Orlando Lady Bird Deed Frequently Asked Questions
If my partner and I own a house together in Orlando and one of us dies, does the other automatically get the whole house?
Not unless the deed expressly says so. Fla. Stat. § 689.15 provides that the doctrine of the right of survivorship in cases of real estate and personal property held by joint tenants shall not prevail in this state, and that transfers hereafter made to two or more shall create a tenancy in common unless the instrument creating the estate expressly provides for the right of survivorship. Spouses holding as tenants by the entireties are the exception. Two unmarried co-owners with a silent deed hold as tenants in common, so the deceased owner's undivided share passes to that person's own heirs by will or intestacy, through probate, not to the survivor.
What actually happens to the deceased co-owner's half?
It becomes part of that person's estate and is distributed like the rest of their property: by will if there is one, otherwise to the heirs Florida's intestacy rules identify. Either way it normally takes an Orange County probate to move title, and the surviving co-owner ends up owning a house with people they may never have met.
Does this affect siblings or friends who bought a house together?
Yes, identically. The rule in § 689.15 is not about romantic relationships. It is about anyone other than spouses. Two brothers buying a rental, a mother and adult daughter, three friends splitting a house: all are tenants in common by default, and none inherits from the others by operation of the deed. The only Florida form carrying automatic survivorship without saying so is tenancy by the entireties, available only to spouses.
How does a Lady Bird Deed solve this?
A Lady Bird Deed, formally an enhanced life estate deed, lets each co-owner name who receives that owner's undivided share at death, outside probate, while keeping full power for life to sell, mortgage, lease or revoke without anyone's permission. Two co-owners can name each other, so the survivor takes everything without probate. Or one names the other while the second names a child. A single survivorship clause cannot do that.
Should we just add survivorship language to the deed instead?
It is a legitimate option and sometimes the right one, but it is a different choice with different consequences, and neither is automatically right. Express survivorship is simple and it works. It also commits both owners now: neither can redirect a share to a child later without the other signing a new deed, and the whole property goes to whichever owner lives longer. A Lady Bird Deed keeps each owner's decision revocable.
Where is a Lady Bird Deed recorded in Orange County?
With the Orange County Comptroller, Official Records Department, at 109 East Church Street, Suite 300, Orlando, Florida 32801. This is a genuine local quirk: Orange County records deeds through the Comptroller, not the Clerk of Court, which is where most Florida counties record them. Broward County uses its Records, Taxes & Treasury Division and Palm Beach County uses its Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. The offices are not interchangeable.
What does it cost to record, and is documentary stamp tax due?
Recording charges are $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, and $1.00 per name indexed beyond four names. The standard statewide documentary stamp rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration on taxable deeds. 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 it is signed. A Technical Assistance Advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer and facts presented, and where there is a mortgage the analysis turns on consideration.
We are married. Does any of this apply to us?
Less of it. Estates by the entirety are excepted from § 689.15, so spouses holding that way have survivorship without saying so. The same section provides that on dissolution of marriage, tenants by the entirety become tenants in common. A divorce converts the holding into the default form, with no survivorship, and a deed that was doing quiet work for years stops doing it. Divorced co-owners who kept the house are in the same position as any other unmarried pair.
Does a Lady Bird Deed protect the home from Medicaid estate recovery?
Florida limits Medicaid estate recovery to assets passing through the probate estate and has not adopted the expanded definition some states use, so a Lady Bird Deed is one of the standard tools for reducing exposure on a Florida homestead. It does not qualify anyone for Medicaid, and the five-year look-back applies to transfers of non-homestead assets. On co-owned property the analysis runs owner by owner. See our Medicaid guide.
Do the beneficiaries get a stepped-up basis, and what happens to the property tax?
Because the property stays in the deceased owner's gross estate, basis on that share resets to date-of-death value, which can eliminate accumulated capital gain on a later sale. The other side is that the Save Our Homes cap resets on the change of ownership at death, so the tax bill can rise. Both happen with or without a Lady Bird Deed. Confirm tax treatment with a tax advisor.
If we do nothing, how bad is the probate?
It depends on the estate. Summary administration under Fla. Stat. § 735.201 is the shorter path, and the ceiling on non-exempt assets rises to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026 under CS/SB 1500, for deaths on or after that date. Even so it is a court proceeding with a petition, notice requirements and a judge, and until it concludes the surviving co-owner cannot deliver clear title to a buyer or satisfy a refinance lender.
More general questions are answered on our Florida Lady Bird Deed FAQ.
