeding your homestead into your own revocable trust, or signing an enhanced life estate deed where you keep the exemption, generally does not reset the cap — and why adding an adult child who then applies for their own exemption generally does. See Zingale v. Powell, 885 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 2004) and Fla. AGO 2007-08.

• Portability. §193.155(8) lets you carry accumulated benefit to a new Florida homestead, subject to deadlines and a cap. A deed that terminates your homestead can start that clock without your realizing it.
• “Non-homestead” property has a weaker 10% cap under Art. VII, §4(g) and no exemption. A deed converting homestead to non-homestead moves the property into that column. There is no magic non-homestead language to put in a Florida deed that changes this — homestead status follows residence and use, not a recital, though a deed reciting that the property is not the grantor’s homestead is routinely used to document that fact for a title underwriter.

None of this is a reason not to transfer property. It is a reason to run the numbers against the property appraiser’s current assessed and just values before choosing the instrument, because the right deed often preserves the cap and the wrong one never does.

Does my spouse have to sign the deed if the house is only in my name?

If it is your homestead and you are married, yes — and a deed without that signature is not merely challengeable. It is void.

Article X, §4(c) of the Florida Constitution provides that “the owner of homestead real estate, joined by the spouse if married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale or gift.” The requirement attaches to marriage, not to whose name is on the deed. Your spouse can own no interest whatever and still have to sign.

A purported alienation of homestead by a married owner without spousal joinder is void ab initio — a nullity from inception. Not voidable, not cured by ratification, not cured by time. The only cure is a new deed with proper joinder. Four District Courts of Appeal, over nearly sixty years: Mendia v. Galvez, 418 So. 3d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025); Nordman v. McCormick, 715 So. 2d 310 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); Chapman v. Chapman, 526 So. 2d 131 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Robbins v. Robbins, 411 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); and In re Gatto, 380 B.R. 88 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2007), which applies the rule even where only one spouse owns.

A void deed conveys nothing. The property never left the owner — generally discovered years later, at a closing or in probate, by someone who thought they owned it.

The exception worth knowing. In Jameson v. Jameson, 387 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1980) the Florida Supreme Court held the joinder requirement attaches to the alienation clause only. A sole-owner spouse who deeds the homestead to himself and the other spouse as tenants by the entireties does not need the grantee-spouse to join. And the constitution beats the statute: Brown v. Towd Point Mortgage Trust 2017-6, 423 So. 3d 887 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025).

Two related rules: §689.111 governs conveying homestead under a power of attorney, and §709.2202 requires a Florida power of attorney to specifically enumerate authority to create or change a right of survivorship — general language will not do it. See Florida powers of attorney and a surviving spouse’s rights.

How is a Florida deed signed, witnessed and recorded?

A Florida deed is signed by the grantor before two subscribing witnesses, acknowledged before a notary, and recorded with the clerk in the county where the land sits. Florida separates two things most people run together in that sequence: what makes a deed valid, and what makes it recordable. The requirements for a valid deed are short, and the Florida deed requirements that get instruments rejected at the counter are mostly in the second column.

Requirement	Statute	Goes to
Writing, signed before two subscribing witnesses	§689.01(1)	Validity
Delivery to and acceptance by the grantee	Common law	Validity
Acknowledgment before a notary	§695.03	Recordability
Printed names and addresses, preparer block, clerk spaces	§695.26	Recordability
Recording in the county Official Records	§695.01	Priority against third parties

No seal is required, and witnesses need not sign in each other’s presence. They no longer need to be in the room either. §689.01(2) permits the two-witness requirement to be satisfied by witnesses present through audio-video communication technology as defined in §117.201, provided the witness hears the principal acknowledge signing; §689.01(3) validates those acts and provides that, once recorded, constructive notice may not be denied for an alleged failure to comply strictly. Separately, remote online notarization has been available since January 1, 2020 under chapter 117, part II, with credential analysis and identity proofing required. A Florida deed can be signed, witnessed and notarized entirely online.

What changed for Florida deeds on January 1, 2024?

§695.26, as amended by chapter 2023-238, tightened what the clerk will accept. An instrument conveying or encumbering title cannot be recorded unless the name of each person who executed it is legibly printed beneath the signature, with that person’s post office address; the preparer’s name and address appear; each witness’s name is printed beneath the witness’s signature, with the witness’s post office address; the notary’s name is printed beneath the notary’s signature; the 3×3 and 1×3 inch clerk spaces are reserved; and, on anything other than a mortgage, each grantee’s name and post office address appear.

The witness-address requirement is the new part and the most common rejection. It is why deed packages bought online and forms saved from before 2024 now come back from the counter. One safety valve: the clerk’s failure to comply with §695.26 does not impair the validity of a recordation or the constructive notice it imparts.

Can the notary be one of the two witnesses?

Not in the notary capacity. McKoy v. DeSilvio, 977 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), holds a notary’s acknowledgment does not count as one of the two subscribing witnesses §689.01 requires. The notary must sign separately in the witness blocks to serve as a witness.

This is the most common self-signing error in Florida, and the consequence is real: a deed executed with only one subscribing witness is ineffective to transfer a freehold estate — Santos v. Bogh, 331 So. 2d 361 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Earp v. Shriver, 476 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). Florida does provide cure, on a long timetable: §95.231 operates automatically to cure missing witnesses and defective acknowledgments five years after recording, and §694.08 supplies a seven-year path where a subsequent conveyance has occurred. Neither helps at a closing next month, and equitable estoppel is no substitute — Tunnage v. Green, 953 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

What happens if a deed is never recorded?

It is still good between the parties — delivery, not recording, is what makes a deed effective. What recording buys is priority. Florida is a notice jurisdiction under §695.01: an unrecorded deed is not good against a subsequent purchaser for value and without notice. If your grantor later deeds the same property to someone who pays value, knows nothing about you, and records first, that person can win. Record the same day if you can — §695.27 authorizes electronic recording and most Florida counties e-record in one to three business days.

What happens after a deed is recorded? The clerk stamps it with an instrument number, book and page, indexes it under both names, and returns the original to whoever is named in the “return to” block. From that moment the transfer is public record and binding on the world. Nothing else happens automatically — the property appraiser picks it up on the next roll, but no one notifies your lender, your insurer or your HOA. That is on you. The same is true after a quitclaim deed is recorded: recording does not close out the mortgage, change the insurance, or update the homestead exemption.

What does a deed cost in Florida?

How much it costs to transfer a deed in Florida is three separate numbers, and only one of them is the lawyer: documentary stamp tax, which is usually the largest and is driven by the mortgage balance rather than the price; recording fees, which are fixed by statute and small; and preparation. Take them in that order.

How much is documentary stamp tax on a Florida deed?

§201.02(1)(a) imposes tax at 70 cents for each $100 of consideration, statewide, with a 70-cent minimum.

“Consideration” is a defined term, and it is where families get caught. It includes money paid or agreed to be paid, the discharge of an obligation, and the amount of any mortgage or other encumbrance — whether or not the debt is assumed. A parent who quitclaims a house carrying a $300,000 mortgage to a child for love and affection has made a transfer for consideration of $300,000. Roughly $2,100 in tax is due even though nothing changed hands.

In Miami-Dade County the rate is different, and most published guidance overstates it. Under §201.0205 the rate is 60 cents per $100, not 70. A discretionary surtax of 45 cents per $100 applies under §201.031 — but §201.031(1) carves out a single-family residence. So on the transaction most readers are actually asking about, a house in Miami-Dade, the rate is 60 cents per $100 and the surtax does not apply.

The exemptions are narrower than people hope, and there is no family-member exemption. Under §201.02(7) the interspousal exemptions reach a transfer between spouses or former spouses pursuant to a dissolution of marriage where the property is or was the marital home, and a transfer of homestead between spouses where the only consideration is an existing mortgage. A deed to your own revocable trust is generally not taxable (Fla. Admin. Code r. 12B-4.013). Parent to child is not exempt.

What are the recording fees for a Florida deed?

Set by §28.24 and uniform statewide: $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, $1.00 for each name indexed over four, and $2.00 for a certified copy. A two-page deed with four names records for $18.50.

Do I need a lawyer to prepare a deed in Florida?

Not for your own. §454.18 preserves the right of any person to conduct his or her own cause. But preparing a deed for someone else for compensation is the practice of law, and doing it unlicensed is a third-degree felony under §454.23 — Florida Bar v. Miravalle, 761 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 2000). A non-attorney notary may notarize your deed. A notary may not draft it or advise you on which one to use.

Online form vendors charge around $60 for a document generator; Florida deed-preparation services advertise flat fees in the $350–$475 range. Those buy a correctly formatted instrument. What they do not buy is the analysis on this page — whether the property is homestead and who must sign, whether the Save Our Homes cap survives, how title should vest, what the documentary stamp actually is. On the transfers that go wrong, the deed was formatted perfectly.

Deed drafting and recording in Florida is a single piece of work, and it is worth having one person own all of it: the title check, the instrument, the execution, the doc-stamp calculation and the e-recording. Splitting it — a form from one vendor, a notary from another, recording done by whoever — is how errors reach the public record. See Florida deed preparation.

Does changing the deed change your mortgage, your taxes, or Medicaid?

Does a quitclaim deed remove me from the mortgage?

No. This is the most common and most costly misunderstanding in this area. A deed conveys ownership; the note and mortgage are a separate contract with a lender who is not a party to your deed. Sign away every interest you have and you remain fully liable on the note. The only ways off are refinance, a lender-approved assumption, or a written release. A divorce judgment ordering your former spouse to pay binds your former spouse — not the bank.

Does transferring the deed trigger the due-on-sale clause?

Sometimes. The Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. §1701j-3(d), bars enforcement on certain residential transfers — to a spouse or child, on death to a relative, under a decree of dissolution, and at (d)(8) into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary and occupancy does not change.

An enhanced life estate deed most likely falls within (d)(8), or within (d)(1) because no rights of occupancy transfer. Being straight about it: no Florida appellate court has decided that question, and the analysis rests on the federal statute rather than a case anyone can cite you. And the exception that catches investors: a transfer to an LLC is not on the Garn-St Germain list. Moving a mortgaged rental into an LLC is a transfer the lender may call. It is done constantly and usually goes unnoticed, which is not the same as being permitted.

Will I owe gift tax, and will my children lose the step-up in basis?

Adding a child to your deed is a completed gift, with two federal consequences. A gift above the annual exclusion requires IRS Form 709 — most people owe no tax, since it draws against the lifetime exclusion, but the return is due.

The expensive one is basis. Property inherited at death takes a stepped-up basis equal to date-of-death value under IRC §1014. Property given during life takes the donor’s carryover basis under IRC §1015. A house bought for $80,000 and worth $600,000 passes at death with a $600,000 basis and no capital gain on an immediate sale. Gifted during life, the child takes an $80,000 basis on the gifted share and pays tax on the difference. Adding a child to a deed to “avoid probate” is the single most common way a Florida family creates a capital gains bill a different instrument would have avoided.

Can I transfer my house to my children to qualify for Medicaid?

An outright gift of the home is a transfer for less than fair market value and can create a period of ineligibility under the five-year look-back.

An enhanced life estate deed is treated differently. Because the grantor keeps an unrestricted power to sell and revoke, it is generally not treated as a completed transfer for eligibility purposes, and the property passes outside probate at death — which is what keeps it out of reach of estate recovery under §409.9101, since Florida’s recovery reaches the probate estate. Two honest caveats most pages leave out: this rests on agency policy — the Department of Children and Families ESS Policy Manual, following federal guidance — rather than a Florida statute or appellate decision, and Fla. Admin. Code r. 65A-1.712 does not address enhanced life estate deeds by name. Policy of that kind can change in a way a statute does not.

Someone recorded a deed on my property. What can I do?

• A forged deed is void, not voidable. It conveys nothing to anyone, including a later buyer who paid full value and knew nothing — the opposite of a deed obtained by fraud or undue influence, which is voidable and can be cut off in a bona fide purchaser’s hands. See challenging a Florida deed and undue influence.
• Free monitoring, in every county. §28.47 requires every clerk to offer a recording notification service. Register up to five properties and you are notified within 24 hours of anything recorded against them. It costs nothing and almost nobody uses it.
• An expedited way to clear it. §65.091 created a cause of action and a summary procedure to quiet title against a fraudulently conveyed deed, with clerk-supplied forms and Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.925.
• It is a felony. Filing a false document against real property is a third-degree felony under §817.535, enhanced on repeat offenses.

Common myths about Florida deeds

• “Quick claim deed.” No such instrument. The term is quitclaim — the grantor is quitting a claim, and it has nothing to do with speed.
• “Claim deed.” Also not a thing — a fragment of “quitclaim deed.” And you cannot claim a deed to property: title moves only by conveyance from the current owner or by court order.
• “A quitclaim deed proves I own the home.” It proves someone signed something. If the grantor had no interest, you received none.
• “A warranty deed and title insurance are the same protection.” One is a promise from a person; the other an indemnity policy with a duty to defend. A buyer needs both.
• “I just need a notary, not witnesses.” Florida requires two subscribing witnesses, and the notary does not count as one.
• “No money changed hands, so no tax is due.” The mortgage balance is consideration whether or not it is assumed.
• “All warranty deeds are the same.” A general warranty covers the whole history of the title; a special warranty covers only the seller’s own ownership.
• “Florida has a transfer on death deed.” It does not.
• “Adding my child to the deed is a free way to avoid probate.” It can trigger documentary stamp tax, destroy the step-up in basis, reset the Save Our Homes cap, expose the home to your child’s creditors and divorce, and — without survivorship language — produce a probate anyway.

I prepare and record deeds throughout South Florida, and the recording office is the county one, not a state one: the Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury, the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller, and the Monroe County Clerk of the Circuit Court. All four accept electronic recording under §695.27; turnaround typically runs one to three business days.

Which of the types of deeds in Florida fits a particular transfer depends on facts a form cannot see — who is married, what the property appraiser shows, what the mortgage says. To talk one through, call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact page. Related reading: the Florida deeds and property guide.

Florida deed FAQs

What is the difference between a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed in Florida?

A warranty deed carries five covenants of title under §689.02 and §689.03 — seisin, good right to convey, quiet enjoyment, against encumbrances, and warrant and defend — running against claims from the entire history of the property. A quitclaim deed carries none. It conveys whatever interest the grantor happens to hold, and if that is nothing, the grantee receives nothing and has no claim against the grantor.

What is the difference between a statutory warranty deed and a special warranty deed in Florida?

A statutory warranty deed is the §689.02 short form, and §689.03 gives it the full common-law covenants running against “all persons whomsoever.” A special warranty deed limits the covenant to claims arising by, through or under the grantor — the seller warrants only their own period of ownership. No Florida statute prescribes a special warranty form; it comes from case law, principally Harris v. Sklarew, 166 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964).

Is a fee simple deed a type of deed?

No. Fee simple is an estate — the largest quantum of ownership — not an instrument. Warranty deeds, special warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds all convey fee simple; they differ in what the grantor promises. Under §689.10 a Florida deed does not even need to say “fee simple” to convey one.

Does a Florida deed need two witnesses?

Yes. §689.01(1) requires the grantor to sign in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, and that goes to the validity of the conveyance. Since 2020 the witnesses may be present through audio-video communication technology under §689.01(2) rather than physically in the room. Notarization is separate and goes to whether the deed can be recorded, under §695.03.

Can the notary be one of the two witnesses on a Florida deed?

Not in the notary capacity. McKoy v. DeSilvio, 977 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), holds the acknowledgment does not count as one of the two subscribing witnesses required by §689.01. A notary can serve as a witness only by signing separately in a witness block.

What changed for Florida deeds on January 1, 2024?

§695.26, as amended by chapter 2023-238, now requires each witness’s printed name and post office address on the instrument, along with printed names beneath every signature, the preparer’s name and address, the grantee’s address, and reserved clerk spaces. Deeds missing the witness addresses are rejected at recording. The clerk’s failure to enforce it does not invalidate a recording that gets through.

Can a Florida deed be signed and notarized online?

Yes. Remote online notarization has been available in Florida since January 1, 2020 under chapter 117, part II, with credential analysis and identity proofing required. Witnesses may also appear by audio-video communication technology under §689.01(2), and §689.01(3) protects the recorded instrument from a strict-compliance challenge on that basis.

Does my spouse have to sign the deed if the house is only in my name?

If the property is your homestead and you are married, yes. Article X, §4(c) of the Florida Constitution requires the owner to be “joined by the spouse if married” to alienate homestead by mortgage, sale or gift. A homestead deed without spousal joinder is void ab initio — Mendia v. Galvez, 418 So. 3d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025). The one exception, from Jameson v. Jameson, 387 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1980), is a deed from the sole owner to himself and the spouse as tenants by the entireties.

What type of deed do I need to keep my homestead exemption in Florida?

No deed grants the exemption — you apply for it with the county property appraiser. What matters is whether the transfer is a change of ownership that resets your Save Our Homes assessment cap under §193.155(3). The exception at §193.155(3)(a)1.b. preserves the cap where the same person remains entitled to the exemption, the transfer is between legal and equitable title, and no additional person applies for a homestead exemption — which is why a deed into your own revocable trust or a properly drafted enhanced life estate deed generally preserves it, and adding an adult child who applies for their own exemption generally does not.

Do I need to say “with right of survivorship” on a Florida deed?

Yes, unless the grantees are married to each other. Under §689.15 a conveyance to two or more people creates a tenancy in common unless the instrument expressly provides for the right of survivorship. Married couples are the exception: a conveyance to spouses is presumed to create a tenancy by the entireties, which carries survivorship automatically.

What happens to jointly owned property when one owner dies in Florida?

It depends on how title was held. Tenants in common: the deceased owner’s share passes by will or intestacy and goes through probate. Joint tenants with right of survivorship, or tenants by the entireties: the share passes automatically to the survivor outside probate. The deed determines which applies, which is why the vesting language matters.

Does a quitclaim deed remove me from the mortgage?

No. A deed transfers ownership; the note and mortgage are a separate contract with the lender, who is not a party to your deed. You remain liable until the loan is refinanced, formally assumed with the lender’s approval, or you obtain a written release. A divorce judgment ordering the other spouse to pay does not bind the lender.

How much is documentary stamp tax on a Florida deed?

70 cents per $100 of consideration statewide under §201.02(1)(a), with a 70-cent minimum. In Miami-Dade County the rate is 60 cents per $100 under §201.0205, plus a 45-cent surtax under §201.031 from which single-family residences are carved out by §201.031(1). Consideration includes the amount of any mortgage or encumbrance whether or not the buyer assumes it, so a gift deed on mortgaged property is taxed on the mortgage balance.

How much does it cost to record a deed in Florida?

Under §28.24 the recording fee is $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, and $1.00 for each name indexed over four. A two-page deed with four names records for $18.50. Documentary stamp tax is separate and is usually the larger number.

Do I need a lawyer to prepare a deed in Florida?

Not for your own deed — §454.18 preserves your right to conduct your own cause. But preparing a deed for another person for compensation is the practice of law, and doing it unlicensed is a third-degree felony under §454.23. A non-attorney notary may notarize a deed but may not draft it or advise on which one to use. The reason to involve a lawyer is not the formatting; it is the homestead, vesting, tax and title analysis that decides whether the deed does what you intend.

What is a personal representative’s deed in Florida?

It is the instrument a personal representative uses to convey real property out of a probate estate. Under §733.613(2) no court order is needed where the will confers a power of sale; under §733.613(1) a court order is required where it does not. The personal representative conveys in a fiduciary capacity and typically gives no personal warranty, or at most a special warranty limited to acts taken during the administration.

Can a personal representative sell a house in Florida without court approval?

Only if the will grants a power of sale. §733.613(2) permits a sale without a court order where the will confers a specific or general power of sale; otherwise §733.613(1) requires court authorization. §733.612(5) confirms that real property is excluded from the personal representative’s general disposal authority.

What does “as trustee” after a name on a deed mean?

Under §689.07, a deed to a grantee described only as “trustee” — without naming the beneficiaries or setting out the trust powers in the deed or a recorded declaration — vests fee simple in that person outright, with full power to sell and encumber. The purpose is to prevent secret trusts and protect anyone relying on the public record. Naming the trust and its date takes the deed out of the statute: Raborn v. Menotte, 974 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 2008).

What is a certificate of title in a Florida foreclosure?

It is the clerk-issued court document that transfers title after a judicial foreclosure sale. Under §45.031(5)–(6) the clerk files a certificate of sale, and if no objection is filed within ten days, files a certificate of title — at which point the sale stands confirmed and title passes without any further instrument. It is not a deed and no grantor signs it.

Do I get clear title from a Florida tax deed sale?

Not clear enough to insure without more. A tax deed under §197.552 is prima facie evidence of the regularity of the proceedings and extinguishes most prior interests, but certain governmental liens and easements survive, and title insurers generally will not write a policy without a quiet title action. That is why tax deed property sells at a discount.

How do I fix a mistake on a recorded deed in Florida?

It depends on the error. §689.041 provides a curative notice for a single error in one of three narrow categories — a lot or block identification, a condominium unit, building or phase, or a directional designation or numerical fraction in a fractional section description. It cannot fix a metes-and-bounds description and cannot fix more than one error. Everything else requires a corrective deed re-executed by the original grantor, or a reformation or quiet title action if the grantor is unavailable.

Does Florida have a transfer on death deed?

No. Florida has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act and no Florida statute authorizes a beneficiary deed for real property. Transfer-on-death and payable-on-death designations exist only for securities and bank accounts. The Florida instrument reaching a similar practical result is the enhanced life estate, or lady bird, deed — a present conveyance of a remainder with retained powers, which is a different mechanism with different consequences.

What happens if a deed is never recorded in Florida?

The deed is still valid between the grantor and grantee — delivery, not recording, is what makes it effective. But under §695.01 an unrecorded deed is not good against a later purchaser for value without notice who records first. Recording protects priority, not validity. Deeds are recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property sits, not with any state office.

Will adding my child to my deed affect capital gains?

Yes, and usually badly. A lifetime gift carries the donor’s basis to the recipient under IRC §1015, while property inherited at death takes a stepped-up basis at date-of-death value under IRC §1014. Adding a child to the deed now can convert a tax-free sale after death into a taxable gain on the gifted share. A gift above the annual exclusion also requires IRS Form 709.

Statutes, rules and case citations on this page were reviewed by Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. on August 27, 2026. This page offers general information about Florida law and is not legal advice for a specific matter; reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.