Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed Attorney

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

Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed Attorney

A Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed, known formally as a Florida enhanced life estate deed, lets your condominium, villa or house pass directly to the people you name at your death, with no probate case in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Nothing changes while you are alive: you stay on title, you keep any homestead exemption, and you can live in the property, rent it, refinance it, sell it, or revoke the deed entirely.

Palm Beach County has long drawn retirees, and its housing reflects it. From Century Village in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton to Leisureville and the Valencia communities in Boynton Beach, the county holds a large stock of age-restricted condominiums and active-adult neighborhoods. Alongside the year-round residents is a large seasonal population: owners whose legal home is in New York, New Jersey, Ohio or Ontario and who spend the winter here.

Those two groups need the same deed for different reasons. For a year-round retiree, the deed keeps the homestead out of a Palm Beach probate case. For a seasonal owner domiciled elsewhere, it does something even more valuable: it prevents a second probate case, an ancillary administration in Florida on top of the main one back home. This page covers both, along with the county machinery every owner shares.

What Is a Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed?

A Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed is the common name for a Florida enhanced life estate deed recorded on property in Palm Beach County. It 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.

For an owner in later life the enhancement is the reason to use this deed rather than an ordinary life estate deed. Under a traditional life estate deed you could not sell without every beneficiary signing. If you later need to sell the condo to fund assisted living, or move north to be near grandchildren, that requirement turns a simple sale into a family negotiation. An enhanced life estate deed reserves the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without anyone’s consent.

Owners arriving from other states sometimes ask for a “transfer on death deed”, because their home state has one. Florida has not enacted a transfer on death deed statute for real property; its transfer on death registration law (Fla. Stat. ch. 711) covers securities. The Lady Bird Deed is the Florida instrument. See our transfer on death deed guide and the comparison with wills, trusts and quitclaim deeds.

Recording a Lady Bird Deed in Palm Beach County

In Palm Beach County, deeds are recorded in the Official Records by the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County, through its Recording Department. Unlike some large counties, Palm Beach offers in-person recording at several courthouses, which matters in a county this long from north to south.

Execution requirements

Florida requires a deed conveying an interest in real property to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses and acknowledged before a notary public (Fla. Stat. §§ 689.01 and 695.03). Both witnesses must be present and must sign, and since January 1, 2024 each witness’s post-office address must appear on the deed. In a county with many signings at assisted living facilities and hospital bedsides, this is where deeds most often fail: a single witness, a staff member who will not sign, or a notary who leaves before the second witness arrives. The failure surfaces at death, when it can no longer be corrected.

Recording fees and documentary stamp tax

Recording charges are $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, and $1.00 per name indexed beyond four names. Palm Beach County applies the standard statewide documentary stamp rate of $0.70 per $100 of consideration on taxable deeds. In Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004 (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. A Technical Assistance Advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer and facts presented.

The Palm Beach Clerk offers a free Property Fraud Alert that notifies registered owners when a document is recorded under their name. For retirees, who are disproportionately targeted by deed fraud, it is worth five minutes to sign up through the Palm Beach Clerk.

Sources: Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County, Recording Department and eRecording; Florida Department of Revenue Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004 (Oct. 16, 2020); Fla. Stat. ch. 201; Fla. Stat. § 28.24; Fla. Stat. §§ 689.01, 695.03, 695.26.

Fifteenth Circuit Probate: What the Deed Lets Your Family Skip

Probate in Palm Beach County is handled by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with probate matters heard at the Main Courthouse, 205 North Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, and case files kept by the Clerk. With so many estates of retirees passing through it, the county’s probate docket is a busy one. For a family where the adult children live in other states, every step is done by phone, courier and e-filing.

• The original will must be deposited with the Clerk within ten days of learning of the death (Fla. Stat. § 732.901).

• A personal representative who lives outside Florida can serve only if closely related to the decedent, such as a child, sibling, niece or nephew (Fla. Stat. § 733.304).

• Formal administration ordinarily requires a Florida attorney from the first filing.

• Notice to creditors opens a three-month claim period, and nothing closes before it runs.

• The homestead usually needs its own court order determining homestead status before a title company will insure a sale.

The 2026 change to summary administration

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 (Fla. Stat. § 735.201), for decedents who die on or after that date. Summary administration also remains available at any value once more than two years have passed since the death. Many Palm Beach retirees’ estates will now qualify, but summary administration is still a court case, and the homestead usually still needs its own order. A Lady Bird Deed takes the home out of the process.

The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser: Homestead, Save Our Homes and Portability

The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser administers the homestead exemption, the Save Our Homes assessment cap and portability. A Lady Bird Deed does not need the Property Appraiser’s approval, but it interacts with each.

• Your exemption stays. Florida treats the holder of a life estate as an owner for homestead purposes (Fla. Stat. § 196.041). A properly drafted deed should not disturb your exemption or your Save Our Homes cap.

• Homestead requires permanent residence. The exemption is for owners who make the property their permanent home in good faith. A seasonal owner whose legal home is elsewhere generally cannot claim it here.

• Apply by March 1. The statewide deadline for a homestead application is March 1 of the tax year. A beneficiary who later moves in applies in their own name.

• The cap resets at death. Save Our Homes does not pass to beneficiaries under a deed, a will or a trust.

• Portability is yours. Downsizing from a house to a condo is common here. If you sell and buy another Florida homestead, you can generally transfer up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit, provided you establish the new homestead within three years. A downsizer transfers a proportional share. Sign a new Lady Bird Deed on the new home: the old deed does not follow you.

The constitutional rules apply to homestead property too. Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, a married owner cannot convey homestead without the spouse joining, and homestead cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or a minor child. In a second marriage, which is common among Palm Beach retirees, who receives the home is often the hardest question in the plan. The surviving spouse’s homestead rights cannot simply be ignored by a deed, so spousal joinder and, where appropriate, a written waiver belong in the conversation from the start.

Because you keep the enhanced powers, the property remains in your gross estate at death, which normally gives your beneficiaries a stepped-up cost basis. On a condo bought in the 1990s, that step-up can eliminate most of the capital gain on the sale your children will probably make. Deeding it to them during life generally forfeits it.

55+ Condominiums: Owning Is Not the Same as Living There

A large share of Palm Beach County’s retirement housing is age restricted under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act. A Lady Bird Deed works in those communities exactly as intended: title passes to your beneficiaries, whatever their age. The complication is occupancy. Governing documents typically require each occupied unit to have at least one resident aged 55 or older, and the federal 80% floor is not a guaranteed allowance for younger residents. An heir under 55 may own a unit they are not permitted to move into.

Many of the county’s older condominium communities date from the 1970s and 1980s. Since Florida’s post-Surfside condominium safety legislation, buildings three stories or taller face milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve requirements, and the resulting special assessments follow the unit to whoever inherits it. That does not change whether a deed is the right tool. It changes what you should tell your beneficiaries about what they are inheriting. Many of these communities also require association approval for any new owner, so the declaration deserves a read before the deed is drafted.

The full analysis of age restrictions and the 80/20 rule is on our Pembroke Pines guide, and units held as rentals are covered in our rental, condo and LLC guide.

Seasonal Residents: Avoiding a Second Probate in Florida

When someone dies domiciled in another state while owning Florida real estate, their estate is administered at home, but the Florida property generally requires its own ancillary administration in the Florida county where it sits (Fla. Stat. § 734.102). For a snowbird with a Palm Beach condo, that means a Fifteenth Circuit case, a Florida attorney, and Florida’s creditor procedures, in addition to the probate back home.

A Lady Bird Deed avoids that. The Florida property passes to your beneficiaries at death by recording a death certificate, and the ancillary case never needs to be opened. For seasonal owners this is often the single most valuable thing the deed does. Our Miami Beach guide covers ancillary probate in more depth.

Which state is your home? It matters more than people think

Seasonal residents often live in a gray zone, with a Florida condo, a home up north, and a driver’s license from one or the other. Domicile drives three separate questions:

Owners who have moved their legal home to Florida can file a sworn declaration of domicile (Fla. Stat. § 222.17), which the Palm Beach Clerk records in the Official Records. It is evidence, not proof, and it should match the rest of your life: driver’s license, voter registration, tax returns. Our Boca Raton guide works through domicile in detail, including what follows if your Florida home is not really your homestead.

One practical point for seasonal owners: a Lady Bird Deed covers only the Florida property. Your home in another state needs whatever instrument that state recognizes, which may well be a transfer on death deed there, even though Florida has none.

Planning for Later Life: Capacity, Powers of Attorney and Old Deeds

Three issues come up again and again with Palm Beach County retirees and their adult children.

Sign while capacity is clear

A deed requires the owner to understand what they are signing. A deed signed during a decline, arranged by the child who benefits from it, is the kind most likely to be challenged by a sibling. The best time to sign is before anyone could question it. Our Coral Springs guide is written for the adult child helping a parent through this.

Check the power of attorney

The deed’s reserved powers belong to you. If you later become unable to act, an agent under a durable power of attorney can sell or refinance only if the document grants that authority, and Florida requires specific, separately initialed authority for an agent to change beneficiary designations or rights of survivorship (Fla. Stat. § 709.2202). A power of attorney signed decades ago in another state may not do what the family expects.

Look at the deed you already signed

Many Palm Beach owners signed a life estate deed years ago and are not sure what kind it is. An ordinary life estate deed, without the enhanced powers, means you cannot sell without your children’s signatures. Our Boynton Beach guide shows how to tell, and our guide to revoking or changing a Lady Bird Deed covers what to do next.

Medicaid and Estate Recovery

Florida’s Medicaid program is required by federal law to seek reimbursement from the estates of recipients aged 55 and over who received long-term care benefits. Florida limits that recovery to assets passing through the probate estate, and 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.

Our full write-up is on the Florida Lady Bird Deed and Medicaid page.

Sources: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p; Fla. Stat. §§ 409.910 and 409.9101; Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.; Fla. Stat. §§ 222.17, 709.2202, 734.102.

After a Death: What Your Family Does in Palm Beach County

1. Order certified death certificates

   Several copies. A death that occurs out of state produces that state’s certificate, which works for recording here.

2. Record one with the Palm Beach Clerk

   In the Official Records, at any recording location, by mail or by e-recording. This establishes that the life estate has ended and the beneficiaries hold title.

3. Contact the association

   In a 55+ or approval-required community this step decides what happens next: who may occupy, whether leasing is allowed, and what the estoppel shows is owed.

4. 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.

5. Notify the insurer

   Vacant property, common with seasonal homes, has different coverage requirements.

What is not on that list: a Fifteenth Circuit petition, a Florida ancillary case, a personal representative, or published notice to creditors. Our guide to what happens after the owner dies covers each step.

How to Get a Palm Beach County Lady Bird Deed

Our flat fee covers the drafting and the signing and recording instructions. Here is the sequence for a Palm Beach County property.

1. Confirm your domicile and homestead status

   Whether Florida is your permanent home determines the homestead rules that apply and whether the deed is avoiding a primary probate or an ancillary one.

2. Confirm the deed fits your goals

   Review how the property is titled, who you want to receive it, whether you are married or remarried, and whether there is a minor child.

3. Pull the vesting deed and parcel number

   The new deed must carry the exact legal description from the last recorded deed in the Palm Beach County Official Records, together with the parcel control number from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser.

4. Read the association documents

   In a 55+ or condominium community, check the occupancy, leasing and approval provisions and any pending special assessment before naming beneficiaries.

5. Draft the enhanced life estate reservation

   The deed must reserve the powers to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without the consent of the remainder beneficiaries.

6. Sign before two witnesses and a notary

   Florida requires two subscribing witnesses, with their post-office addresses, and a notary acknowledgment. A married owner’s spouse joins the deed on homestead property.

7. Record with the Palm Beach County Clerk

   Record in the Official Records at the Main Courthouse, 205 North Dixie Highway, a branch courthouse, by mail, or by e-recording, at $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.

Cities We Serve in Palm Beach County

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for property anywhere in Palm Beach County. Each city guide answers the question that comes up most in that market.

Not listed? Owners in Jupiter, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach and every other Palm Beach County community record with the same Clerk and face the same Fifteenth Circuit probate court. Our Broward County guide covers the county to the south.

Nearby Areas We Serve

Many Palm Beach County families also own, or are inheriting, property in neighboring counties.

• Broward County: where deeds are recorded by Records, Taxes and Treasury, not the Clerk.
• Deerfield Beach: cooperatives are not condominiums, and a deed generally cannot convey a co-op interest.
• Parkland: young families, and the minor child rule on homestead.
• Port St. Lucie: fast-growing St. Lucie County suburbs to the north.
• Miami-Dade County: the only county with its own documentary stamp rate.

Browse every market on our areas we serve page.