An enhanced life estate deed in Florida, often called a Lady Bird deed, is a recorded deed that lets you keep full ownership and control of your property for the rest of your life while naming someone to receive it automatically when you die, with no probate required. You can still sell the property, mortgage it, rent it out, or revoke the deed entirely at any point. The named beneficiary gets nothing until you die, and only if you still own the property and haven’t changed your mind.
Florida recognizes the deed under common law rather than statute, and it has become one of the most widely used estate planning tools in the state because it combines the simplicity of a payable-on-death designation with the flexibility of outright ownership.
How the Deed Splits Ownership
The deed divides ownership into two time periods. You are the life tenant, with possession and all rights for as long as you live. The person you name is the remainderman, who receives the property automatically by operation of law the moment you die. No will, no court filing, no action by the beneficiary.
What makes it “enhanced” is the power you keep. A traditional Florida life estate ties the owner’s hands: you cannot sell or mortgage without the remainderman’s signature, and the remainderman holds a vested interest you cannot take back. An enhanced life estate deed flips that. Your retained powers are written into the deed itself, so the beneficiary’s interest stays contingent and defeasible for your entire life.
What You Keep as the Owner
While you are alive, you operate as if the deed did not exist. You can sell the property to anyone and keep every dollar of the proceeds. You can take out a mortgage or home equity loan without consulting the beneficiary. You can lease it and collect the rent. None of this requires the beneficiary’s knowledge or consent.
You can also change your mind. If the relationship with your named beneficiary deteriorates, or you decide someone else should receive the property, you record a new deed naming a different remainderman. You can also revoke the deed entirely and go back to holding the property with no future interest attached. This flexibility is the main reason Florida estate planning attorneys favor the enhanced version over an ordinary life estate.
What the Beneficiary Gets
The remainderman holds what the law calls a contingent future interest. In practical terms, the beneficiary receives the property only if two conditions are true at the moment you die: you still own it, and you have not revoked the deed. If either condition fails, the beneficiary gets nothing.
Until then, the beneficiary has no authority. They cannot occupy the property, demand rent, or block a sale. They have no vote on a mortgage. All ownership responsibilities, including property taxes, insurance, and maintenance, stay with you.
Because the interest has not vested, the beneficiary’s personal creditors generally cannot attach a lien to the property while you are alive. The interest may never vest at all.
Why Florida Owners Use One
Probate Avoidance
Title transfers automatically at death. The property never enters your probate estate, which spares the beneficiary the time and expense of a court proceeding for that asset.
Medicaid Planning
The deed has become a core tool in Florida Medicaid planning for two reasons. First, creating it does not trigger a transfer-of-assets penalty, because you keep full control, including the right to revoke. The property remains yours for Medicaid eligibility purposes, but the deed is not treated as a disqualifying gift.
Second, the property avoids the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program after your death. Florida’s recovery statute allows the state to file a claim against a deceased recipient’s probate estate to recoup benefits paid after age 55. Property that passes by Lady Bird deed never enters probate, so it falls outside that reach. Recovery is also blocked entirely if the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or permanently disabled child, regardless of how the property transfers.1The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 409.9101 – Recovery for Payments Made on Behalf of Medicaid-Eligible Persons
No Documentary Stamp Tax, No Gift Tax
Recording the deed costs almost nothing in tax. The Florida Department of Revenue has ruled that because no present beneficial interest changes hands, the deed falls outside the documentary stamp tax regardless of any stated consideration.2Florida Department of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax TAA 20B4-004 For federal gift tax purposes, your retained power to revoke means the deed is not a completed gift. No gift tax return is required, and the deed does not consume any of your lifetime exemption.
Stepped-Up Basis at Death
Because you keep possession and control until death, the property is included in your gross estate under federal tax law.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2036 – Transfers with Retained Life Estate That inclusion produces a tax benefit for the beneficiary: a stepped-up basis equal to the property’s fair market value on the date of your death.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired from a Decedent If you bought the home for $150,000 and it is worth $450,000 at death, the beneficiary’s basis resets to $450,000. A sale the next day at that price produces no capital gain.
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption reverts to the pre-2018 level of $5 million, adjusted for inflation, after the temporary doubling under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires.5Internal Revenue Service. Estate and Gift Tax FAQs Most families still fall below the threshold, but owners with substantial total estates should confirm with a tax professional that including the property will not create estate tax exposure.
Homestead Issues You Cannot Ignore
Florida homestead law creates two important wrinkles.
Spouse and Minor Child Protections
The Florida Constitution restricts how a homestead can be devised if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor children. If no valid devise is made, the surviving spouse receives either a life estate in the homestead or may elect a one-half interest as a tenant in common, with the remainder going to the decedent’s descendants.6FindLaw. Florida Statutes Title XLII Estates and Trusts 732.401 A married owner who signs a Lady Bird deed alone risks a challenge after death. The safer practice is for the spouse to join in signing the deed, even though the spouse is not the grantor.
Property Tax Reassessment
While you are alive, your homestead exemption and Save Our Homes assessment cap stay in place, because no present interest has transferred. After you die, the county will reassess the property at current market value. Only a surviving spouse can inherit the existing exemption and accumulated assessment cap. Children, in-laws, and other beneficiaries must apply for their own homestead exemption if they move in, and they lose the cap you built up over the years.
How to Create and Record One
What the Deed Must Contain
The deed must identify you by full legal name and mailing address, name the remainderman with the same detail, include the property’s legal description as it appears on your current deed, and expressly reserve the enhanced life estate powers. The reservation language is what distinguishes this deed from an ordinary life estate, so the wording matters. Attorneys typically state that the grantor reserves the right to sell, mortgage, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property without the remainderman’s consent, and the right to revoke the deed at any time.
Signing and Notarization
Florida law requires you to sign the deed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.7Justia Law. Florida Statutes Code 689.01 – How Real Estate Conveyed A notary public must acknowledge the deed. Notarization is a prerequisite for recording, and an unrecorded deed defeats the whole purpose.
Florida permits remote online notarization. An online notary physically located in Florida can conduct the signing session over audio-video communication, even if you and the witnesses are elsewhere.8The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 117.265 – Online Notarization Procedures Witnesses may also sign electronically through the same session.
Recording
Record the signed deed in the official records of the county where the property sits. The clerk requires legible printed names and addresses beneath each signature, including grantor, witnesses, and notary, plus the name and address of the person who prepared the deed.9Justia Law. Florida Statutes Code 695.26 – Requirements for Recording Instruments Affecting Real Property Recording fees are modest, typically around $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. With no documentary stamp tax owed, total out-of-pocket cost to record is usually under $30.
What Happens When You Die
Title passes to the remainderman automatically at death. No probate petition is required. The public records still show you as the titleholder, so the beneficiary should obtain a certified copy of your death certificate and record it with the clerk of court in the county where the property is located. That filing updates the chain of title to reflect that the life estate has ended.
After recording the death certificate, the beneficiary should contact the county property appraiser’s office to update ownership records. A beneficiary who plans to make the property their primary residence can apply for their own homestead exemption at that point, keeping in mind that a non-spouse will not inherit the prior assessment cap and should expect a higher assessed value at the next reassessment.
When a Trust Might Fit Better
Both a Lady Bird deed and a revocable living trust avoid probate and preserve lifetime control. They differ in cost, scope, and post-death control.
The deed is a single document, inexpensive to prepare and record, and it handles one asset: the real property named in it. A revocable trust is a broader structure that can hold bank accounts, investment accounts, and multiple properties, but it costs more to set up and requires you to re-title assets into the trust. For someone whose main concern is keeping one Florida home out of probate, the deed is often simpler and cheaper.
Trusts pull ahead on post-death control. A Lady Bird deed delivers the property outright to the beneficiary the moment you die, with no way to impose conditions after the fact. A trust can stagger distributions, require the beneficiary to reach a certain age, or hold the property in trust for years. If you worry about a beneficiary’s financial maturity, creditor exposure, or a possible divorce, the trust offers guardrails the deed cannot.
The two tools are not mutually exclusive. Many Florida estate plans use a Lady Bird deed for the homestead and a revocable trust for everything else.