Florida Lady Bird Deeds for Out-of-State Owners: Avoiding Ancillary Probate on Your Florida Home
If you live in another state and own a home in Florida, a Florida lady bird deed is one way to avoid ancillary probate in Florida on that property: the second court case your family would otherwise open here after your death. I prepare these for out-of-state owners, snowbirds and other nonresident owners without anyone having to travel to Florida. You sign online, I record the deed in the Florida county where the property sits, and your heirs are spared a second probate in a state where none of them may live.
A lady bird deed, also written ladybird deed and formally called an enhanced life estate deed, keeps you as the owner for life. You can still sell, mortgage, rent or change your mind without asking anyone named in it. At your death the property passes to the people you named, without probate for that property. A spouse, a co-owner or a lender may still have rights of their own.
The $675 fee includes speaking directly with attorney Jose Lorenzo, reading your recorded deed, deed preparation, online notarization, witnesses, county recording fees, and the minimum documentary stamp charge. Documentary stamp tax above that minimum is separate, and I work it out and explain it before you decide to proceed.
I am Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Florida Bar No. 107002, and the only attorney at this firm, so the attorney you speak with is the one who drafts your deed: the same attorney from the first call to the recorded deed. I can work alongside the lawyer who wrote your will or trust at home. To start: call (305) 224-6811 for a free introductory call, or use the contact form. Please do not put Social Security numbers, account numbers or medical details in the web form.
| Who is it for? | People who live outside Florida and own Florida real estate in their own name: snowbirds, second-home and vacation home owners, condominium and rental owners, and owners of vacant land |
| What does it avoid? | Probate for that Florida property, including the ancillary probate an out-of-state owner’s family would otherwise open in Florida |
| Do I have to come to Florida? | No. The consultation is by phone and email, and the deed is signed online, with the witnesses in the same session |
| What does it cost? | $675 flat, with county recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge included; documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate |
| Where is it recorded? | In the Florida county where the land sits, not where you live |
| What if I am outside the United States? | Tell me where you will physically be when you sign. That is confirmed for your location before anything is scheduled. See below |
| What does it not cover? | Property in any other state, and Florida assets other than the property the deed describes |
Can an Out-of-State Owner Arrange a Florida Lady Bird Deed?
Yes. A Florida lady bird deed deals with Florida land, so where you live does not decide whether you can use one. What decides it is how the Florida property is owned now, who else has rights in it, and what you want to happen at your death. I work those out with you before anything is drafted.
How it works from out of state, from first call to recorded deed
- Free introductory call. You tell me about the Florida property, where you live, and what your plan says. I give you an initial view on whether a lady bird deed is the right answer at all.
- Recorded deed read, fit confirmed, instructions confirmed. I pull and read the recorded deed from the Florida county, confirm whether the deed fits, confirm your instructions by phone and by email, and confirm who may receive information, including your home-state lawyer.
- Drafting. Usually 24 to 48 hours from the time I have spoken with you, been hired and had you confirm your instructions, to the deed being ready to sign.
- Online signing. You sign from wherever we confirmed, with the notary and the two witnesses in the same session and a valid, unexpired photo ID.
- Recording. We submit the signed deed to the Clerk of the Florida county where the property sits.
- Delivery and coordination. The recorded deed goes to you and to anyone you authorize, such as your home-state lawyer and your accountant. You then register for the county’s fraud alert and call your insurance agent. The worksheet below lists what to have ready.
Can a non-Florida resident use a lady bird deed on Florida property?
Yes. The deed conveys Florida real estate and is recorded in the Florida county where the land sits, so the owner does not have to live in Florida. A deed signed by a nonresident owner works the same way as one signed by a Floridian. The owner does have to own the property in a form a deed can deal with, which is the first thing I check on your recorded deed.
What is ancillary probate in Florida, and why does it catch out-of-state owners?
Ancillary probate is a second probate, opened in Florida, when someone who lived in another state dies owning Florida real estate in their own name. The main estate is handled where the person lived; Florida real estate still needs a Florida court to pass it. Families usually discover this after the funeral, when they try to sell the Florida condominium and the title company asks who has authority to sign.
A lady bird deed, recorded during your life, takes the property it describes out of that process: at your death it passes to the people you named without a Florida court proceeding for that property. That is how to avoid ancillary probate in Florida for one property: plan while you are alive, rather than leave it to the family afterward. If a family is already facing an ancillary case because nothing was done, my Florida ancillary probate guide covers the Florida ancillary probate process, the documents and what it involves.
How much does ancillary probate cost in Florida?
More than a lady bird deed, because it is a court case rather than a single document. The cost of ancillary probate in Florida is made up of a Florida attorney’s fees, the court’s filing charges, certified copies of the home-state probate papers, and whatever the estate needs along the way. I do not put a single number on it here, because it depends on the estate, the family and whether anyone objects. What I can say is how it compares: a Florida ancillary administration is a proceeding your family runs from out of state, through a Florida lawyer, after your death, and the lady bird deed is a $675 document you sign now.
How long does ancillary probate take in Florida?
Months, not days. While it runs, the family keeps paying the taxes, insurance and any condominium or HOA assessments, and a sale has to wait until someone has been given authority to sign for the estate. A property that passes under a lady bird deed does not wait on either court: the people named can record the paperwork and deal with the property once the death certificate is available.
Which states allow lady bird deeds, and does it matter if mine doesn’t?
For your Florida property, it does not matter. Florida recognizes the enhanced life estate deed, and a Florida lady bird deed conveys Florida land and is recorded in the Florida county where the land sits, whatever state you live in. Owners in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario and Quebec regularly ask me whether a lady bird deed is legal where they live. That is a real question, but it is a question about property there, and your home-state lawyer is the right person to answer it. I do not advise on property outside Florida.
The practical point for a nonresident owner is simpler: the Florida property is governed by the Florida deed, and the rest of what you own is governed by your home-state plan. A Florida lady bird deed on your winter home does not need your home state’s permission to work, and it does not change anything about the property you own there.
Florida property, and where you are
Two addresses matter, and they are often different. The first is where the property is, which decides the county, the recording office and the recorded deed I read. The second is where you will physically be on the day you sign, which decides how the signing is arranged. Your mailing address decides neither. A Floridian who spends the summer in North Carolina and an Ohio family who winter in Naples as seasonal residents may both be signing from outside Florida.
Suitability comes before drafting
A lady bird deed fits best where you own Florida property in your own name, you want it to pass to named adults without probate, and you want to keep the power to sell or change your mind. It needs a conversation first where the property is held in a trust or a company, where a co-owner is involved, where a spouse has rights in it, where a beneficiary is a minor or receives needs-based benefits, or where your wishes need conditions a deed cannot carry. If a lady bird deed looks like the wrong tool for your situation, I will say so on the first call, and I confirm it once I have read your recorded deed.
Find the right page for your situation
Out-of-state property owners arrive with different questions. This page is for a living owner who wants to plan for a Florida property. If your situation is one of the others below, the linked page is the better place to start.
| Your situation | Where to start |
|---|---|
| You live outside Florida, own Florida property, and want it to pass without probate | This page |
| The owner has already died and the heirs live out of state | What to do with a lady bird deed after death, or the Florida ancillary probate guide if there is no deed |
| You are arranging this for a parent from another state | Help your parent get a Florida lady bird deed |
| You are moving to Florida permanently and need your whole plan updated | A Florida estate plan conversation, not just a deed. Say so on the first call |
| You live outside the United States | This page, signing from outside the United States first |
| The property is in your home state, not in Florida | A lawyer licensed in that state |
How Does the Deed Fit With Your Existing Estate Plan?
A Florida lady bird deed sits beside the will or trust you already have. It does not replace them. For the property it describes, though, the deed controls, so the two documents should point the same way. I read your recorded deed and ask you what your plan says about the Florida property; the lawyer who wrote your will or trust stays responsible for it.
Does my home-state will override this deed?
For the Florida property, no. The deed operates outside the estate, so that property never becomes an asset your will can dispose of. A will leaving “my Florida condo to my daughter” does nothing if a recorded lady bird deed names your son. Where the two conflict, the deed governs. That is exactly why the two documents should be drafted with each other in view, and why a deed signed years after a will is a reason to re-read the will.
Telling me about your existing plan
Tell me whether you have a will or trust, who it leaves the Florida property to, and the name of the lawyer who prepared it. Reading or revising your will is not part of the $675. The lawyer who wrote your will or trust is the right person to confirm that it and the deed point the same way, and the recorded deed goes to that lawyer if you want it to.
Can my home-state attorney stay involved?
Yes, and that is often the best arrangement. You are my client, and you decide who may join the calls and who may receive information about the deed. Once the deed is recorded, the recorded copy goes to you and to anyone you authorize me to send it to, which can include your home-state attorney and your accountant.
What if the Florida property is already in my revocable trust?
Then tell me before anything else, and do not undo the trust to make room for a deed. If a trust you signed at home already owns the Florida property, the trust may already do the job a lady bird deed would do for that property, and the question becomes whether the trust holds title correctly, not whether you need a deed. I read the recorded deed into the trust and tell you what I see. The terms of the trust itself remain a question for the lawyer who wrote it.
Owning the Florida property with a spouse or co-owner
How you hold title now may already decide what happens at the first death. If the property is held as tenants by the entireties, or as joint tenants with an express survivorship clause, the survivorship already controls and a new deed signed by one owner may accomplish nothing. Where two owners both want the property to pass on to named people after the second death, both of them sign the lady bird deed, because both of them own it. Send me the recorded deed and I will tell you which of those you have.
Can an out-of-state LLC own property in Florida, and does a lady bird deed help?
Yes, an LLC can own Florida property wherever its members live, and many out-of-state owners hold Florida rentals that way. But then a lady bird deed signed by you personally is not the starting point. An LLC is a legal entity and holds title in its own name, so what happens to the property depends on the company, not on a personal deed. If your Florida property is held that way, tell me on the first call and the ownership structure is reviewed before anything is assumed. If you are thinking of moving your Florida home into a company, know what it costs: the Florida Constitution exempts homestead owned by a natural person, so a residence titled in a company has no protection from forced sale, no homestead exemption and no Save Our Homes cap.
Spouses who live in a community property state
Tell me. If you and your spouse live in California, Texas, Arizona, Washington or another community property state, or bought the Florida property with money earned while living in one, your spouse may have an interest in the property that your deed has to account for, whoever is named on the title. I ask where you both live and how the property was paid for before I draft.
Why not just add my children to the Florida deed, or sign a quitclaim?
Because giving a child an ownership share now, without payment, is a gift made today, and a lady bird deed passes the property at your death. That kind of transfer gives the child your old tax basis in the share given, instead of the stepped-up basis an inheritance would carry; it exposes that share to the child’s creditors and divorce; and it cannot be undone without the child’s signature. A lady bird deed keeps you as the owner, lets you sell or change your mind without anyone’s signature, and passes the property at your death. My comparison of the lady bird deed and the quit claim deed works through it.
A cross-state plan: who answers which question
The easiest way to keep a cross-state plan straight is to be clear about who is responsible for which piece. I handle the Florida deed. The rest stays with the people who already advise you, and the recorded deed goes to each of them.
| The question | Who answers it |
|---|---|
| The Florida lady bird deed: drafting, signing and recording | Me |
| Your will or trust, signed in your home state | The lawyer who prepared it, or a lawyer licensed in that state |
| Real estate you own in any other state | A lawyer licensed where that property is |
| Income tax on rent, estate tax, and where you are resident for tax purposes | Your accountant or tax adviser |
| Insurance on the Florida property | Your insurance agent or carrier |
What Is Different About a Second Home and a Florida Homestead?
For most out-of-state owners and snowbirds, the Florida property is a second home, winter home or vacation home, not a homestead. That changes the property tax picture, and it can change what the deed has to deal with, so I ask who lives in the property and for how much of the year before drafting. A snowbird lady bird deed and a Floridian’s lady bird deed are the same instrument; what differs are the facts around it.
Is my Florida vacation home homestead?
For property tax, Florida’s homestead exemption goes to a person who maintains a permanent residence on the property. A Florida home you visit for part of the year while you live permanently somewhere else does not receive it. Owning a Florida home is not the same as receiving the exemption, the Save Our Homes cap or portability, and none of those follows from signing a lady bird deed. Florida’s homestead rules on who must sign a deed and who can inherit are a separate question from the tax exemption, and they turn on facts: whether you, a spouse or a child live in the property. I ask about those facts before drafting.
Florida property tax for out-of-state owners
A lady bird deed does not reduce the assessment on a second home, and it does not qualify the property for any exemption it does not already receive. If your property tax question is about the assessment itself, the county property appraiser is the office that decides it.
I’m a snowbird who splits the year. Does the deed make me a Florida resident?
Signing a Florida lady bird deed does not make you a Florida resident, and it does not answer where you are domiciled for tax purposes. Those are separate questions with their own consequences. If you are moving to Florida permanently, the deed is one small piece of a larger change, and the rest of your plan, your will, your powers of attorney and your health care documents, deserves a Florida review. Say so on the first call.
Can I use a lady bird deed on a rental property?
Yes, where the rental is held in your own name. A homestead, a condominium, a mobile home on owned land, vacant land, or a rental or second home held in your individual name all work, where the beneficiaries are adults and the goal is to keep one property out of probate without giving up control of it. You keep the right to rent it and keep the rent. A rental held through a company is the LLC question above.
I’m buying a house in Florida from out of state. When should the lady bird deed be signed?
After the closing. You take title at closing the ordinary way, in your own name or with your spouse, and the lady bird deed is a separate deed you sign afterward, once the closing deed has been recorded and I can read it. Tell the closing agent how you want to hold title at closing, and send me the recorded deed when it comes back from the county.
What Can Be Handled Remotely?
All of the attorney work can be done without you coming to Florida, in the sequence set out above. The part confirmed for your situation is the signing, because it depends on where you physically are on the day.
Do I need to travel to Florida to sign a lady bird deed?
No. A Florida deed needs two subscribing witnesses and an acknowledgment before a notary, and Florida permits remote online notarization, so all of it can happen in one audio-video session. The notary verifies your identity from your valid, unexpired photo ID on camera, you sign electronically, and the witnesses sign in the same session. You need a device with a camera and a reliable connection.
Can I sign while I’m visiting Florida?
Yes. The signing is online either way, so it can happen during a winter stay or from home. What I need to know is where you will physically be on the signing day, because the arrangements are confirmed for that location.
What if I am outside the United States?
Tell me the country you will be in when you sign, before anything is scheduled. Signing from abroad is a screening question, not something I promise for every country. Whether a remote signing can go ahead depends on where you are, where the witnesses are and your identification, and I confirm the arrangement for your location first. If it cannot be done where you will be, we discuss the alternative before anything is booked.
Canadian and other foreign owners
The Florida deed questions on this page apply to you, and so does one more: cross-border tax. How your home country taxes a Florida property, and what U.S. tax applies to a foreign owner, are questions for a cross-border tax adviser, and I do not answer them. Tell me your country and your citizenship on the first call, along with where you will be when you sign.
Can my children arrange this from another state?
Yes, they can make the call, gather the documents and set up the signing. You remain the client and make the decisions. Where a parent owns the Florida property and a son or daughter is organizing it from elsewhere, my page on helping a parent get a Florida lady bird deed sets out who does what.
Can someone sign for me with a power of attorney?
It depends on the document, so send it to me before anyone signs. What decides it is when the power of attorney was signed and exactly what it grants. Under the current law, the authority has to be specifically listed, with your signature or initials next to it; a general power to handle your affairs is not enough. A different, older test applies to a power of attorney signed before October 2011. That applies equally to a power of attorney signed in another state. My page on whether a power of attorney can sign a lady bird deed has the full test.
What Should You Send Before the Consultation?
A short list, and most of it is online. With the Florida county, the recorded deed and a few facts about you and your plan, I can usually give you an initial view on the first call, and confirm it once I have read the recorded deed.
How do I find my Florida deed and parcel number from another state?
Both are public. The recorded deed is in the official records of the Clerk of the Florida county where the property sits, searchable online by owner name. The parcel number is on the county property appraiser’s website and on your property tax bill. If you cannot find either, send me the county and the property address and I will pull the recorded deed.
The cross-state worksheet
This is the information I ask for on the first call. Filling it in before we speak makes that call shorter and more useful. The two items people most often get wrong are the physical signing location and the existing plan, so they come first.
| Item | What I need | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Where you will physically be when you sign | City, state, or country, not your mailing address | Decides how the signing is arranged |
| Your existing plan | Whether you have a will or trust, who it leaves the Florida property to, the state it was signed in, and the lawyer who prepared it | The deed controls the Florida property, so it should match the plan |
| Is another attorney coordinating your plan? | Name and whether they should receive copies | You decide who receives information |
| The Florida property | County, address and parcel number | Decides where the deed is recorded |
| The current recorded deed | A copy, or the county so I can pull it | Shows how you own it now |
| Who owns it with you | Spouse, co-owner, trust or company | Decides who has to sign, and whether a personal deed applies |
| Your spouse | Whether you are married, and where you both live | A spouse may have rights in the property |
| Who lives in the property | Nobody, you part of the year, a tenant, family | Tells me whether homestead rules are in the picture |
| Mortgage | The lender and a recent statement | A loan is not a bar, but I want to see it |
| Who you want to name | Names, shares, and who takes if one of them dies first | These are your decisions, made in the deed itself |
| Anything unresolved | Property in other states, a pending sale, a family disagreement | Tells me whether a deed alone is enough |
The worksheet is for the first call. Send the documents through the channel we agree on after that call, not through the public web form.
What Does the Standard Deed Service Cost?
The fee is the same for a Florida lady bird deed whether you are an out-of-state owner or a Floridian. When you compare prices, compare what each one includes, because some services add recording and documentary stamps on top. The $675 fee includes speaking directly with attorney Jose Lorenzo, reading your recorded deed, deed preparation, online notarization, witnesses, county recording fees, and the minimum documentary stamp charge. The $675 is for one lady bird deed on one property. The only tax item outside it is documentary stamp tax above the minimum. Title work is not part of it.
| Included in the $675 | Separate, and scoped before it starts | Not taken on; referred to a title company or real estate attorney |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking directly with attorney Jose Lorenzo Reading your recorded deed Deed preparation Online notarization Witnesses County recording fees The minimum documentary stamp charge |
Documentary stamp tax above the minimum A deed for a second property, or a corrective deed for an earlier instrument A probate or an ancillary administration The correction charge if an old legal description turns out to be wrong, quoted once I have read the recorded deed and before that work starts |
Title search Title examination Title insurance Curative work |
Work outside the standard $675
The standard $675 covers one new lady bird deed on one property. A deed for a second property, a corrective deed that replaces or fixes an earlier deed, or documents that conflict with each other are additional work that I do, quoted once I have read the recorded deed and before that work starts. A probate or an ancillary administration is also separate work. Title work is different: a title search, a title examination, title insurance, and curative work on older defective conveyances in the chain of title are not work I take on, and I refer them to a title company or a real estate attorney.
Paying from out of state
By a payment link I send, or by wire transfer where that is possible. A family member can pay; paying does not make that person the client.
Do I need a lawyer to do a lady bird deed in Florida?
No law requires one. Whether you need one depends on facts that are easy to miss from another state: how title is held on the recorded deed, a spouse’s rights, a mortgage, a trust or company in the chain, or a legal description copied from a tax bill. Those are the problems that surface years later, when your family is trying to sell a Florida property and you are no longer there to sign a correction.
What Happens After the Deed Is Recorded?
You receive the recorded deed, carrying the county’s recording stamp and its book and page or instrument number. That is the document a title company or your family will ask for years from now. The recorded copy goes to you, and to anyone you authorize me to send it to.
Protect a Florida home you are not living in: the free property fraud alert
A Florida property whose owner lives somewhere else is the kind fraudsters look for, because nobody is there to notice a forged deed. Many Florida Clerks offer a free property fraud alert: you register a name or a parcel, and the Clerk emails you when a matching document is recorded. They include Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and Escambia. Register your own name once your deed is on record. The alert does not stop a fraudulent filing; it tells you quickly so you can act.
Insuring a Florida home you are not living in
Call your insurance agent once the deed is recorded. A person named in the deed who is not on the policy may have trouble with a claim made after your death, so ask the carrier whether the people named in the deed can be added to the policy during your lifetime, what that requires, and whether it changes the premium, and get the answer in writing. If the home sits empty for months at a time, ask the carrier how that affects coverage too.
What the deed does not cover
A lady bird deed covers the one property it describes. Bank and brokerage accounts, vehicles, other Florida real estate and anything you own in another state are untouched, and a Florida asset left in your name alone may still need a Florida proceeding after your death. Recording the deed is not a guarantee that every asset avoids administration. The deed also does nothing if you become incapacitated. Send the recorded copy to whoever is responsible for the rest of your plan.
After a death: the $475 review
What your heirs do after your death is set out in the next section. If your family wants the recorded deed reviewed at that point: After a death, a review of the Lady Bird deed with a 30-minute consultation is $475. That is separate from the free introductory call, and any further work is scoped and quoted before it begins.
What Do Out-of-State Heirs Need to Know About a Florida Lady Bird Deed?
The people you name often live in other states too, and they are the ones who will deal with the Florida property after your death. A lady bird deed makes their job much smaller, but it does not make it disappear, and a few points about a Florida second home inheritance are worth passing on to them now.
Do out-of-state heirs have to come to Florida after the owner dies?
Usually not. Title passes to the people named at the moment of death, with no Florida probate for that property. What remains is paperwork recorded in the Florida county, chiefly a certified copy of the death certificate and an affidavit, and if the heirs sell, the title company reviews the original deed before it insures. My page on what to do with a lady bird deed after death sets it out in order.
Do my heirs get a step-up in basis on a Florida vacation home?
Yes, and that is the strongest tax argument for the deed over giving the property away during life. Because you keep a life estate together with the power to defeat the remainder, the property stays in your taxable estate, and property included in the gross estate takes a new basis equal to fair market value at the date of death under IRC § 1014(a). A Florida vacation home bought for $90,000 and worth $600,000 at your death passes with a $600,000 basis. Sold shortly after, the capital gain is close to nothing. The same property given outright during life by quit claim carries your $90,000 basis forward, and the heirs face gain on roughly $510,000. More detail: lady bird deed tax consequences.
Does Florida have an inheritance tax or an estate tax?
No. Florida has no inheritance tax and no state estate tax, so the Florida property does not create a Florida death tax for your heirs. Your home state is a different matter: some states have their own estate or inheritance tax, and whether yours reaches a Florida property is a question for your home-state adviser. My page on whether Florida has an inheritance tax has more.
Who pays the condominium or HOA assessments after the owner dies?
The new owner, and possibly for what the previous owner left unpaid. Under section 718.116(1)(a) a condominium unit owner is liable for assessments regardless of how title was acquired, and is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for everything unpaid up to the transfer of title. Your beneficiary inherits that liability with the unit, and has thirty days after the transfer of title to pay it under section 718.116(1)(c). In a homeowners’ association, section 720.3085(2) makes the new owner jointly and severally liable for what the previous owner left unpaid, but it sets no thirty-day deadline. For heirs who live out of state and may not hear about a missed payment for months, the practical step is to ask the association for an estoppel certificate straight away.
Is a Florida lady bird deed public record, and does it have to be recorded?
It has to be recorded to do its job, and once recorded it is public. Section 695.01 makes an unrecorded conveyance ineffective against creditors and later purchasers without notice, so an unrecorded lady bird deed in a drawer in another state is a risk, not a plan. Once it is recorded, the deed and the people you named are in the county’s official records. If privacy matters to you, a trust keeps the ultimate terms out of those records, and naming your revocable trust as the beneficiary is one way to combine the two.
Hypothetical: a widow in New York with children in two states. A widow calls and says: “I live in New York and own a Florida house.” It is a villa in Sarasota, bought with her late husband, which she uses for three months each winter and nobody lives in the rest of the year. Her daughter lives in New Jersey and her son in California. Her New York will leaves everything to both of them equally. What I do: pull and read the recorded Sarasota County deed, including how the title passed to her when her husband died; ask where she will be on the signing day and whether anyone else owns the villa; and ask what her will says about the villa and who her New York lawyer is. She signs one lady bird deed online from New York, naming both children equally and saying who takes if either dies before her. The recorded deed goes to her and, with her permission, to her New York lawyer and to both children. After her death, her children record the death certificate and an affidavit in Sarasota County without either of them flying to Florida, and the villa needs no Florida ancillary administration. Everything else she owns follows her New York plan.
Talk to Me About Your Florida Property
Call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact form. The introductory call is a free consultation. The standard fee is $675 with recording and the minimum documentary stamp charge included; documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate.
To start, tell me the Florida county, where you live, where you will be when you sign, and what your existing plan says about the property. The cross-state worksheet above has the full list. On that first call I will give you my initial view of whether a Florida lady bird deed is the right way to keep your heirs out of a second probate in Florida, and I confirm it once I have read your recorded deed.
Hypothetical: a winter condominium. A married couple in Ohio own a condominium in Naples, both named on the deed, and spend January to March there. Their Ohio trust lawyer drafted their wills years ago, and neither will mentions the condominium. They want it to go to their two children after both of them have died, without a Florida probate. What I do: read the recorded Collier County deed to see how they hold title, ask where they will each be on the signing day, and ask what their wills say about the condominium and who their Ohio lawyer is. Both of them sign one lady bird deed online in the same session, naming the children and saying what happens if either child dies first. The recorded deed goes to the couple and, with their permission, to their Ohio lawyer so the wills can be brought into line. Their Ohio lawyer is responsible for the wills; I am responsible for the Florida deed.
Property in two states
Then each property needs its own answer. The Florida lady bird deed deals with the Florida property only. Property in another state needs its own solution under that state’s law, from a lawyer licensed there.
If you already signed a lady bird deed years ago
Send me the recorded copy first. A lady bird deed can be changed or revoked, but only by another recorded instrument, and I need to read what is on record before anything else is drafted. Replacing or correcting an earlier deed is its own piece of work, scoped and quoted separately before it begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change or revoke a Florida lady bird deed from out of state?
Yes, as often as you like, without a signature from anyone named in the deed. Spouse, co-owner and lender requirements are separate and still apply. Changing or undoing the deed takes another recorded instrument in the Florida county, which can also be signed online.
Does Florida have a transfer on death deed?
Not for real property. Forms sold nationally as transfer on death deeds or beneficiary deeds have no statutory footing in Florida. The enhanced life estate deed is the Florida equivalent, and it is a common law instrument rather than a statutory one.
Can I do a lady bird deed on a Florida property with a mortgage?
Yes. An existing mortgage does not have to be paid off first. Whether a lender could call the loan is a separate question, explained on my lady bird deed attorney page. If there is a loan on the property, read the note and consider telling the lender rather than assuming.
Does a lady bird deed on my Florida home avoid probate in my home state?
It keeps the Florida property it describes out of probate, because that property passes to the people you named at your death. Everything else you own is governed by your home-state plan, and your home-state lawyer is the person to ask about it.
Is a lady bird deed better than a trust for an out-of-state owner?
For one Florida property and a straightforward family, the deed is usually simpler and cheaper. Several properties in several states, minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, a blended family, or a concern about incapacity usually favor a trust, and many families already have one. My comparison of the Florida lady bird deed versus a living trust works through the trade-offs.
For the general rules, see the Florida lady bird deed guide and my Florida lady bird deed attorney page. For local recording details, see my Naples, Palm Beach County, Sarasota and The Villages pages. To talk about your Florida property, call (305) 224-6811.
Last updated: September 23, 2026.
Written and reviewed by Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., attorney, Florida Bar No. 107002.
This page is general information about Florida law and does not constitute legal advice for any particular situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.