After a Lady Bird Deed Owner Dies: What Florida Heirs Do

Written and reviewed by Yanitza Schoonover, Florida probate and estate planning attorney The Schoonover Law Firm, P.A. · Updated October 2026

After the Owner of a Lady Bird Deed Home Dies

If your parent, spouse or relative signed a Florida Lady Bird Deed naming you, the most important fact is this: at the moment of their death, the life estate ended and the property passed to the beneficiaries named in the recorded deed. There is no will to probate for that property, no personal representative to appoint, and no court order to wait for. Title is already in your hands.

That does not mean there is nothing to do. The public record still shows the deceased holding the life estate, the property appraiser still has their exemption on file, and the servicer, insurer and association do not know you exist. This guide is the checklist, in the order we would do it, written for the family.

The Ten Steps, in Order

1. Order certified death certificates

   Order several certified copies from the Florida Department of Health or the funeral home. For recording in the public records, use the version that omits the cause of death. The insurer, the mortgage servicer, the association and any bank will each want a copy.

2. Find the recorded deed and confirm it is the last word

   Locate the recorded Lady Bird Deed and search the county Official Records for anything recorded after it. A later deed may have changed the beneficiaries, revoked the deed, or sold the property. The last recorded deed controls.

3. Record a death certificate against the property

   Record a certified death certificate in the Official Records of the county where the property is located, tied to the property by its legal description and the recording reference of the deed. This shows publicly that the life estate has ended.

4. Prepare an affidavit when a title company asks

   For a sale or refinance, title underwriters commonly require an affidavit confirming the decedent’s identity, marital status and homestead facts, and that the deed was never revoked. Signing it before you list the property avoids delay at closing.

5. Notify the property appraiser

   The deceased owner’s homestead exemption does not pass to the beneficiaries. Unless a surviving spouse receives it, the property is generally reassessed as of January 1 following the change of ownership. A beneficiary who makes the home their permanent residence applies for their own exemption by March 1.

6. Secure and insure the property

   Tell the insurance carrier who now owns and occupies the property. Many policies treat a vacant home differently, so ask what the policy requires while the house is empty.

7. Contact the mortgage servicer

   Send the servicer a death certificate and a copy of the recorded deed, ask to be confirmed as a successor in interest, and keep the payments current. Federal law generally prevents the lender from calling the loan because a relative inherited the home.

8. Notify the association

   A condominium or homeowners association needs updated owner records and will tell you about transfer procedures, occupancy rules, leasing limits and any assessments owed. Unpaid assessments follow the property.

9. Decide together whether to keep, rent or sell

   Multiple beneficiaries take undivided shares as tenants in common. Agree in writing on who pays expenses, who lives there if anyone, and when or whether to sell.

10. Deal with the rest of the estate

    The Lady Bird Deed covers only the real property described in it. Accounts without beneficiaries, vehicles and other property may still require summary or formal administration.

What is not on that list: a petition to the court, a filing fee, a personal representative, publication of a notice to creditors, or a separate order determining homestead status for this property.

Recording the Death Certificate

Recording is the one step every beneficiary should complete, even if nobody plans to sell. Until it is done, the Official Records show the deceased as holding the life estate, and anyone checking title (a buyer, a lender, the property appraiser, a future title examiner) has to piece the story together.

The recording goes to the Official Records of the county where the property sits. In most Florida counties that is the Clerk of the Circuit Court; in Broward County it is the county’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division. Recording charges are $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. Many offices accept electronic recording through approved providers. Check the local procedure on our areas we serve page.

Two practical points. Florida death certificates come in a version that includes the cause of death and one that does not; use the one without it for the public record. And the recorded package should identify the property clearly, by legal description and by the book and page or instrument number of the Lady Bird Deed, so that the death certificate is indexed against the right parcel.

The Title Affidavit: Identity, Continuous Marriage and No Revocation

A recorded death certificate tells the world the life tenant died. It does not answer the questions a title underwriter asks before insuring a buyer or a lender. Those are usually answered by a sworn affidavit from a beneficiary or someone with personal knowledge, covering points like these:

• Identity: the person who died is the same person who signed the deed

• Marital status: whether the owner was married at signing and at death, and whether that is continuous. If the deed was signed by a married couple, whether the spouse who signed is the same spouse who survived or died

• Homestead facts: whether the property was the owner’s homestead and whether a spouse or minor child survived, because Florida’s constitutional homestead restrictions are tested at death

• No revocation: that the owner did not sign a later deed or otherwise exercise the reserved powers

• Liens and taxes: confirmation of outstanding liens, assessments and property taxes

Underwriters and title agents have their own forms, and their requirements differ. A beneficiary should not guess at the homestead questions. If the owner remarried after signing the deed, or a minor child survived, the answer can change whether the deed worked as written, and that is the point to call a lawyer rather than sign.

Homestead Exemption and Property Taxes After the Death

Florida determines homestead exemption status as of January 1 each year, so the tax bill for the year of death generally reflects the deceased owner’s exemption. What changes is the following year. A death that passes the home to children is a change of ownership, and under section 193.155 the property is reassessed at just value as of January 1 of the following year. The Save Our Homes cap the owner built up does not carry over.

Exemption applications are due March 1. A beneficiary who intends to live in the home should establish it as their permanent residence by January 1 and file on time; a missed deadline generally waives the exemption for that year. Notify the property appraiser of the death even if no one is applying, so the office is not relying on stale records.

Sources: Fla. Stat. § 193.155 (homestead assessments; change of ownership); Fla. Stat. § 196.011 (annual application); Art. VII, § 4, Fla. Const.

The Mortgage and the Insurance

A mortgage does not disappear at death, and a Lady Bird Deed does not pay it off. The beneficiaries take the property subject to the loan. Two federal rules make this far less frightening than it sounds.

First, the Garn-St. Germain Act generally bars a lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause on a residential loan (fewer than five dwelling units) because of a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower’s death, or a transfer where the spouse or children become owners. The loan can generally stay in place as long as payments are made.

Second, the federal mortgage servicing rules recognize a confirmed successor in interest. Once the servicer confirms your identity and ownership, you are treated much like a borrower for servicing purposes: you can get account information, apply for loss mitigation, and receive the required notices, even though you never signed the note. Write to the servicer, say you are a successor in interest to the deceased borrower, and enclose the death certificate and the recorded deed. Keep payments current while that is processed; a default helps no one.

Insurance

Call the homeowner’s insurer promptly. The policy was written for an owner-occupant who has died. Ask how coverage applies while the home is unoccupied, whether a vacancy condition applies after a period of time, and what policy the new owners need. In a condominium, also confirm the unit owner’s policy coordinates with the association’s master policy.

Sources: 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d) (Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, exemptions from due-on-sale enforcement); 12 C.F.R. Part 1024 (Regulation X), including § 1024.31 (confirmed successor in interest).

Selling the Property

Many families sell. The beneficiaries can list the property as soon as the death certificate is recorded and the title company is satisfied, with no probate case to wait for. A few things make the closing go smoothly:

• Every beneficiary signs the deed to the buyer. Co-owners each convey their share. One sibling cannot sell the whole property alone.

• A beneficiary’s spouse may need to sign if the beneficiary made the inherited home their own homestead.

• Order the title search early. It surfaces a missing affidavit, an old lien, or a later deed long before closing.

• Get a date-of-death valuation. An appraisal near the date of death documents the stepped-up basis.

That last point matters most. Because the owner kept the enhanced powers, the property is generally included in their gross estate, which normally gives the beneficiaries a stepped-up cost basis equal to its value at death. Sell soon after, at about that value, and there is usually little or no capital gain to report. Confirm the details with a tax advisor, and see our guide to Lady Bird Deeds and capital gains.

A beneficiary who does not want the property at all can generally disclaim it under Florida’s disclaimer statute. Timing and form matter, especially for a disclaimer intended to qualify for federal tax purposes, so get advice before accepting rent, moving in or otherwise treating the property as yours.

When Several People Inherit: Tenants in Common

Unless the deed expressly creates a right of survivorship, Florida law treats two or more people who receive property together as tenants in common. Each owns an undivided share (equal shares unless the deed says otherwise), each can use the whole property, and when one co-owner dies, that person’s share passes to their own heirs or beneficiaries, not to the other siblings.

The usual flashpoints are a sibling who wants to live in the house, one who wants to sell now, and who pays the carrying costs meanwhile.

When co-owners cannot agree, Florida law lets any one of them file a partition action asking the court to divide the property or, for a house that cannot be divided, order it sold and the proceeds split. Partition is slow and expensive, and its existence is the best argument for agreeing early.

Sources: Fla. Stat. § 689.15 (tenancy in common absent express survivorship); Fla. Stat. ch. 64 (partition of property).

When a Beneficiary Is a Minor

A child can own real estate, but a child cannot sign a deed, a listing agreement or a mortgage. That becomes a real problem when a Lady Bird Deed names a grandchild directly, or when a backup clause sends a deceased beneficiary’s share to their young children.

Florida lets parents, as natural guardians, collect and manage property a child receives without going to court only when the total does not exceed $15,000. An interest in a Florida home will almost always be worth more than that. Beyond that limit, the family will generally need a court-appointed guardian of the property before the child’s interest can be sold or mortgaged, with court supervision, accountings and costs until the child reaches majority.

How the deed should have handled it

If you are reading this as the owner rather than the heir, the fix is in the drafting. Florida’s Uniform Transfers to Minors Act allows a person who designates who receives property at a future event to nominate a custodian for a minor, and the Act specifically contemplates nomination in a deed. A deed can therefore name “[adult], as custodian for [child] under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act” instead of the child alone. For larger values or longer control, a trust is the better vehicle. Either avoids the guardianship.

Sources: Fla. Stat. § 744.301(2) (natural guardians; $15,000 limit); Fla. Stat. ch. 744 (guardianship); Fla. Stat. §§ 710.104 and 710.111 (Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act: nomination of custodian; real property).

When Probate Is Still Needed

A Lady Bird Deed covers the real property described in it and nothing else. Whether the family still needs a probate case depends on what else the person owned and how it was titled.

When probate is needed for the remaining assets, the Lady Bird Deed still helps by shrinking the estate. Effective July 1, 2026, CS/HB 1337 (ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.) raised the non-exempt asset ceiling for Florida summary administration from $75,000 to $150,000 under Fla. Stat. § 735.201, for decedents who die on or after that date. Summary administration remains available at any value once more than two years have passed since the death. With the home already out of the estate, many families now fit within the faster summary procedure.

Medicaid is the other reason the probate boundary matters. Florida limits Medicaid estate recovery to assets passing through the probate estate. The home that passed under the deed is outside it; an account that goes through probate is not. See our Medicaid page.

Related Guides

• Lady Bird Deeds and capital gains: how the stepped-up basis works when you sell an inherited home.

• Revoking or changing a Lady Bird Deed: why the last recorded deed is the one that counts.

• Rentals, condos and LLC property: inheriting tenants, association rules and entity-owned property.

• Selling or refinancing: what title companies and lenders ask for.

• Lady Bird Deeds and Medicaid: why the probate estate defines what Florida can recover.

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for property throughout Florida for a $595 flat fee. Find local recording guidance on our areas we serve page, or keep reading on the guides page.