Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed Attorney

Older Homes, Flood Zones and Beach Condominiums From Tarpon Springs to Tierra Verde

A Lady Bird Deed passes the property.
It also passes the old title, the flood zone and the condo assessments.

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 October 2026

Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed Attorney

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

Pinellas is Florida’s most densely populated county, a peninsula that was largely built out decades ago. That shapes the estate planning questions here in three ways. Many homes are older, with titles that have passed through several generations of deeds and sometimes a death that was never cleaned up of record. A great deal of the county is coastal and low-lying, so the house your family inherits may sit in a flood zone and may have taken water in the 2024 hurricane season. And the barrier islands, from Clearwater Beach and Sand Key down to St. Pete Beach, are lined with condominium buildings now subject to Florida’s post-Surfside inspection and reserve laws.

A Lady Bird Deed handles the transfer cleanly. It does not fix a defective title, change a flood zone, or cancel an assessment. This page covers the county hub essentials, then those three issues, so the property your family receives is one they can actually keep, insure or sell.

Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed: the short version

  • What it does: names beneficiaries who receive your Pinellas property automatically at death, outside of probate.
  • What you keep: full control for life, with the freedom to sell, rent, refinance, or revoke without anyone’s permission.
  • Older homes: the deed can only pass the title you actually hold. Gaps from an earlier death should be fixed first.
  • Flood zones: the flood risk, any open insurance claim and future disclosure duties come with the house.
  • Beach condos: milestone inspections, reserve funding and special assessments follow the unit to your beneficiaries.
  • Where it records: the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, in Clearwater or St. Petersburg, or by e-recording.

Cities We Serve in Pinellas County

Our two Pinellas city guides go deep on questions specific to those markets. Owners in Largo, Pinellas Park, Seminole, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Gulfport and the beach towns record with the same Clerk and probate in the same circuit described here.

Saint Petersburg Lady Bird Deed Save Our Homes portability follows you to a new Florida home, but never to your heirs. Clearwater Lady Bird Deed Reverse mortgages, and the clock your heirs inherit along with the house.

Across the bay and nearby

Property in a neighboring county records in that county’s office and probates in its own circuit, so the deed is drafted for the county where the property sits.

Tampa Lady Bird Deed Hillsborough County: what recording a deed means for your mortgage. Hillsborough County Lady Bird Deed The county hub for Hillsborough, written for families whose children live out of state. Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed Hernando County, north of Pasco along the Suncoast. Bradenton Lady Bird Deed Manatee County, across the Sunshine Skyway from St. Petersburg.

What Is a Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed?

A Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed is the common name for a Florida enhanced life estate deed recorded in the Pinellas County Official Records. It names the beneficiaries, called remaindermen, who receive the property automatically at your death, while reserving to you an enhanced life estate: the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without their consent.

The recording formalities come from Fla. Stat. §§ 689.01 and 695.03. The enhanced reservation comes from Florida practice and title custom rather than a statute written for it. Florida has not enacted a transfer on death deed statute for real property, which is why this deed does that job here. See our guide to Lady Bird Deeds versus wills, trusts and quitclaim deeds for the alternatives.

Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed attorney helping Clearwater and St. Petersburg homeowners avoid probate

Older Homes and Old Titles: Fix the Chain Before You Extend It

A Lady Bird Deed is a conveyance. It can only pass what you own of record. In a county where many houses have been in the same family for decades, the most common problem we find is not with the new deed at all. It is with the old ones.

Before we draft, we pull the vesting deed from the Pinellas County Official Records and read the chain behind it. These are the issues that come up most often on long-held Pinellas property:

Common title issues on long-held property, and what usually resolves them. Every title is different.
What we findWhy it mattersUsual fix
A deceased spouse still on titleIf you owned as husband and wife, you already own it all, but the record does not show that.Record a certified death certificate first.
A parent’s name on title, never probatedYou may own only an heir’s share, or nothing of record. The deed cannot pass more than you hold.Probate or a determination of homestead for the earlier estate.
An old life estate deed or earlier Lady Bird DeedEarlier remaindermen may already hold rights you cannot override without them.Read the earlier deed; it may need to be revoked, or may control.
A paid mortgage with no recorded satisfactionIt clouds a later sale by your beneficiaries.Obtain and record the satisfaction now, while records are easy to find.
A legal description that does not matchOld plats and handwritten descriptions get miscopied.Copy the vesting description exactly, and correct errors of record first.

None of this is unusual, and most of it is inexpensive to fix while you are alive and can sign. After your death, the same defect becomes your beneficiaries’ problem, and a title company will not insure their sale until it is solved. Our guide to selling or refinancing explains what title companies look for.

Flood Zones, Storm Damage and What Your Beneficiaries Inherit

Hurricane Helene’s storm surge in September 2024 put water into homes across Pinellas’s coastal neighborhoods and beach communities, and Hurricane Milton followed weeks later. For estate planning, the lesson is simple: the property passes with its flood history and its flood risk, and your beneficiaries should be ready for both.

The deed does not carry your insurance claim

A Lady Bird Deed passes the real property. An open insurance claim, an unpaid claim check in your name, or a grant you were awaiting is not real property, and the deed does not cover it. Depending on the amount, collecting it after your death can require probate or summary administration. Keeping claims closed out, and your will current, avoids sending your family to court over a repair payment.

Substantial damage and the 50% rule

Under the National Flood Insurance Program and local floodplain rules, a building in a special flood hazard area that is substantially damaged or substantially improved, generally where the cost reaches 50% of its market value, must be brought into compliance with current floodplain requirements, which can mean elevation. A beneficiary who inherits a storm-damaged house may face that decision. It is worth telling them where things stand.

Disclosure when they sell or rent

Florida’s flood disclosure statute, Fla. Stat. § 689.302, as expanded effective October 1, 2025, requires a residential seller to disclose known flood damage during their ownership, flood insurance claims, and flood remediation assistance. A companion statute, Fla. Stat. § 83.512, requires similar disclosure to tenants on leases of one year or longer. Beneficiaries who sell or rent will want your records, because the history before they owned it is what buyers ask about.

Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed lawyer reviewing flood zone and title records

Leave your family a file

  • Flood insurance declarations page and agent.
  • Elevation certificate, if you have one.
  • Claims history and any mitigation grants.
  • Repair and roof permits since you bought.

Beach Condominiums: Inspections, Reserves and Assessments Follow the Unit

A Lady Bird Deed works on a condominium unit exactly as it does on a house. What travels with the unit is the condominium’s governance, and on the Pinellas barrier islands that governance has become a significant financial question since the 2021 Surfside collapse.

  • Milestone inspections: Florida requires structural milestone inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more habitable stories once they reach a certain age, and periodically after that (Fla. Stat. § 553.899).
  • Structural integrity reserve studies: associations in those buildings must study and fund reserves for key structural components, and the old ability to waive that funding has largely ended (Fla. Stat. § 718.112).
  • Special assessments: a unit owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments (Fla. Stat. § 718.116). Your beneficiaries take the unit subject to what is owed.
  • Transfer approval and leasing: many declarations require notice or approval when title changes, and some restrict leasing. Read them before naming a beneficiary who plans to rent.

None of this stops a Lady Bird Deed. It does mean your beneficiaries should know, before they inherit, whether a large assessment has been levied or is likely. A beneficiary who expected a paid-off beach condo and receives a five-figure assessment notice has every reason to wish someone had told them.

Is it a condominium or a cooperative?

Some older Pinellas buildings are cooperatives, not condominiums. In a cooperative you own shares in a corporation and hold a proprietary lease, rather than a deeded unit. A deed may not be the right instrument at all, and the co-op’s own documents control transfers. Check your closing papers; if you received a stock certificate rather than a deed, tell us. Our guide to rentals, condos and LLC-owned property covers the variations.

Sources: Fla. Stat. §§ 553.899, 718.112 and 718.116; Fla. Stat. § 689.302 and § 83.512 (flood disclosure); 44 C.F.R. § 59.1 and § 60.3 (substantial damage and improvement). Your association’s declaration and current financial reports govern.

Recording a Lady Bird Deed in Pinellas County

Deeds in Pinellas County are recorded by the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, in the county’s Official Records. Recording counters operate at 14250 49th Street North, Clearwater and at 545 1st Avenue North, St. Petersburg, generally open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The Clerk’s main office is at 315 Court Street, Clearwater. Documents may also be submitted through e-recording, which is how we record most deeds.

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. Deeds signed at a hospital or care facility without proper witnessing fail this test regularly, and 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. Pinellas County applies the standard statewide documentary stamp rate of $0.70 per $100 of consideration on taxable deeds.

Whether the tax applies to this deed at all was addressed in Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-004 (October 16, 2020), in which 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 Department stated that conclusion applies regardless of any consideration, including a mortgage.

Our flat fee is $595 for preparation, plus $24.85 in recording costs, for a total of $619.85. The details are on our pricing page.

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

Pinellas County Probate: What the Deed Avoids

Probate in Pinellas County is handled in the probate division of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which serves Pinellas and Pasco counties. Probate filings for a Pinellas decedent are made with the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller.

Without a deed or other non-probate arrangement, a house titled in the decedent’s name generally goes through formal administration: deposit of the original will with the Clerk within 10 days after learning of the death, a petition to appoint a personal representative who is generally represented by a Florida attorney, published notice to creditors with a claims period of at least three months after first publication, and, for a homestead, a separate order determining homestead status before a title company will insure a sale.

Summary administration is the shorter alternative. Effective July 1, 2026, CS/HB 1337 (ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.) raised its non-exempt asset ceiling from $75,000 to $150,000 under Fla. Stat. § 735.201, for decedents who die on or after that date, and it remains available at any value once more than two years have passed since the death. Even then, a homestead usually still requires an order determining its status.

Older Pinellas property adds a twist. When a parent died years ago and no one opened an estate, the current generation sometimes discovers it needs two probate proceedings: one for the parent, to clear the title, and one for the most recent owner. A Lady Bird Deed recorded now, on a clean title, prevents the second. Our guide to what happens after the owner dies covers the family’s side.

Sources: Fla. Stat. § 732.901 (deposit of wills); Fla. Stat. § 733.702; Fla. Stat. § 735.201 as amended by ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla. (CS/HB 1337); Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 and 5.405.

The Pinellas County Property Appraiser and Your Homestead Filings

The Pinellas County Property Appraiser administers the homestead exemption, the Save Our Homes cap and portability for property in the county, and assigns the parcel identification number we use with your legal description.

A properly drafted Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed should not disturb your homestead exemption or your Save Our Homes cap during your lifetime. You retain the enhanced life estate, you remain in possession, and the Property Appraiser continues to treat you as the owner of record. At your death the cap resets on the change of ownership, the same as it would through probate or a trust, and a beneficiary who moves in applies for their own exemption by the March 1 deadline for the year they qualify.

Long-tenured Pinellas owners often carry a very large gap between market value and assessed value. That benefit is portable to a new Florida homestead while you are alive, up to $500,000 and generally within three tax years, but it cannot pass to your heirs. Our Saint Petersburg page covers portability in depth, including what it means if you are thinking of moving off the coast.

Spousal rights and the stepped-up basis

Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, 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. A married couple normally signs the Lady Bird Deed together. Because you keep the enhanced powers, the property remains in your gross estate at death, which normally produces a stepped-up cost basis for your beneficiaries. On a long-held Pinellas home that can eliminate most of the capital gain on a later sale; see our capital gains guide and confirm with a tax advisor.

Sources: Art. VII, § 4 and Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.; Fla. Stat. §§ 193.155 and 196.011; Pinellas County Property Appraiser homestead and portability guidance.

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 defines that estate narrowly: recovery reaches assets passing through the probate estate, and Florida 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.

The limits

  • The deed does not qualify anyone for Medicaid. Eligibility is a separate analysis.
  • The five-year look-back still applies to other transfers, including an outright gift of the home.
  • Protection depends on the home keeping homestead status and passing to heirs; if the home falls back into the probate estate (for example, because no named beneficiary survives), recovery rules can reach it.

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.

After a Death: What Your Family Actually Does

  1. Order certified death certificates

    Several copies. The title company, the insurer, the association and any lender will each want one.

  2. Record one in the Pinellas County Official Records

    This publicly establishes that the life estate has ended and the named beneficiaries hold title.

  3. Call the flood and homeowner insurers

    Coverage on a coastal home should not lapse during the change of ownership. Ask whether the existing flood policy can be transferred to the new owners.

  4. Contact the condominium association

    For a unit, request an estoppel statement of what is owed, and the status of any milestone inspection or special assessment.

  5. 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.

What is not on that list: a petition, a personal representative, publication of notice to creditors, or a creditor claim period for that property.

What a Lady Bird Deed Does Not Do

Common misconceptions, several of them specific to older and coastal property.
People assume it…Reality
Fixes an old title problemNo. It passes only what you own of record. Clear earlier gaps first.
Passes an open insurance claimNo. Claim proceeds are not real property and may require probate to collect.
Cancels a condo assessmentNo. Assessments and liens follow the unit to your beneficiaries.
Works on a cooperative unitNot necessarily. Co-op shares and a proprietary lease are transferred under the co-op’s documents.
Passes your Save Our Homes cap to the kidsNo. It resets on the change of ownership at death.
Replaces a willNo. You still want a will for everything the deed does not cover.
Qualifies you for MedicaidNo. It may reduce estate recovery exposure on a homestead, but it does not create eligibility.

The deed can be changed if your plans change; see our guide to revoking or changing a Lady Bird Deed.

How to Get a Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed

  1. Pull the vesting deed and read the chain

    We pull your vesting deed from the Pinellas County Official Records and look for gaps: a deceased spouse or parent still on title, an earlier life estate, or an unrecorded mortgage satisfaction.

  2. Fix any title problem first

    Record a death certificate, obtain a satisfaction, or resolve an earlier estate, so the new deed passes a clean title.

  3. Confirm the deed fits your goals

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

  4. For a condominium, read the documents

    Transfer approval, leasing restrictions, current assessments, and whether the building is a condominium or a cooperative.

  5. Draft the enhanced life estate reservation

    Reserving your power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without the beneficiaries’ consent, and naming contingent takers.

  6. Sign with two witnesses and a notary

    Both witnesses present and signing. A married owner’s spouse joins the deed on homestead property.

  7. Record with the Pinellas County Clerk

    At 545 1st Avenue North in St. Petersburg, at 14250 49th Street North in Clearwater, or by e-recording, for $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 per additional page.

START WITH A CONSULTATION

Communities Across Pinellas County

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for property throughout Pinellas County, including:

  • St. Petersburg
  • Clearwater
  • Clearwater Beach
  • Largo
  • Pinellas Park
  • Seminole
  • Dunedin
  • Palm Harbor
  • Tarpon Springs
  • Safety Harbor
  • Oldsmar
  • East Lake
  • Gulfport
  • St. Pete Beach
  • Treasure Island
  • Madeira Beach
  • Indian Rocks Beach
  • Redington Shores
  • Belleair
  • Tierra Verde

Nearby Areas We Serve

We also serve owners in the counties around Tampa Bay. Each records in its own county office:

  • Hillsborough County: Tampa and suburbs, and planning for children who live out of state.
  • Tampa: what recording a Lady Bird Deed means for your mortgage.
  • Sarasota County: second homes, retirees and ancillary probate for out-of-state owners.
  • Bradenton: Manatee County homes just across the Skyway.
  • Spring Hill: Hernando County homes north along the Suncoast.

Work With a Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed Attorney

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

  • Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed drafting, execution and recording
  • Title cleanup on long-held and inherited property
  • Condominium and coastal property planning
  • Formal and summary probate administration


On older Pinellas property the most valuable part of the engagement is often the title review that happens before anything is drafted. The fee is a flat $595. Schedule a consultation and we will read the chain and tell you plainly what your family would inherit.

Schedule Your Consultation
Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed attorney Yanitza Schoonover

Yanitza Schoonover

Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed Frequently Asked Questions

Where is a Lady Bird Deed recorded in Pinellas County?

With the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, in the county’s Official Records. Recording counters operate at 14250 49th Street North in Clearwater and at 545 1st Avenue North in St. Petersburg, generally open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Documents may also be submitted through e-recording.

My late husband is still on the deed. Can I sign a Lady Bird Deed?

Usually yes, but record his certified death certificate first. If you owned the home together as a married couple, you became the sole owner at his death, and recording the death certificate makes that clear in the Official Records so the new deed starts from a clean title. If the home was titled differently, or a parent or other relative is still on title, the answer depends on how they held it, and an earlier estate may need to be addressed.

My home flooded during the 2024 storms. Does that affect a Lady Bird Deed?

It does not prevent one. The deed passes the property in whatever condition it is in. What matters is what surrounds it: an open insurance claim or unpaid claim check is not real property and is not covered by the deed, a substantially damaged building in a flood zone may need to meet current floodplain rules before it is rebuilt, and your beneficiaries will have disclosure duties if they sell or rent. Keep your claim and repair records together for them.

Can I use a Lady Bird Deed on my beach condominium?

Yes, on a condominium unit. The deed works the same as on a house. Milestone inspection obligations, structural integrity reserve funding and any special assessments travel with the unit, and a new owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments. Check the declaration for transfer approval and leasing limits, and confirm the building is a condominium rather than a cooperative.

What about a cooperative apartment?

A cooperative is different. You own shares in a corporation and hold a proprietary lease, not a deeded unit, so a deed may not be the right instrument. Transfers are governed by the cooperative documents, and some co-ops have their own procedures for a transfer at death. Tell us if you received a stock certificate rather than a deed at closing.

Which court handles probate in Pinellas County?

The probate division of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which serves Pinellas and Pasco counties, with filings made through the Pinellas County Clerk. Formal administration involves a personal representative, a Florida attorney, published notice to creditors and a claims period of at least three months. Effective July 1, 2026, summary administration covers non-exempt estates up to $150,000 under Fla. Stat. § 735.201, for deaths on or after that date.

Will a Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed affect my homestead exemption?

A properly drafted deed should not affect your homestead exemption or your Save Our Homes cap during your lifetime. You retain an enhanced life estate, you remain in possession, and the Pinellas County Property Appraiser continues to treat you as the owner of record. The cap resets at your death on the change of ownership, with or without the deed.

Can a Pinellas County Lady Bird Deed be changed or revoked later?

Yes. You can sell the property, refinance it, lease it, add or remove beneficiaries, or revoke the deed entirely without the consent of the people named to receive it. A new deed is prepared and recorded to make the change effective. That flexibility matters if storm damage, an assessment or a move off the coast changes your plans.

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

See every market on our areas we serve page, or browse the Lady Bird Deed guides. Ready to start? See the flat fee or contact us.

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, or read our Lady Bird Deed guides.

• Boca Raton • Boynton Beach • Bradenton • Cape Coral • Clearwater • Coral Springs • Davie • Daytona Beach • Deerfield Beach • Delray Beach • Doral • Fort Lauderdale • Fort Myers • Hallandale Beach • Hialeah • Hollywood • Homestead • Jacksonville • Kendall • Lauderdale Lakes • Melbourne • Miami • Miami Beach • Miramar • Naples • Ocala • Orlando • Palm Coast • Parkland • Pembroke Pines • Pine Hills • Plantation • Pompano Beach • Port Charlotte • Port Saint Lucie • Saint Petersburg • Sarasota • Spring Hill • Sunrise • Tallahassee • Tampa • Venice • The Villages • 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. Flood insurance, floodplain and condominium obligations depend on the specific property, policy and association documents. Recording locations, fees, tax rates and court procedures described were accurate as of October 2026 and should be confirmed with the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, the Pinellas County Property Appraiser and the Florida Department of Revenue.

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