Brevard County Lady Bird Deed Attorney in Florida — Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville and Viera
If you are looking for a Brevard County lady bird deed attorney, the short answer is that I prepare and record these deeds for owners of Brevard County, Florida property — Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville, Viera, Rockledge, Cocoa, Merritt Island and the beachside towns from Cocoa Beach to Melbourne Beach — for a flat fee of $675. 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.
A lady bird deed for Brevard County, Florida property — also written ladybird deed, and formally called an enhanced life estate deed — keeps you the owner for life and passes the property to the people you name at your death, without probate. I am Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Florida Bar No. 107002, and I am the only attorney at this firm, so the attorney you speak with first is the one who drafts your deed. I do not have a Brevard County office, and you do not need one: the deed is signed online wherever you are and submitted electronically to the Brevard County Clerk for recording.
To start: call (305) 224-6811 for a free introductory call, or use the contact form. I read the recorded deed before quoting, and I will tell you if a deed is the wrong instrument for what you are trying to do. Please do not put Social Security numbers, account numbers or medical details in the web form.
| What I charge | $675 flat, quoted after I read your recorded deed; county recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge are included; documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate |
| Do you have to come to an office? | No. The deed is signed online where you are, with two witnesses in the same session |
| Where it gets recorded | Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. The Clerk accepts deeds by electronic recording 24 hours a day, so nobody has to drive to Titusville |
| Recording charge | $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each page after it (§ 28.24) |
| Documentary stamp rate | $0.70 per $100 (§ 201.02). Brevard County charges no discretionary surtax |
| Probate court if the deed is not there | Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Brevard and Seminole counties |
| Homestead filing deadline | March 1, with the Brevard County Property Appraiser (BCPAO) |
| The local complication | Brevard ownership is unusually varied — homesteads, second homes, beachside condominiums, manufactured homes and Palm Bay vacant lots — and each needs different information before a deed is drafted |
Hire a Florida Attorney for Your Brevard County Lady Bird Deed
Speaking directly with the attorney
When you hire me for a Brevard County lady bird deed, you deal with me. I take the first call, I read your recorded deed, I draft the deed, and I am the person you reach if a question comes up later. My staff handle scheduling and the recording submission. They do not do the legal work, and you are never handed to anyone else for it. What the $675 covers, and what it does not, is set out in the scope table below.
How much does it cost to do a ladybird deed in Florida?
Mine is $675 flat. 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. Any documentary stamp tax above that minimum is separate from the $675 and is worked out from the facts of the transaction.
Do I need an attorney to file a lady bird deed in Florida?
No law requires one. Whether you need one depends on facts you may not know are facts. If you own a paid-off house outright, are unmarried, have one adult child, and the legal description in your last deed is clean, this is a simple document and plenty of people handle it without me. If you are married, if there is a mortgage, if the property is a rental, if there is a minor child anywhere in the picture, if the house is in a district that levies assessments, or if there is any prior deed you are unsure about — those are the situations where a small saving buys a problem worth many multiples of it, discovered years later by somebody who cannot fix it because you are no longer alive to sign.
A document preparation service is not permitted to advise you, which means it cannot tell you that your condominium declaration has something to say about transfers, that the house you have described as a rental is legally your homestead and your spouse has to sign, or that the lot you inherited in Palm Bay was never put in your name at all. It will produce something that records. Recording was never the hard part.
Comparing Brevard County lady bird deed options
The question most people type is “how much does a lady bird deed cost in Florida?” The number means little until you know what it includes. Brevard owners see several kinds of offer, and I do not quote other providers’ prices, because published prices change. Whoever you use, these are the questions worth asking.
| Question | Why it matters | My answer |
|---|---|---|
| Who reads my recorded deed before the new one is drafted? | The legal description and how title is held come from the last recorded deed, not the tax bill | I do |
| Can I speak with the attorney who drafts the deed? | A non-attorney preparer is not permitted to advise you on whether the deed fits your facts | Yes; I am the only attorney here |
| Are online notarization and the two witnesses included? | A Florida deed needs a notary and two witnesses | Yes |
| Are county recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge included? | Some offers add them on top | Yes; documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate |
| What is not included? | Title work and other services are often outside any deed fee | Title work is referred out; anything beyond the items the $675 lists is a separate service |
How to request an appointment
Call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact form. The first call is a free consultation: you tell me about the property, the family and your timing, and I tell you whether a deed is the right answer at all. If it is, a payment link is sent, or payment can be made by wire transfer where that is possible.
Which Brevard Property Situation Describes You?
For a lady bird deed in Brevard County, Florida, the law is the same for every property, and every lady bird deed Brevard owners sign goes to the same Clerk. What changes is the information I need before drafting, and the question that matters most. Find your situation below; the selector is the fastest way to know what to send.
What is a lady bird deed (an enhanced life estate deed)?
A lady bird deed is a deed you sign now that keeps everything in your hands for the rest of your life and sends the property to whoever you named the moment you die. You still own it. You can sell it, rent it, mortgage it, remodel it, or tear the whole arrangement up and start over, and nobody named in the deed has to agree to any of it. A spouse, a co-owner or a lender may still have rights of their own. The general Florida rules live on my Florida lady bird deed page; this page is about how they play out in Brevard County. What the deed does is remove the one step that otherwise forces your family into court: it puts the transfer on the public record in advance, so no court has to transfer the property after your death. What remains for your family is recording paperwork so the public record shows what has already happened. That is also the answer to when a lady bird deed takes effect: it is signed and recorded now, and the property passes to the people you named at your death.
Does Florida have a transfer on death deed?
Not for real property. The enhanced life estate deed is the Florida equivalent, and it is a common law instrument rather than a statutory one. So a lady bird deed is legal in Florida, and it is valid when it is properly drafted, signed and recorded.
The Brevard property selector
For the free introductory call, the property address, the current owner and your timing are enough. Each row below lists the documents to have ready once you have hired me — sent through the channel we agree on, not the public web form — and the question I will want answered before anything is drafted. The last column is where the next question is answered in more depth.
| Your Brevard property | Documents to have ready | The question that matters | Where the next answer is |
|---|---|---|---|
| The home you live in (homestead) — Palm Bay, Melbourne, Viera, Titusville and most of the county | Last recorded deed; tax bill showing the homestead exemption; mortgage statement if any | Are you married, and is there a child under eighteen? | Spouse and minor child below |
| A second home or rental — including a house you keep while living or stationed elsewhere | Last recorded deed; tax bill; mortgage statement; where you live now | Is it truly not your homestead, and is there a loan on it? | Second homes and rentals below; my tax consequences page |
| A beachside condominium — Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Satellite Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach | Last recorded deed; the condominium declaration and any rules on transfers; the association’s contact details | Does the declaration say anything about transfers of a unit? | Beachside condominiums below |
| A manufactured home — Barefoot Bay and the county’s other manufactured-home communities | Last recorded deed, if there is one; the home’s title status; whether the land is owned or rented | Has the home’s vehicle title been retired, and do you own the land? | Manufactured homes below |
| A vacant lot — especially Palm Bay | Last recorded deed; parcel ID; your current mailing address | Is the lot in your name, and are you watching the record for fraud? | Palm Bay vacant lots below |
If none of these fits — the property is in an LLC or a trust, several people own it, or you are not sure who owns it — say so on the first call. That is usually a sign a different instrument is needed.
Lady bird deed fit, by family situation
The pros and cons of a lady bird deed in Florida turn on a handful of family facts: a marriage, a minor child, a mortgage, other property, and a beneficiary with problems of their own.
| Your goal or situation | What I look at | Usual next step |
|---|---|---|
| Pass one home to adult children | Whether it is homestead, whether you are married, and what your recorded deed says | Often the cleanest case for this deed |
| Married owner, homestead property | Whether your spouse joins in the deed | Treat the spouse’s signature as required |
| A minor child in the family | Whether a child under eighteen could survive you | Talk to me before anything is drafted |
| A beneficiary in a divorce, with creditors, or with special needs | Whether an outright inheritance is safe for that person | Consider a trust, or a deed naming a trust |
| Worried about a nursing home or Medicaid | Capacity and timing | Sign while capacity is clear |
| Property titled in an LLC, partnership or trust | Who holds title according to the recorded deed | Usually a different instrument |
| Owner losing capacity | Whether a power of attorney expressly grants the authority | Can a power of attorney sign a lady bird deed? |
| Owner lives out of state | Where you are domiciled | Remote signing; the deed avoids ancillary administration for that parcel |
What is the downside of a ladybird deed in Florida?
It deals only with the property it describes; it does not reach bank accounts or anything else you own. It does nothing if you become incapacitated. It hands the property to your beneficiary outright, with no protection against their creditors, their divorce, or their inability to manage it. And it does not, by itself, preserve your assessment cap for them. If any of those matter in your family, a trust is the better instrument.
Can a lady bird deed name more than one beneficiary?
Yes. Naming multiple beneficiaries is common, usually two or three children. Understand that you are creating co-owners who have to agree about a house, and that the Florida remedy when they do not is a partition action. My page on siblings who disagree about the family home explains how that runs.
What if a beneficiary dies before I do?
It depends on how the deed was drafted. Substitution language sends the interest to that person’s descendants; a deed without it may let the gift lapse. It is a question you should be asked, and I ask it.
Does a lady bird deed protect a Brevard County home from Medicaid?
It can help, but it is not a guarantee. It has to be signed by the owner while the owner understands it, or by an agent whose power of attorney expressly grants that authority. On the better reading, because you keep the power to sell, mortgage or revoke, nothing has been disposed of, so there is no uncompensated transfer to produce a penalty when Medicaid looks back over the 60 months before an application under 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c). No Florida rule reaches this kind of deed at all, and no Florida court has decided it. If you or a parent is already in a nursing home or an application is pending, the deed is one piece of a larger plan and should not be signed in isolation.
Does a lady bird deed affect my homestead exemption?
On the home you actually live in, it should not, because you have not stopped owning or occupying it. Deeding the house outright to a child and keeping nothing back does end it — not because of the words “quit claim,” but because the exemption depends on your owning the property and you no longer would, even if you carried on living there. What the deed actually conveys, and what you keep, is what decides it.
The Brevard County Property Appraiser asks owners to contact the office when they have changed title or when anything affecting an exemption has changed. Once your deed is recorded, a short call to BCPAO to confirm your exemption is still on the roll costs nothing.
Will my property taxes go up?
On homestead, ordinarily no. On non-homestead property the answer is genuinely open, because I have not found a Florida court decision, Department of Revenue rule or Property Appraiser bulletin resolving whether recording one of these deeds resets the ten percent cap under § 193.1554.
Do my children keep my Save Our Homes cap after I die?
Generally no, and this surprises people. The Save Our Homes benefit belongs to the homestead owner, and it does not simply travel to whoever inherits. An adult child who takes the house and does not make it their own permanent residence will be assessed as a non-homestead owner going forward. The deed keeps the house out of court. It was never a tax shelter and anyone selling it as one is selling something else.
Does my spouse have to sign?
On homestead property, treat it as required. Florida’s Constitution requires spousal joinder to transfer homestead, and a waiver of devise rights does not waive that.
What if I have a minor child?
Then talk to me before anything is drafted. Florida’s Constitution restricts what can be done with a homestead when the owner is survived by a minor child, and in that situation a lady bird deed should not be the plan for the homestead. The detail is on my lady bird deed attorney page.
Lady bird deed vs. quit claim deed in Brevard County
Many Brevard County owners look for a quit claim deed form, or a quit claim deed in Brevard County, Florida, when the result they want is the one this page describes — usually a Brevard County deed transfer to a child. My page on the Florida quit claim deed covers when that instrument is the right one.
A quit claim deed transfers whatever interest you have, right now, with no warranty of title. Used the way people usually use it — to “put the house in my son’s name,” handing over the whole interest and keeping nothing back — it is almost always the wrong instrument. That outright transfer ends your homestead exemption, is a gift inside the Medicaid look-back, exposes the property to your son’s creditors and his divorce, and cannot be undone. What causes all of that is the transfer itself, not the words on the form. This deed does the same job at your death with none of those consequences. My page comparing the lady bird deed against a quit claim deed and the other Florida deed forms sets the two side by side.
Can I do a lady bird deed with a mortgage on the house?
Yes. An existing mortgage does not have to be paid off first. Whether a lender could call the loan is a separate question: it depends on the loan documents, on the transfer itself, on the beneficiary’s relationship to the borrower, and on the federal protections and servicing rules that apply — the Garn-St Germain Act, at 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3, is where those federal limits sit. What keeps the practical risk low during your lifetime is that a lender gains nothing by acting: you still live there, you still own it, and you still owe the debt. You can still refinance after the deed is recorded; you kept the power to mortgage without the beneficiaries’ consent, subject to whatever your lender requires.
At your death the federal limits turn on facts particular to your family and your loan, so the people you name should assume neither that the loan is protected nor that it is not; that is a question to put to the servicer with the documents in hand. Documentary stamps on mortgaged property are a separate question; my page on the tax consequences of a lady bird deed works through it, along with the income tax side and the step-up in basis.
What Does the $675 Fee Cover?
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, and neither is insurance, association-law or mortgage advice. Anything beyond the items listed above is a separate service, which we can discuss.
| 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 |
Title search Title examination Title insurance Curative title work |
Work inside this practice — a probate, an ancillary administration, a new or corrective deed — I scope and quote separately before any of it begins. Work outside it — a title search, a title examination, title insurance, or curative title work, which means finding and clearing defects in the chain of title — I do not take on at any price; I tell you that is what you need and point you to a title company or a real estate attorney who does it.
Documentary stamp tax above the minimum
Documentary stamp tax above the minimum is a state tax rather than a fee, and I work it out and explain it to you before you decide to proceed. The rate is seventy cents per $100 under § 201.02, and Brevard County levies no discretionary surtax.
Will you search or clear the title?
No. I pull your recorded deed from the Brevard County Official Records and read it — the legal description, how title is held on its face, and the marital recitals. That is one instrument, not a title search. I do not do title work: a title search, a title examination, title insurance and curative work are referred to a title company or a real estate attorney.
After a death: the $475 lady bird deed review
After a death, a review of the Lady Bird deed with a 30-minute consultation is $475.
That is the whole of it: a review of the recorded lady bird deed and a thirty-minute consultation. Further work — a probate, or a new or corrective deed — is scoped and quoted separately before it begins, and title work is not included in the review. This is separate from the free introductory call, which is for people deciding whether to sign a deed in the first place. For what a family does with the deed after a death, see what to do with a lady bird deed after death.
Recording does not confirm the deed is right for you
What the Clerk’s electronic recording validates is formatting: page dimensions, margins, legibility, whether the fees tendered match the fees due. It does not validate whether the person signing had power to convey what the deed purports to convey, whether the legal description matches the chain of title, or whether the retained powers that make this a lady bird deed are actually present in the text. A clean acceptance means the document was formatted correctly. It has never meant the document works.
What Should Melbourne and Palm Bay Owners Provide?
Your last recorded deed, the parcel number, the mortgage statement if there is one, last year’s tax bill, and the names and mailing addresses of the people you want to name. I prepare everything else. You do not need to send confidential financial records or Social Security numbers before we have agreed that I will represent you.
How do I find my deed in Brevard County?
Start with the address, then search by name. Look the property up by address on the Brevard County Property Appraiser site to confirm the owner’s name and the parcel ID. Then search the Clerk’s Official Records by that name, as grantee, to find the deed that put the property in the owner’s hands. A Brevard County deed search by name costs nothing. The Clerk’s online index reaches back to January 1, 1981; if your last deed is older than that, I can pull it for you.
Your Brevard County house deed — the recorded one, not the tax bill and not the Property Appraiser’s parcel page — is where the legal description for a new deed has to come from. If you are doing a deed search before a consultation, printing the last recorded deed saves both of us a step.
Recorded deed vs. Brevard County Property Appraiser record
The Brevard County Property Appraiser, Dana Blickley, CFA, assesses property for tax purposes and tracks exemptions. The BCPAO parcel record confirms the parcel number, the owner of record and whether a homestead exemption is on the roll — useful facts, but it is not the instrument that says what you own. Property Appraiser and tax-bill descriptions are often abbreviated. BCPAO also administers Brevard County’s other property tax exemptions, including those for seniors; eligibility for those is a question for BCPAO, not part of the deed.
Owner, beneficiary and family information
Physical details — the street address, the unit number, the lot — tell me where the property is. The legal description and the recorded ownership tell me what you own and how you hold it. They are different things, and the deed has to use the second. For the family side, I need your marital status and your spouse’s name, the full names and mailing addresses of the people you want to name and their shares, and what should happen if one of them dies before you.
Is there a Brevard County lady bird deed form?
No. The Brevard County Clerk publishes recording requirements, not a lady bird deed template, and the Clerk’s staff are not permitted to give legal advice about which deed to use. Form sites sell generic Florida enhanced life estate deed forms with a Brevard label. A form can be filled in correctly and still fail: if the retained powers are incomplete, the legal description is copied off a tax bill, or a spouse who had to join did not, the deed records and the problem waits until after your death.
What a Brevard lady bird deed looks like on paper
A lady bird deed is usually up to four pages. Mine is drafted in reservation form: you convey the property to the people you name while reserving to yourself a life estate and the powers to sell, mortgage and revoke without their consent. The Florida lady bird deed requirements show on the face of it: the names and mailing addresses of the owner and of the people named, the parcel ID, the full legal description copied from your last recorded deed, the retained-powers language, the signatures and printed names of two witnesses, and the notary’s certificate showing the deed was signed by online notarization. The top margin is left blank for the Brevard County Clerk’s recording stamp.
Recording problems and drafting errors to avoid
The common ones: a missing grantee mailing address, a preparer line showing only a company, witness names signed but not printed, margins too tight for the recording stamp, and a legal description copied off a tax bill rather than out of the last recorded deed. That last one is not a formatting problem — it is a title problem wearing a formatting problem’s clothes. A tax bill describes what the Property Appraiser assesses. A deed has to describe what you actually own.
The Brevard County lady bird deed checklist
Each item shows where it comes from and who handles it. Most owners have everything except the recorded deed on hand already, and I can pull that.
| # | Item | Where it comes from | Who handles it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parcel ID and owner of record | BCPAO search by address | You, or I confirm | Confirms whose name the property is actually in |
| 2 | Your last recorded deed | Brevard County Clerk Official Records search (free) | You pull it, or I do | Source of the legal description and of how title is held on its face |
| 3 | Mortgage statement, if any | Your lender | You | Needed for the documentary stamp calculation; tax above the minimum is separate |
| 4 | Last year’s tax bill | Brevard County Tax Collector | You | Shows exemptions and any special assessment |
| 5 | Marital status and spouse’s name | You | You | Decides whether a spouse joins on homestead |
| 6 | Beneficiaries’ full names and mailing addresses | You | You | Required on the deed |
| 7 | What should happen if a beneficiary dies before you | You | You | Decides whether the deed carries substitution language |
| 8 | Existing will or trust | Your records | You | Coordinating the will and the deed helps make sure both reflect your intentions |
| 9 | Condominium declaration or HOA documents | Your association | You | Transfer notice, estoppel and any approval rules |
| 10 | Manufactured home: is the title retired, and is the land owned or rented? | Title records and the BCPAO record | You, then I confirm | Decides whether a deed can convey the home at all |
| 11 | Signing session: a valid, unexpired photo ID and a device with a camera | — | We arrange the session and witnesses | Remote online notarization |
| 12 | After recording: sign up for the Clerk’s Recording Notification Service | Brevard County Clerk Recording Notification Service (free) | You | An email if anything is recorded under a name or property description you are watching |
How Remote Signing and Brevard County Recording Work
The five stages
- Free introductory call. You speak to me about the property, the family and your timing, and I tell you whether a deed is the right answer at all.
- Conversation, recorded deed read and fee confirmed. I speak with you by phone and confirm your instructions by email. I pull your recorded deed from the Brevard County Official Records and read it — the legal description, how title is held on its face, and the marital recitals — and confirm the fee before drafting starts. Payment is by a payment link I send, or by wire transfer where that is possible.
- Drafting. I draft the retained powers, the beneficiaries, any alternates and the homestead language to your facts.
- Online signing. You sign on a computer or tablet with a camera, before an online notary, with the two witnesses in the same session. A valid, unexpired photo ID is required.
- Recording. We submit the signed deed electronically to the Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, and the recorded copy comes back with its book and page or instrument number. It goes to you, and to anyone you authorize me to send it to.
How long does it take?
Usually 24 to 48 hours from the time I have spoken with you, been hired to prepare the deed, and had you confirm the instructions, to the deed being ready for you to sign. After that, scheduling the signing and recording set the pace. The Clerk’s own processing time is the Clerk’s, not mine, and I do not promise it.
How to record a deed in Brevard County, Florida
Deeds for Brevard County property are recorded by the Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. The Clerk accepts deeds through electronic recording 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through four approved vendors, and by mail at P.O. Box 2767, Titusville, FL 32781-2767. The Clerk’s full-service counter is at 400 South Street in Titusville, and the Clerk also has offices at the Moore Justice Center in Viera, at 51 Nieman Avenue in Melbourne, in Merritt Island and at 450 Cogan Drive SE in Palm Bay. The Brevard County Clerk of Courts records a quit claim deed and a lady bird deed the same way; the difference between them is what each one does, not how it is recorded. In a matter I handle, the deed goes in electronically, so nobody needs to stand at a counter in any of them. If you ever record something yourself in person, call the Clerk’s Recording Division at (321) 637-2006 first to confirm which office will take it.
What does it cost to record a deed in Brevard County?
Recording charges are set by statute: $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each page after it under § 28.24. Documentary stamps are seventy cents per $100 of consideration under § 201.02, and Brevard County levies no discretionary surtax — Miami-Dade is the county with a different arrangement. The Clerk’s Official Records page also has a recording fee calculator. The recording charges and the minimum documentary stamp charge are both included in the $675.
Does a lady bird deed have to be recorded?
To function in any practical sense, yes, and it should be recorded during your lifetime. An unrecorded deed can still be good between you and your beneficiary, but it will not protect them against a later purchaser or creditor, and a title examiner works from the official records — so a deed nobody can find there is a deed that holds up a closing. Once recorded, a lady bird deed is a public record: anyone can find it in the Brevard County Official Records, including the names of the people you named.
Does a lady bird deed have to be notarized?
Yes, and it needs two individual subscribing witnesses as well. Both witnesses sign and print, with addresses, for the Brevard County Clerk.
Signing from home, a hospital or assisted living
Yes, online. Florida permits remote online notarization, and the witnesses appear in the same session. From home, from assisted living or from a hospital, the signing is still online; I do not come to the bedside. Before any signing, I speak with you by phone. You need a device with a camera, a connection and a valid photo ID, and a family member can set those up. The online notary verifies your identity during the session, so the signing goes ahead once that verification succeeds.
Do I have to come to Florida to sign?
No. Remote online notarization handles the signing and the deed is submitted electronically to the Brevard County Clerk. Avoiding a Florida ancillary probate is the main reason out-of-state owners do this. Signing from outside the United States is generally not an issue: tell me on the first call where you will be, and I will ask a few questions to confirm the signing arrangements, including the online notary’s identity verification.
After recording: the Brevard County Clerk’s free Recording Notification Service
Once your deed is recorded, sign up for the Brevard County Clerk’s Recording Notification Service. It is free. You can monitor up to ten names or property descriptions for each registered email address, and the Clerk emails you automatically when a document matching one of them is recorded in the Official Records — a deed, a mortgage, a lien. The Clerk is plain that it does not prevent fraud; it gives you an early warning so you can act. Registering an older parent’s name is one of the most useful things an adult child can do once the deed is on record.
Serving Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville and the Rest of Brevard
A lady bird deed for property in Melbourne, FL, Palm Bay, Titusville or anywhere else in Brevard County is governed by the same Florida law and recorded with the same Brevard County Clerk. Location alone does not change the law. What changes is the kind of property, and whether the owner lives in it.
Palm Bay vacant lots and owners who live elsewhere
Palm Bay has a large stock of platted, undeveloped residential lots, and many of them are owned by people who live somewhere else — often lots bought decades ago, or inherited. A Palm Bay enhanced life estate deed can carry a vacant lot the same way it carries a house. A lot that is not part of your homestead carries no homestead exemption, so the homestead points above do not apply to it in the same way. The owner is often out of state, and the deed is signed online from wherever you live; my lady bird deed attorney page covers remote signing for out-of-state owners.
Vacant land is also the property type criminals target for seller impersonation. On June 16, 2026, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that criminals impersonate the owners of vacant parcels to sell them without authorization, and it recommended that owners use their county’s notification service. For a Brevard lot, that is the Clerk’s free Recording Notification Service described above. Sign up whether or not you sign a deed.
Beachside condominiums: the declaration matters
For a condominium in Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Satellite Beach, Indialantic or Melbourne Beach, have the condominium declaration and any association rules on transfers ready. Homeowners associations in Florida do not generally hold approval rights over a transfer of title the way some condominium and cooperative associations do, so a condominium unit is where the documents matter most. Reviewing association documents is not part of the $675; if a review is needed, it is a separate service we can discuss. The deed service does not include representing you with the association or advising on association law.
Does my HOA have to approve a lady bird deed?
Usually not, but read the declaration before assuming. What Viera, Suntree and other Brevard homeowners associations frequently do have is a notice requirement, a transfer fee, an estoppel process, and occasionally a right of first refusal that was written broadly enough to catch conveyances nobody was thinking about when it was drafted.
Approval is one question; money is another. Under section 720.3085(2) a parcel owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for assessments that went unpaid before title passed, so a beneficiary who takes a house in a deed-restricted community inherits the arrears along with it. Ask the association for an estoppel certificate before anything else, and do it early — the figure it certifies is what the association can collect.
Can you do a lady bird deed on a mobile home in Barefoot Bay?
Only if the home’s motor vehicle title has been retired under § 319.261. That requires the home to be permanently affixed and requires you to own the land — or to hold a recorded lease of it for thirty years or more, which § 319.261 treats the same way. The RP sticker shows how the home is taxed and is not enough on its own. Where the title has not been retired, and on an ordinary short-term rented lot, the home is personal property and a deed conveys nothing; you transfer it by certificate of title instead. Barefoot Bay is a deed-restricted manufactured-home community rather than a land-lease park, and owners there typically own the land, so a deed is often possible once the title has been retired. Its recreation district assessment is billed with the property taxes and stays with the property, so the people you name inherit it along with the house. In Barefoot Bay and the county’s other manufactured-home communities, check both the title status and whether you own the lot before asking for a deed.
Second homes and rentals
The deed does not care what the house is used for — it cares who owns it and what restrictions attach to it. What changes on a rental or a second home is everything around the deed: the property tax question above, the fact that the property is more likely to carry a mortgage, and the fact that homestead protections you may be counting on are not there.
Does owning a second home in Brevard make it my Florida homestead?
No, not by itself. The homestead exemption follows permanent residence, not ownership, so a Brevard house you visit or rent out is not your homestead because you own it. Where you are domiciled is a separate question from the deed, and I do not decide it from a deed. If you are moving to the Space Coast and want to make Florida your home, the homestead application goes to BCPAO by March 1 of the year you claim it.
Military families near Patrick Space Force Base
Service members reassigned away from Patrick Space Force Base often keep the Brevard house. The deed is signed online from wherever you are posted, and the second-home points above apply once the house is no longer your homestead. Signing from overseas is generally not an issue; tell me on the first call where you will be, and I will ask a few questions to confirm the signing arrangements, including the online notary’s identity verification.
Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville, Viera and the rest of the county
Palm Bay is the county’s largest city, and the Clerk has offices in both Palm Bay and Melbourne. Titusville is the county seat, where the Clerk’s full-service counter sits, and Viera is home to the Moore Justice Center. Rockledge, Cocoa, Merritt Island, West Melbourne, Port St. John and Mims are part of the same county system. The legal description, the homestead analysis and the family facts change from one property to the next. The law does not change from one city to the next, and I handle Titusville property remotely exactly as I handle property in Melbourne.
Hypothetical — a Palm Bay lot owned from Ohio. A retired couple in Ohio bought a Palm Bay lot in the 1980s and want it to go to their daughter. I find the recorded deed, confirm the lot is in both their names, and draft the deed. They sign online from Ohio with the witnesses in the same session, we submit the deed to the Brevard County Clerk electronically, and I point them to the Clerk’s Recording Notification Service so they hear if anything is ever recorded against the lot.
Hypothetical — a Satellite Beach condominium. A widowed owner in Satellite Beach wants her condominium to go to her two sons. Once she has hired me, she sends the recorded deed and the declaration. I read the recorded deed, tell her whether the association documents need a separate review, and ask her what should happen if either son dies before her. She signs online, and the recorded copy goes to her and to the son she authorizes me to send it to.
When Should a Brevard Owner Consider a Broader Plan?
If the goal is to avoid probate on one property and the family is straightforward, the deed is usually the better value. Several properties, minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, or a concern about incapacity point toward a trust.
Property succession vs. incapacity documents
A lady bird deed decides who gets one property at your death. It does nothing while you are alive and unable to act: it does not let anyone pay your bills, deal with your bank or make medical decisions. A durable power of attorney and a health care surrogate designation do that. The deed is not a replacement for either, and the two work together: my page on whether a power of attorney can sign a lady bird deed explains what the power of attorney has to say.
Lady bird deed vs. living trust
One house and a straightforward family generally favors the deed. Multiple properties, minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, a blended family, or a concern about incapacity generally favors the trust. My comparison of the Florida lady bird deed versus a living trust works through the trade-offs.
When the beneficiary has problems of their own
This is the argument for a trust rather than a deed, and it deserves to be said plainly by somebody selling deeds. A remainder beneficiary who is in the middle of a divorce, who has judgment creditors, who is in bankruptcy, or who simply cannot manage money is going to receive a house outright with no strings the moment you die. A deed cannot condition, stage, or protect a gift. A trust can. If a beneficiary has special needs, a properly drafted special needs trust, sometimes named in the deed as the remainder beneficiary, is the combination to discuss.
Do I need a new will as well?
Not necessarily, but your will and the deed should agree. The lady bird deed vs. will question comes down to this: for the parcel it describes, a lady bird deed overrides your will, so a will that leaves the house to someone else does not control that house, and the mismatch can confuse your family. Tell me on the first call whether you have one. Reviewing or changing your will is not part of the $675; it is a separate service we can discuss.
What if the property is already in a trust?
Then tell me on the first call. Once you have hired me, send the recorded deed and the trust through the channel we agree on. If the recorded deed shows a trustee holding title, a lady bird deed from you may not be the right instrument at all, and the answer depends on what the trust and the deed actually say. Reviewing the trust is not part of the $675; it is a separate service we can discuss on the first call.
What happens without the deed: probate in Brevard County
A recorded lady bird deed avoids probate for the one property it describes. Without it, probate for Brevard County property is heard in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Brevard and Seminole counties. There is no separate probate court in Florida — the probate division is a division of the circuit court. A personal representative has to be appointed, an inventory filed, a creditor period run, and the file is public from the day it opens. Formal administration on a Brevard County house is a matter of months rather than weeks, and the property cannot be sold or refinanced until somebody has authority. Smaller estates may qualify for summary administration, which is faster and cheaper but still a court proceeding with its own thresholds and its own risks.
Questions Before Hiring for a Brevard Lady Bird Deed
Do I need to visit an office in Brevard County?
No. The first call — a free consultation — is by phone, the deed is signed online through remote online notarization, and the deed is submitted electronically to the Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
Does the $675 include recording in Brevard County?
Yes. The $675 includes the Brevard County recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge, along with the other items in the scope table above. Documentary stamp tax above that minimum is separate, and I work it out and explain it before you decide to proceed.
Can I use the $675 service for a second home or a condo?
Yes. The $675 covers one lady bird deed on one property, whether it is your homestead, a second home or a condominium unit, with county recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge included. If the condominium declaration needs reviewing, that is a separate service we can discuss.
Can my existing estate planning lawyer stay involved?
Yes, with your permission. I confirm with you who may be on our calls and who may receive information, and the recorded copy can go to your lawyer or accountant if you authorize me to send it. Coordination helps make sure your will and the deed reflect the same intentions.
Will the deed change my insurance or storm obligations?
No. During your life you remain the owner, so your homeowner’s, flood and wind coverage, your association’s obligations and your property taxes stay with you. The deed service does not include insurance advice. Ask your insurance agent whether the policy should note the recorded deed.
Can my adult child arrange the appointment?
Yes. An adult child can make the first call, gather the documents and schedule the signing. The owner is the client: I speak with the owner directly, confirm the owner’s wishes by phone and email, and confirm who may join the call. A family member can pay the fee without becoming the client. My page on helping a parent get a Florida lady bird deed covers this in full.
Do I need a lady bird deed lawyer near me in Melbourne?
No. A Brevard County deed is recorded with the Brevard County Clerk no matter where the attorney who drafts it is, and the signing happens wherever you are. What is worth choosing on is whether the person drafting it read your recorded deed first.
Can I change beneficiaries, revoke the deed or sell later?
Yes to all three, as often as you like; that is the enhancement the name refers to. You do not need a signature from anyone named in the deed and you do not owe them any part of the proceeds. Spouse, co-owner and lender requirements are separate and still apply. If a title agent asks for the beneficiaries’ signatures anyway, ask why rather than assuming the request is a mistake: the wording of your particular deed, something in the recorded title, or the insurer’s own underwriting rules can each be the reason, and it is better resolved before a closing than at one. But the deed is a recorded instrument, and changing or undoing it takes another recorded instrument, with the same Clerk at the same charges. What you should not do is record nothing and assume the old deed is dead, because the record will say otherwise. If you divorce, revise it.
Can a lady bird deed be contested in Florida?
Yes, a lady bird deed can be challenged, as any deed can, most often on capacity or undue influence. My page on whether a lady bird deed can be contested in Florida explains the grounds and how those cases run.
What to send first
- The property address, and whether it is your home, a second home, a condominium, a manufactured home or a lot
- The current owner or owners
- A copy of the recorded deed, if you have it to hand
- When you would like to sign
That is enough for the free introductory call. Nothing confidential is needed before we have agreed that I will represent you.
Talk to a Brevard County Lady Bird Deed Attorney
To speak directly with me about a lady bird deed in Brevard County, Florida, call (305) 224-6811 or use the contact form. The introductory call is free, the standard fee is $675 flat with county recording fees and the minimum documentary stamp charge included, and documentary stamp tax above the minimum is separate. I will tell you on that first call whether a deed is the right instrument.
Related reading: the statewide lady bird deed attorney page sets out the fee and what it buys, the Florida lady bird deed guide covers the general rules, and my Volusia County and Orlando pages cover the neighboring counties to the north and west.
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.