A Lady Bird Deed lets you pass your home straight to the people you love the moment you're gone — no court, no probate, no delay — while you keep the absolute right to sell it, mortgage it, or change your mind for the rest of your life. In Florida, it can even shield the home from Medicaid estate recovery.
Signing your own home into a legal document can feel like a risk. That's exactly why we built this: Florida-specific, written in plain English, checked for common errors, and — if you want a second set of eyes — you can add a Legal Document Review before you record it.
Most Florida homeowners never plan for the home specifically — and in Florida, that single gap is where families lose time, money, and sometimes the house itself.
Without a plan for the home, it goes through Florida probate — often months, sometimes more than a year of court filings and legal fees your family pays out of pocket before they can touch the house.
If you ever receive Medicaid-funded nursing care, the state can file a claim in probate to recover what it spent — against the very home you meant to leave your children.
A home with no clear path forward is where grief turns into paperwork and paperwork turns into arguments. The people you love spend months untangling title instead of remembering you.
A properly executed Lady Bird Deed is designed to prevent all three — for a fraction of the cost of a living trust.
A Lady Bird Deed — formally called an Enhanced Life Estate Deed — is a special type of deed recognized under Florida law that allows a property owner to transfer real estate to named beneficiaries at death while retaining complete, unrestricted control of the property during their lifetime.
The deed gets its informal name from President Lyndon B. Johnson, who reportedly used a similar instrument to transfer property to his wife, Lady Bird Johnson. Today it is one of the most widely used estate planning documents in Florida, particularly for homeowners who want a simple, low-cost alternative to a full revocable living trust.
Unlike a standard life estate deed, a Lady Bird Deed gives the original owner — called the grantor — an enhanced power to act. The grantor may sell, mortgage, lease, gift, or otherwise dispose of the property at any time during their lifetime without the consent of the named beneficiaries. The beneficiaries have no present interest in the property and cannot interfere with the grantor's use or enjoyment of it.
Florida is one of only five states where the Lady Bird Deed is legally recognized and routinely accepted by county recorders. The others are Texas, Michigan, Vermont, and West Virginia. If you own property in Florida, this tool is available to you right now — and it does not require an attorney to use.
When the grantor dies, the property passes automatically and immediately to the named beneficiaries by operation of law — no court involvement, no probate proceeding, no delays, no executor needed. The beneficiaries simply record a death certificate with the county clerk and the property is theirs. The entire process typically takes days rather than the months or years a probate proceeding can require.
If the grantor sells the property before death, the deed is extinguished and the beneficiaries receive nothing from it. The grantor keeps 100% of the sale proceeds.
This is where the Lady Bird Deed has a decisive advantage over nearly every other estate planning tool, including the revocable living trust.
Florida Medicaid estate recovery — the state's right to recover the cost of Medicaid long-term care benefits from a recipient's estate after death — can only reach assets that pass through probate. A Lady Bird Deed passes the home entirely outside of probate. As a result, Florida Medicaid generally cannot recover against a home that was transferred via a Lady Bird Deed, even if the owner received years of Medicaid-funded nursing home care.
A revocable living trust provides no equivalent Medicaid protection. Assets held in a revocable trust are counted as the applicant's resource for Medicaid eligibility purposes and remain subject to Medicaid estate recovery in many situations. For seniors planning ahead for long-term care, the Lady Bird Deed is often the superior instrument.
Both instruments avoid probate and let you change your mind at any time. But they differ significantly in cost, scope, and Medicaid treatment.
| Feature | 🌸 Lady Bird Deed | 📄 Revocable Living Trust |
|---|---|---|
| Avoids probate | ✓ Yes (real estate only) | ✓ Yes (all assets in trust) |
| Cost to create | $20–$500 | $1,500–$3,500+ |
| Covers all assets | Real estate only | All assets (if funded) |
| Medicaid estate recovery protection | ✓ Yes — strong | No — little to none |
| Retain full lifetime control | ✓ Yes — unrestricted | ✓ Yes |
| Incapacity management | Not covered (need POA) | Successor trustee steps in |
| Ongoing maintenance required | None after recording | Must retitle all assets |
| Preserves homestead exemption | ✓ Yes — no interruption | Often yes, if structured correctly |
| Step-up in income tax basis | ✓ Yes — at grantor's death | ✓ Yes |
| Privacy | Recorded — public record | Private document |
| Works for out-of-state property | Florida only | Any state |
| Complex beneficiary conditions | Limited — names a person | Full flexibility |
Now that you know how the deed works, take two minutes to see which Florida rules actually apply to your facts — homestead, marriage, minor children, how title is held, and what you're trying to accomplish. It's the same set of questions a careful preparer would walk through first, and it flags the situations Florida law treats specially before you spend a dollar.
This is a free educational tool. It gives general Florida information, not legal advice — it won't tell you whether a Lady Bird Deed is right for you or select a form for you. If it surfaces a high-stakes issue (like a capacity concern), it will point you to an attorney instead of a form.
A Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed lets a Florida owner keep full control of their property for life — including the right to sell, mortgage, or change their mind — and name who receives it automatically at death, outside probate. Answer a few questions to see the general Florida rules that relate to your situation.
This tool gives general information, not legal advice. It does not tell you whether a Lady Bird deed is right for you, and it does not select a form for you.
General information referenced by this tool (Florida primary sources):
Want a second set of eyes before you record — especially for homestead property? Add our Legal Document Review below.
After purchase, click the link in your confirmation email to access the interactive form and complete the questionnaire at your own pace. Not legal advice. JusticeXpressFlorida.com is a document preparation service, not a law firm. No attorney-client relationship is created.
Once your Lady Bird Deed is signed, notarized, and recorded, your daily life stays exactly the same. You still own your home outright. You can still sell it, refinance it, or change your mind tomorrow — no one's permission required, no beneficiary to answer to.
But the hard part is handled. The day you're gone, your home passes to the people you named — automatically, outside probate, usually in days. No court. No executor. No lawyers billing your children by the hour. No claim from the state against the house you spent a lifetime paying for.
You become the person who took care of it — who turned a worry you'd carried for years into a signed, recorded fact, for about the price of a nice dinner. That's the quiet kind of legacy that matters most.
If your situation is complex — blended family, Medicaid application in progress, disputed ownership, or property in multiple states — consult a licensed Florida estate planning attorney.
Florida Bar Lawyer Referral → · 1-800-342-8011 · $25 initial consultation