Miami Lady Bird Deed Attorney

Serving Miami-Dade Homeowners From Coral Gables to North Miami Beach

Miami-Dade homeowners use a Miami Lady Bird Deed
to keep a home or condo out of probate and pass it directly to family.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION CALL: 305-299-7496
Yanitza Schoonover, Florida probate and estate planning attorney
Written and reviewed by Yanitza Schoonover, Florida probate and estate planning attorney The Schoonover Law Firm, P.A. · Updated August 2026

Miami Lady Bird Deed Attorney

A Miami Lady Bird Deed, known formally as a Florida enhanced life estate deed, allows your Miami home or condo to transfer directly to the beneficiaries you name when you die, without a Miami-Dade Circuit Court probate case. During your lifetime nothing changes. You stay on title, you keep your homestead exemption, and you can live in the property, rent it, refinance it, sell it, or change your mind entirely.

For Miami-Dade families the practical argument is simple. Formal probate in one of the busiest probate circuits in Florida frequently takes six months to well over a year, with court filings, a creditor claim period, and statutory attorney fees measured against the value of the estate. A properly drafted Lady Bird Deed can let the home skip that entirely and pass to your family on the recording of a certified death certificate.

Miami Lady Bird Deed: the short version

  • What it does: names beneficiaries who receive your Miami property automatically at death, outside of probate.
  • What you keep: full control for life, including the right to sell, mortgage, lease, or revoke the deed without anyone's permission.
  • Homestead: a correctly drafted deed should not disturb your Miami-Dade homestead exemption or Save Our Homes cap while you are living.
  • Documentary stamp tax: the Florida Department of Revenue concluded in TAA 20B4-004 that an enhanced life estate deed is not a taxable transfer, since no present beneficial interest passes.
  • Where it is recorded: the Miami-Dade County Official Records, at $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 per additional page.
  • Best fit: Miami owners whose home or condo is their main asset and who want a clean, direct transfer to family.

What Is a Miami Lady Bird Deed?

A Miami Lady Bird Deed is the common name for a Florida enhanced life estate deed recorded on property in Miami-Dade County. The deed names the beneficiaries, called remaindermen, who receive the property automatically at your death, while reserving to you an enhanced life estate that leaves you in complete control while you are alive.

The word "enhanced" is doing real work. Under a traditional Florida life estate deed, the life tenant cannot sell or mortgage the property without the remaindermen signing, and the remaindermen hold a vested interest that can be reached by their creditors or tangled up in their divorce. An enhanced life estate deed reserves the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without their consent, so the beneficiaries hold nothing more than an expectancy until you die.

That difference is why the Lady Bird Deed is popular in Florida and why the drafting matters. If the reservation of enhanced powers is weak, missing, or copied from a generic online form, the deed can behave like an ordinary life estate deed and create exactly the problem it was meant to avoid. This is the single most common defect we see in do-it-yourself deeds recorded in Miami-Dade.

For a broader comparison of Florida options, see our guide to Lady Bird Deeds versus wills, trusts and quitclaim deeds.

Miami Lady Bird Deed attorney helping Miami-Dade homeowners avoid probate

Miami Estate Planning Snapshot

Miami is one of the most distinctive property markets in the country: heavily condominium-based, heavily foreign-born, and full of long-tenured owners sitting on decades of appreciation. Each of those facts changes the estate planning conversation, and each of them is a reason a Miami Lady Bird Deed comes up so often here.

  • 15.9% of Miami residents are age 65+
  • 30.8% of Miami housing units are owner-occupied
  • $518,100 median value of owner-occupied housing
  • $62,462 median household income
  • 57.7% of Miami residents are foreign-born
  • 77.2% speak a language other than English at home

Two numbers stand out. Miami's owner-occupancy rate is unusually low, which means the owners who do hold their home tend to hold a disproportionately large share of their net worth in it. And with a majority foreign-born population, a great many Miami families have heirs living in another country, where a Florida probate case means retaining counsel from abroad, authenticating documents, and waiting out a process nobody can attend in person.

A median owner-occupied value above half a million dollars also means the home dominates the estate. Even where the family qualifies for Florida’s faster summary administration, a Miami homestead usually still requires a separate petition and court order determining its homestead status before title is clear. A Lady Bird Deed removes that step entirely.

Demographic figures: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Miami city, Florida (most recent American Community Survey five-year estimates available at publication).

Chart of the Miami median home price trend over the past decade, used for Florida estate planning and Miami Lady Bird Deed research
Miami median home price trend (past decade)
Rising values mean more Miami estates exceed the summary administration threshold.
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What Miami-Dade Probate Actually Involves

It is easier to see the value of a Lady Bird Deed once you know what it replaces. Probate in Miami-Dade is handled by the Probate Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street in downtown Miami. It is among the highest-volume probate dockets in the state, and volume translates directly into calendar time.

  • 10 daysDeadline to deposit an original will with the Clerk after notice of death
  • 3 monthsCreditor claim period after first publication of notice to creditors
  • $150,000Non-exempt asset ceiling for summary administration, doubled July 1, 2026
  • 6–18 mo.Typical range for formal administration in a busy circuit

Two Miami-Dade specifics catch families off guard. First, an original will must be physically deposited with the Clerk within ten days of learning of the death, and Miami-Dade requires the original paper document rather than an e-filed copy. Second, formal administration in Florida ordinarily requires a licensed attorney, so the family is paying counsel from the first filing whether or not the estate is contested.

New for 2026: Florida’s summary administration ceiling doubled

Effective July 1, 2026, CS/SB 1500 raised the non-exempt asset ceiling for Florida summary administration from $75,000 to $150,000 (Fla. Stat. § 735.201). The higher limit applies only to decedents who die on or after that date; estates of people who died earlier remain under the old $75,000 cap. Summary administration also remains available at any value once more than two years have passed since the death.

This is real relief for smaller Miami estates. It does not, however, make probate disappear. Summary administration is still a court proceeding with filings, notice, and a wait, and a Miami homestead typically still requires a separate petition and order determining homestead status before title is marketable. A Lady Bird Deed skips that step for the home altogether.

A Lady Bird Deed does not eliminate probate for every asset. What it does is remove the single largest and most emotionally charged asset, the home, from the probate estate entirely, so the family is not waiting on a courthouse calendar to sell, refinance, or simply hold clear title to the house they grew up in.

Recording a Lady Bird Deed in Miami-Dade County

A Miami Lady Bird Deed becomes effective when it is properly executed and recorded in the Miami-Dade County Official Records, maintained by the Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. Recording is what gives the world notice of the deed and what protects your beneficiaries later, when a title examiner is reconstructing the chain of title.

Execution requirements

Florida requires a deed conveying an interest in real property to be signed by the owner in the presence of two subscribing witnesses and acknowledged before a notary public (Fla. Stat. §§ 689.01 and 695.03). Both witnesses must sign, and the notary block must be complete. A deed missing a witness is a routine reason for a Miami-Dade recording rejection, and a defectively witnessed deed discovered years later at the owner's death is far worse.

Where and how to record

The recording counter is at Courthouse East, 22 NW First Street, first floor, Miami, Florida 33128, generally open weekdays. Deeds can also be submitted by mail or through an approved e-recording provider, which is how most attorneys and title companies submit in Miami-Dade because it returns the recorded instrument within a day or two rather than weeks.

Recording fees

Recording fees are published by the county recorder and are the same core amounts statewide: $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, plus $1.00 per name indexed beyond four names. A typical Lady Bird Deed runs two to three pages, so recording usually costs under $30.00. The legal work of drafting it correctly is the real cost, and it is modest compared with what a Miami-Dade probate case costs the family later. Our flat-fee pricing is listed here.

Documentary stamp tax: the Miami-Dade exception

Miami-Dade is the only Florida county that does not use the standard deed rate. Statewide, documentary stamp tax on a deed is $0.70 per $100 of consideration. In Miami-Dade the rate is $0.60 per $100, plus a $0.45 per $100 surtax on transfers of any interest in real property other than a single-family residence. That surtax is why the character of the property, single-family versus otherwise, is a real question on Miami-Dade transfers and not a formality.

For a Lady Bird Deed, the more important point is whether documentary stamp tax applies at all. In Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004, issued October 16, 2020, the Florida Department of Revenue concluded that an enhanced life estate deed is not subject to documentary stamp tax, reasoning that no present beneficial interest transfers when the deed is signed because the remainder interest stays contingent until the owner's death. The Department applied that reasoning without regard to consideration or encumbrances.

One honest caveat: a Technical Assistance Advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer and the facts presented in that request, and it is not binding precedent for anyone else. Where a Miami property carries a mortgage, some closing agents and title underwriters still take a conservative position. That is a conversation worth having before the deed is recorded rather than after.

Sources: Florida Department of Revenue Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004 (Oct. 16, 2020); Fla. Stat. ch. 201 (documentary stamp tax); Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13) (statutory service charges); Miami-Dade and Broward county recorder published fee schedules; Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller, Official Records.

Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes, and Florida Homestead Law

Miami-Dade has one of the largest property tax bases in Florida, so anything touching homestead status has real money attached to it. Two separate ideas travel under the word "homestead," and a Miami Lady Bird Deed interacts with both.

The tax homestead: exemption and the 3% cap

The homestead exemption reduces your taxable value, and the Save Our Homes provision caps annual increases in assessed value at 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. For a long-tenured Miami owner, that cap is often worth more than the exemption itself. A properly drafted Lady Bird Deed should not disturb either one during your lifetime, because you retain the enhanced life estate, you remain in possession, and the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser continues to treat you as the owner of record.

What the deed does not do is carry your Save Our Homes cap forward to your beneficiaries. The cap resets on a change of ownership at death, the same as it would through probate or a trust. Anyone who tells you a Lady Bird Deed preserves the cap for your children is describing something the law does not provide.

The constitutional homestead: spouses and minor children

Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution restricts what an owner can do with homestead property. A married owner cannot convey homestead without the spouse joining in the deed, and homestead cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or a minor child. These restrictions are generally tested at the owner's death rather than at signing, which is exactly why a defective deed can sit quietly for years and then fail at the worst possible moment.

In practice this means a married Miami couple usually signs the Lady Bird Deed together, naming the remainder beneficiaries who take after the second death. And if there is a minor child, a Lady Bird Deed naming anyone other than that child is a genuine problem that needs a different plan, not a different form.

When Your Spouse Is Not a US Citizen

This section exists because Miami is Miami. With more than half of residents foreign-born, a great many marriages here involve a spouse who holds a green card rather than a US passport, and there is a federal estate tax rule that treats those marriages differently. It catches people who have done everything else right.

Ordinarily, property passing to a surviving spouse qualifies for the unlimited marital deduction, so no federal estate tax is due at the first death regardless of the amount. That deduction is generally not available where the surviving spouse is not a United States citizen. Congress removed it out of a concern that a non-citizen surviving spouse might leave the country with the assets before any tax could ever be collected.

The relief valve is a qualified domestic trust, commonly called a QDOT. Property passing into a properly structured QDOT can qualify for the marital deduction, subject to conditions including a US trustee and rules on distributions. It is a real planning tool, and it is also a document that has to exist and be drafted before it is needed.

Why this matters to a Lady Bird Deed

  • A deed is not a trust. A Lady Bird Deed naming a non-citizen spouse as beneficiary passes the home outright to them. It does not pass into a QDOT, so it does not obtain the marital deduction.
  • Probate avoidance and tax deferral are different problems. The deed solves the first one beautifully. It does nothing about the second.
  • It only bites above the threshold. For decedents dying in 2026 the federal basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person, so most estates never reach the question. Miami estates with property in several countries sometimes do.
  • Lifetime gifts are limited too. Gifts to a non-citizen spouse do not get an unlimited marital deduction either. Instead there is a separate annual exclusion, which for 2026 is $194,000.
  • Citizenship at death is what counts, not at the time the deed was signed. A spouse who naturalises before the first death changes the analysis entirely.

None of this is a reason to skip the deed. It is a reason to ask one extra question at the start, because the answer determines whether a deed is the whole plan or the first part of one. If you are married to a non-citizen and your combined assets are substantial, the conversation to have is about a trust, and the deed sits inside it.

A related but different rule applies where the owner rather than the spouse is a non-resident alien, which changes the exclusion amount dramatically. That is worked through on our Doral page.

Sources: Internal Revenue Code § 2056(d) (marital deduction generally denied where the surviving spouse is not a US citizen); § 2056A (qualified domestic trusts); § 2523(i) (gifts to a non-citizen spouse); Internal Revenue Service, tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (basic exclusion amount $15,000,000; annual exclusion for gifts to a non-citizen spouse $194,000). Federal tax law changes and individual circumstances vary. Confirm with a qualified tax advisor before relying on any of this.

Miami Lady Bird Deed for condominiums in Brickell, downtown Miami and Miami Beach

Miami Condos and Lady Bird Deeds

Miami is a condominium city, and a Lady Bird Deed works on a unit in Brickell, Edgewater, downtown, or anywhere in Miami-Dade the same way it works on a house. The complications are in the building, not the deed: the declaration of condominium, assessment and lien provisions, approval or right-of-first-refusal language, and any milestone inspection or structural reserve assessments the association has levied. Those should be read before the deed is drafted so the transfer your family expects is the transfer they actually get.

Miami Lady Bird Deed attorney explaining Florida Medicaid estate recovery

Medicaid and Estate Recovery

Florida limits Medicaid estate recovery to assets passing through the probate estate, and it has not adopted the expanded definition some states use. Because a Lady Bird Deed moves the home outside probate, it is one of the standard tools for reducing estate recovery exposure on a Florida homestead. It does not qualify anyone for Medicaid, and the five-year look-back still applies to other transfers. Read our full guide to Lady Bird Deeds and Florida Medicaid.

Miami Lady Bird Deed compared with a Florida revocable living trust

Lady Bird Deed vs. Revocable Trust

A Lady Bird Deed is usually the right answer when a Miami home or condo is the main asset and the plan is straightforward. A revocable trust tends to win when there are multiple properties, out-of-state real estate, sizable financial accounts, blended-family concerns, or beneficiaries who should not receive a lump sum outright. Plenty of Miami estate plans use both: the trust for everything else, the deed for the house.

After a Death: What Your Family Actually Does

  1. Order certified death certificates

    From the Florida Department of Health. Order several: the Property Appraiser, the insurer, the association and any lender will each want one.

  2. Record one against the property

    Recorded in the Miami-Dade Official Records, this publicly establishes that the life estate has ended and the named beneficiaries hold title.

  3. Provide an affidavit if a title company asks

    On a sale or refinance, a title underwriter commonly wants an affidavit confirming identity, continuous marital status, and that the deed was never revoked.

  4. Notify the insurer and any association

    Both need to know who owns and occupies the property. Vacant property has different coverage requirements.

  5. Apply for their own homestead exemption

    Your exemption does not transfer. A beneficiary who moves in applies in their own name with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser.

  6. Decide together what happens to the property

    Multiple beneficiaries take undivided shares as tenants in common. Agreement is easier while everyone is still talking.

What is not on that list: a petition, a filing fee, a personal representative, publication of notice to creditors, a creditor claim period, or a separate order determining homestead status. On a Miami-Dade docket, that is the difference between a few weeks of paperwork and the better part of a year.

What a Lady Bird Deed Does Not Do

Common misconceptions, several of them specific to Miami.
People assume it…Reality
Covers the whole estateNo. It conveys the one parcel described in it. Accounts, retirement plans, vehicles and belongings are untouched.
Covers property in another countryNo. Real property is governed where it sits, and a Miami-Dade deed reaches Miami-Dade land only.
Gets the marital deduction for a non-citizen spouseNo. That generally requires a qualified domestic trust, and a deed is not a trust.
Replaces a willNo. You still want a will for everything the deed does not reach.
Overrides condominium or HOA documentsNo. Transfer approval, leasing limits and recorded assessments all still apply.
Clears association liensNo. Recorded liens follow the property, and an heir takes the unit with its ledger.
Passes your Save Our Homes cap to the kidsNo. It resets on the change of ownership at death.
Qualifies you for MedicaidNo. It may reduce estate recovery exposure on a homestead, but it does not create eligibility.
Works if you have a minor childNo, not on the homestead. Florida does not permit the homestead to be devised while a minor child survives you.
Stops your children arguingNo. It hands them undivided shares. Any one of them can generally seek partition.

How a Miami Lady Bird Deed Compares to the Alternatives

Miami homeowners generally arrive with one of five ideas in mind. Here is how they line up for a Miami-Dade homestead.

General comparison for a Florida homestead. Individual results depend on how the property is titled and on your family circumstances.
Option Avoids probate? Keep full control while living? Typical Miami drawback
Lady Bird Deed Yes, for that property Yes Covers only the real property described in the deed, not the rest of the estate.
Will only No Yes The will is the instruction manual for probate; it guarantees a Miami-Dade case, not an escape from one.
Revocable living trust Yes, if funded Yes Higher cost, and the deed into the trust still has to be drafted and recorded correctly.
Quitclaim deed to children now Yes No You lose control, likely lose the homestead exemption, expose the home to your children's creditors and divorces, and forfeit the stepped-up basis.
Adding a child to the deed Partially No Creates a present co-owner with veto power, gift tax reporting, and creditor exposure. Very common and very often regretted.

The last two rows describe the most common self-help mistakes we see on Miami-Dade property. Both feel like shortcuts and both give away control of the home during the owner's lifetime. Our detailed breakdown is on the Florida Lady Bird Deed comparison page.

How to Get a Miami Lady Bird Deed

  1. Confirm the deed actually fits

    We look at how the property is titled, who you want to receive it, whether you are married, and whether there is a minor child. Florida homestead rules decide this question, not preference.

  2. Pull the current vesting deed and folio

    The new deed has to carry the exact legal description from the last recorded deed in the Miami-Dade Official Records, together with the folio number from the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. Retyped or abbreviated legal descriptions are a frequent source of title defects.

  3. Draft the enhanced life estate reservation

    The deed must clearly reserve your power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without the consent of the remainder beneficiaries. This is the language that separates a Lady Bird Deed from an ordinary life estate deed.

  4. Sign with two witnesses and a notary

    Florida requires two subscribing witnesses and a notary acknowledgment. A married owner's spouse joins the deed on homestead property.

  5. Record it in Miami-Dade

    The deed is recorded in the Miami-Dade County Official Records, typically by e-recording, for $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 per additional page.

  6. Store it and tell your beneficiaries

    Keep the recorded deed with the rest of your estate plan and make sure the people named in it know it exists. At your death they generally record a certified death certificate to establish clear title.

START WITH A CONSULTATION

Plain-English Glossary

Enhanced life estate deedThe formal name for a Lady Bird Deed. You keep a life estate plus the power to sell, mortgage or revoke without anyone’s consent.
RemaindermanA person named in the deed to receive the property at your death. No present interest while you are alive.
Protected homesteadHomestead property under Article X, Section 4. Exempt from creditors and not counted toward the summary administration ceiling.
Order determining homesteadThe court order confirming that property was the decedent’s homestead. Frequently what a title company wants before insuring a sale.
Summary administrationA shortened probate for smaller estates. Still a court proceeding, and a homestead usually needs its own order.
Formal administrationThe full probate case, with a personal representative and a creditor claim period.
Gross estateEverything counted for federal estate tax purposes. Broader than the probate estate, and it includes property under a Lady Bird Deed.
Marital deductionThe rule allowing property to pass to a spouse free of federal estate tax. Generally unavailable where the surviving spouse is not a US citizen.
QDOTA qualified domestic trust, the structure through which property can pass to a non-citizen spouse and still obtain the marital deduction.
Tenants in commonCo-ownership in undivided shares, with no right of survivorship. What multiple beneficiaries receive under a deed.
Partition actionA lawsuit any co-owner can generally file to force the division or sale of jointly owned property.
Stepped-up basisThe reset of cost basis to date-of-death value, which can eliminate accumulated capital gain on a later sale.
Save Our HomesThe constitutional cap limiting annual increases in assessed value of homestead property to 3% or CPI, whichever is lower.
Miami Lady Bird Deed lawyer helping Miami-Dade homeowners plan a probate-free transfer

Who Commonly Uses a Miami Lady Bird Deed?

Miami's housing market and demographics produce a recurring set of situations where an enhanced life estate deed is a strong fit:

  • Multi-generational Miami families who want the home to pass directly to adult children
  • Widowed Miami-Dade homeowners whose homestead is most of the estate
  • Brickell, Edgewater and downtown condo owners who want a clean transfer of a single unit
  • Long-tenured owners in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Little Havana and Westchester with decades of appreciation
  • Families with heirs abroad who would otherwise have to run a Florida probate case from another country
  • Owners planning around long-term care who want the homestead outside the probate estate

A Lady Bird Deed is not right for everyone. If the property is held in an LLC, if there is a minor child, if the family situation is contested, or if the estate is large and spread across several assets, we will say so and point you toward the structure that actually works.

Miami Neighborhoods and Communities We Serve

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for property throughout the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County, including:

  • Brickell
  • Downtown Miami
  • Coral Gables
  • Coconut Grove
  • Little Havana
  • Little Haiti
  • Edgewater
  • Wynwood
  • Design District
  • Upper East Side
  • Allapattah
  • Flagami
  • Westchester
  • The Roads
  • Shenandoah
  • Overtown
  • Liberty City
  • Morningside
  • Coral Way
  • Grapeland Heights

Work With a Miami Lady Bird Deed Attorney

Yanitza Schoonover focuses her practice on probate administration and estate planning for Florida families. She helps Miami and Miami-Dade homeowners with:

  • Miami Lady Bird Deed drafting, execution and recording
  • Formal probate administration
  • Summary administration
  • Estate planning coordination for Florida homesteads


A Lady Bird Deed is a short document that has to be exactly right. If you are considering a Miami Lady Bird Deed to keep your Miami-Dade home or condo out of probate, schedule a consultation and we will tell you plainly whether it fits.

Schedule Your Consultation
Miami Lady Bird Deed attorney Yanitza Schoonover

Yanitza Schoonover

Miami Lady Bird Deed Frequently Asked Questions

Does a Miami Lady Bird Deed work for a condo in Brickell, Edgewater, or downtown Miami?

Yes. A Miami Lady Bird Deed can be used for a condominium unit in Miami-Dade County just as it can for a single-family home, and the unit transfers to your named beneficiaries at death without probate. Because condominium associations have their own transfer rules, assessment lien provisions, and in some buildings a right of first refusal, the deed should be drafted with the specific declaration of condominium in mind.

Will a Miami Lady Bird Deed affect my Save Our Homes cap or Miami-Dade homestead exemption?

A properly drafted deed should not affect either one during your lifetime. You retain an enhanced life estate, you stay in possession, and the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser continues to treat you as the owner for homestead purposes. Note the separate point that the Save Our Homes cap generally resets at your death on the change of ownership, which happens with or without the deed.

Does a Miami Lady Bird Deed trigger Florida documentary stamp tax?

In Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004, issued October 16, 2020, the Florida Department of Revenue concluded that an enhanced life estate deed is not subject to documentary stamp tax, because no present beneficial interest transfers when the deed is signed and the remainder interest stays contingent until death. A Technical Assistance Advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer and facts presented, so your deed and any mortgage on the property should still be reviewed before recording.

What is the documentary stamp tax rate in Miami-Dade County?

Miami-Dade is the only Florida county with its own rate. Deeds are taxed at $0.60 per $100 of consideration rather than the $0.70 per $100 used in the other 66 counties, plus a $0.45 per $100 surtax on transfers of property other than a single-family residence. This matters most on sales and consideration-based transfers, but the single-family question is worth confirming on any Miami-Dade deed.

How long does Miami-Dade probate take if I do not have a Lady Bird Deed?

Formal administration in the Miami-Dade Probate Division commonly runs from roughly six months to well over a year, driven by the three-month creditor claim period, court scheduling in one of Florida's busiest circuits, and the complexity of the estate. Summary administration is faster where the estate qualifies, and as of July 1, 2026 the non-exempt asset ceiling doubled to $150,000, so more Miami estates now qualify. Even then, a homestead typically still needs a separate petition and court order determining homestead status before title is marketable.

Where is a Lady Bird Deed recorded in Miami-Dade County?

In the Miami-Dade County Official Records, through the Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. The recording counter is at Courthouse East, 22 NW First Street, first floor, in downtown Miami, and deeds may also be submitted by mail or through an approved e-recording provider. Fees are $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 per additional page, and $1.00 per name indexed beyond four names.

Can I use a Miami Lady Bird Deed if I am married?

Usually yes, with the spouse joining the deed. Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution prevents a married owner from conveying homestead property without the spouse joining, and homestead cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or a minor child. The common structure for a married Miami couple is a deed signed by both spouses naming the beneficiaries who take after the second death.

Does a Miami Lady Bird Deed protect the home from Florida Medicaid estate recovery?

Florida limits Medicaid estate recovery to assets that pass through the probate estate, so moving the home outside probate is the standard way to reduce exposure. The deed does not qualify anyone for Medicaid, and other transfers can still create a penalty period under the five-year look-back, so Medicaid planning should be handled deliberately. See our Florida Lady Bird Deed and Medicaid guide.

Can I use a Miami Lady Bird Deed if my home is owned by an LLC?

No. A Lady Bird Deed transfers real property owned by an individual. If the property is titled to an LLC, the LLC owns it and the deed is not the right instrument. Planning for LLC-held Miami real estate runs through the operating agreement, transfers of membership interests, and often a trust. Property held in an LLC also does not receive Florida homestead protection the way individually owned property does.

What happens with a Miami Lady Bird Deed if I am not a US citizen?

The deed can still avoid a Miami-Dade probate case, which matters a great deal when heirs live outside the United States. Non-resident owners face separate federal issues, including a much lower federal estate tax exemption for non-resident aliens and FIRPTA withholding on a later sale, so the deed should be coordinated with a tax professional.

Do my beneficiaries get a stepped-up basis?

Generally yes. Because you keep the enhanced powers, the transfer is treated as incomplete for federal tax purposes and the property is included in your gross estate at death, which normally produces a stepped-up cost basis for your beneficiaries. On a Miami home held for thirty years, that step-up can be worth far more than the cost of the deed. Confirm the tax treatment for your situation with a tax advisor.

Can a Miami Lady Bird Deed be changed or revoked later?

Yes, and that is the point of it. You can sell the property, refinance it, lease it, add or remove beneficiaries, or revoke the deed outright without the consent of the people named to receive it. A new deed is prepared and recorded to make the change effective.

My spouse is not a US citizen. Does that change anything?

It can, and it catches people who have done everything else right. Property passing to a surviving spouse normally qualifies for the unlimited marital deduction, so no federal estate tax is due at the first death. Under Internal Revenue Code § 2056(d) that deduction is generally not available where the surviving spouse is not a United States citizen. The relief valve is a qualified domestic trust, a QDOT, and a Lady Bird Deed is not a trust, so a deed naming a non-citizen spouse passes the home outright and does not obtain the deduction. This only matters above the federal threshold, which for decedents dying in 2026 is a basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000 per person, but Miami estates with property in several countries sometimes reach it. Citizenship at death is what counts, not at signing. Confirm with a tax advisor.

Does a Miami Lady Bird Deed cover my property in another country?

No. Real property is governed by the law of the place where it sits, so a deed recorded in the Miami-Dade Official Records affects Miami-Dade land and nothing else. An apartment in Caracas, a flat in Bogotá or a house in São Paulo is governed by that country’s law, which may include forced heirship rules that override what you wrote. Property in another US state generally requires an instrument valid under that state’s law, and without one your family may face a separate ancillary probate case there on top of anything happening in Florida.

More general questions are answered on our Florida Lady Bird Deed FAQ page.

We also assist homeowners in nearby Miami-Dade and Broward markets including Miami Beach, Doral, Kendall, Hialeah, Homestead, Hallandale Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.

Florida Lady Bird Deed Attorney Serves Homeowners Across Florida

We help homeowners throughout Florida with Lady Bird Deeds and probate avoidance planning. Below are many of the primary Florida markets we serve, but we're not limited to these locations. You can also browse the full Florida Lady Bird Deed city and county directory.

• Boca Raton • Boynton Beach • Cape Coral • Clearwater • Coral Springs • Davie • Daytona Beach • Deerfield Beach • Doral • Fort Lauderdale • Hallandale Beach • Hialeah • Hollywood • Homestead • Jacksonville • Kendall • Lauderdale Lakes • Miami • Miami Beach • Miramar • Orlando • Parkland • Pembroke Pines • Pine Hills • Plantation • Pompano Beach • Port Saint Lucie • Saint Petersburg • Sunrise • Tallahassee • Tampa • West Palm Beach • Weston

Legal disclaimer. This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Florida homestead, probate, tax and Medicaid rules change and apply differently to different families. Recording fees, tax rates and court procedures described here were accurate as of August 2026 and should be confirmed with the Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller and the Florida Department of Revenue before you rely on them.

The Schoonover Law Firm, P.A. · Yanitza Schoonover, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Florida. Attorney advertising.