Recorded in County, Florida
Lady Bird Deed · Law That You Can Afford™
Your house goes to your family. Not to probate.
A Lady Bird deed — Florida’s enhanced life estate deed — passes your home directly to the people you name the moment you die, with no probate case and no lawyer’s hourly bill. And until that day you keep everything: you can sell it, refinance it, rent it, or change your mind entirely, without asking anyone’s permission.
From the founder of Peoples-Law.org — the plain-language legal site the Maryland court system now runs for its citizens. Twenty-five years of this work. Now for Florida.
Hero photo goes here
A modest Florida house with someone standing on their own front step — the actual asset being protected. Not a gavel, not a sunset, not a beach.
4:5 · 1200 × 1500 px
The problem
Your house is probably your largest asset. It is also the one most likely to end up in court.
A probate case just to move one deed
If your name alone is on the deed when you die, the house cannot be sold or transferred until a Florida court says so. That is a probate administration — commonly six to twelve months, with attorney and personal-representative fees paid out of the estate.
The advice all sounds expensive
You ask about protecting the house and someone quotes you thousands for a trust. So you do nothing, and the one thing standing between your family and a courthouse stays undone for another year.
Florida already gave you the tool
Florida is one of a small number of states that recognizes the enhanced life estate deed. It is one page. It has existed for decades. The only reason most Floridians have never heard of it is that nobody makes much money explaining it.
This is what separates a Lady Bird deed from an ordinary life estate deed. You retain the power to sell, mortgage, lease, or revoke the whole thing during your lifetime without the consent or signature of the people you named. They receive nothing until you are gone.
Why you can trust us
We’ve spent 25 years explaining the law for free.
We know how this goes. You searched “avoid probate Florida house,” found five ads and no answers, and closed the tab. A Lady Bird deed is not exotic and it is not a loophole — it is an ordinary Florida deed with a retained power written into it, recorded like any other deed in the county where your property sits.
Our job is to ask you plain questions, prepare the instrument correctly, have a trained person check it, tell you exactly how to sign and where to record it — and tell you honestly when this is the wrong tool for your situation.
- Founded by the creator of Peoples-Law.org, now operated by the Maryland Judiciary
- Florida deeds prepared to the execution requirements of chapters 689 and 695, Florida Statutes
- Every deed reviewed by a trained Florida Legal Document Preparer before you sign
- A public benefit corporation — free legal information for every Floridian, regardless of income
- We tell you when a $49 deed is not enough, before you pay rather than after
The plan
Four steps. About fifteen minutes of your time.
Answer plain questions
Your name as it appears on the current deed, the property’s legal description and parcel number, and who you want the house to go to. We show you where to find each one on your own property appraiser’s website.
A trained Florida document preparer reviews it
Included in the $49, not an upsell. A deed lives or dies on the legal description, the spelling of names, and the retained-powers language. A real person checks all of it against what you gave us before anything is printed.
Sign in front of two witnesses and a notary
Florida requires a deed conveying an interest in real property to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, and it must be acknowledged before a notary to be recorded. We send the exact instructions, and the witnesses can be almost any two adults.
Record it with your county clerk
An unrecorded deed protects no one. We tell you the office, the address, the recording fee, and whether your county accepts e-recording — using the county guide we already publish for all 67 counties. The fee goes to the clerk, not to us.
- One flat fee$49. No subscription, no renewal, no separate review charge.
- Yours the same dayDelivered to your secure JusticeXpress Vault, downloadable forever.
- Honest limitsIf your situation needs an attorney, we say so and help you find one.
The price
Forty-nine dollars, review included.
The whole point of a Lady Bird deed is that it should not be expensive. We are not going to undo that by charging you like it is.
Lady Bird Deed
Enhanced life estate deed · one Florida property
Comparable Florida attorney engagement: $350–$750
- Your completed Lady Bird deed, prepared from your answers with the retained powers stated expressly
- Document review by a trained Florida Legal Document Preparer — included, not an add-on
- Legal description check against the parcel information you provide
- Signing instructions for Florida’s two-witness and notary requirements
- Recording instructions for your specific county, with the clerk’s address and current fee
- Permanent copy in your JusticeXpress Vault
Secure checkout · Delivered same day
Is this the right tool for you?
| Doing nothing | Lady Bird deed $49 | Living trust $129 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeps the house out of probate | No | Yes | Yes |
| You keep full control while living | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Covers bank and investment accounts | No | No | Yes |
| Handles what happens if you become incapacitated | No | No | Yes |
| Lets you set conditions, ages, or shares over time | No | No | Yes |
| Covers property outside Florida | No | No | Yes |
| Needs a new document for each property | — | Yes | No |
If your house is the main thing you are worried about and you want it to go to one or two adults outright, the $49 deed is very likely all you need. If you also want your accounts covered, or you want someone able to step in if you cannot manage things yourself, look at the $129 living trust package instead.
Stop and talk to a Florida attorney first if any of these are true.
- You have a minor child. Florida’s constitution restricts how homestead property may be devised when there is a minor child, and a deed cannot get around it.
- You are married and your spouse is not receiving the property, or your spouse will not be signing.
- You are receiving, or expect to apply for, Medicaid long-term care benefits. Get elder law advice before you sign anything.
- The property is co-owned, held in a trust or an entity, or the title has a defect, lien, or unresolved estate in the chain.
- You want the property divided among several people, or given to someone with special needs.
We would rather lose the $49 than have you record the wrong instrument. Our directory lists Florida attorneys who handle specific tasks for a fixed, upfront fee: Find a Florida lawyer.
What’s at stake
The same house, two very different years.
If the deed is never signed
- A probate case must be opened before the house can be sold or transferred
- Months of waiting while taxes, insurance and upkeep still come due
- Fees paid out of the estate before anyone inherits anything
- The file, and everyone named in it, becomes a public court record
- Your family makes these decisions while grieving
With your recorded Lady Bird deed
- The house passes to the people you named without a probate case
- They record a death certificate and the transfer is done
- You kept the right to sell, refinance or change it the whole time
- Your homestead exemption and creditor protection are unaffected
- Nothing is asked of your family except to grieve
Straight answers
The questions people actually ask.
Do I lose control of my house?
No. That is the entire point of the enhanced life estate. You keep the right to live in it, rent it, mortgage it, sell it, or revoke the deed and start over — without the signature or consent of the people you named.
Will my homestead exemption change?
Because you keep a life estate and full control, a Lady Bird deed is generally not treated as a change of ownership that resets your assessed value or exemption. Confirm with your county property appraiser after recording, and tell them what you recorded.
Can I still sell the house?
Yes, at any time, by yourself. A sale simply extinguishes what the named beneficiaries would have received. They have no present interest and no veto.
What about my mortgage?
The mortgage stays exactly where it is, and whoever receives the house takes it subject to the loan. Because no present interest is transferred, lenders generally do not treat a Lady Bird deed as triggering a due-on-sale clause — but read your loan documents, and ask your servicer if you are unsure.
Do I still need a will?
Yes. This deed moves one piece of property. Everything else you own — your accounts, your car, your belongings — still passes under your will or by beneficiary designation.
Is this legal advice?
No. JusticeXpress Florida is a legal document preparation service, not a law firm. We prepare the deed from the information you give us and we do not advise you on whether to use it. That choice is yours, and we will point you to a Florida attorney whenever it should be theirs.
What success looks like
One page, recorded at the courthouse, and the house is handled.
Picture the deed back from the clerk with the recording stamp in the corner, filed in the drawer with your other papers. The house is still yours in every way it was yesterday — same exemption, same keys, same right to sell it tomorrow if you want to. The only thing that changed is what happens after. No probate case with your name on it. No court calendar deciding when your family can move on. Forty-nine dollars, and the largest thing you own is no longer the biggest problem you leave behind.
JusticeXpressFlorida.com is an online legal forms provider and a document preparation service, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Document review is performed by a trained Legal Document Preparer, not by an attorney, and consists of checking your document for completeness, consistency and correct execution requirements based on the information you supply. It is not a legal opinion, it is not a title examination or title search, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The information on this page is general legal information for educational purposes and is not advice about your particular situation. A Lady Bird deed is not appropriate for everyone, and its effect on homestead exemption, homestead devise restrictions, Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery, title insurance, and existing mortgages depends on facts specific to you and your property. Fee comparisons are general market estimates and are not quotations. County recording fees and any documentary stamp tax are set by law, are paid directly to the county, and are not included in the price above. Users are encouraged to consult a Florida-licensed attorney for advice specific to their circumstances.
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