Spring Hill 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

Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed Attorney

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

In Spring Hill the question we hear most is not whether to plan, but whether a simpler shortcut will do: can’t I just add my son or daughter to the deed? For a long-time owner whose paid-off house is the family’s main asset, the answer matters more than almost anywhere. Adding a child is a gift that exposes your home to your child’s creditors, costs you control, can shrink your homestead exemption, and gives up most of the stepped-up basis. A Lady Bird Deed reaches the same goal without any of that.

What Is a Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed?

A Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed is the common name for a Florida enhanced life estate deed recorded on property in Hernando County. It names the beneficiaries, called remaindermen, who receive your home automatically at your death, and reserves to you an enhanced life estate that leaves you in complete control while you are alive.

The enhancement is the whole point. Your children receive nothing now and have no say over the house. You can sell it, refinance it, lease it, change the beneficiaries or revoke the deed without asking them. That is the opposite of what happens when a parent adds a child to the deed, which is the most common alternative we see in Spring Hill and the subject of most of this page.

Florida has not enacted a transfer on death deed statute for real property, so the enhanced life estate deed is the Florida tool that does the same job; see our Florida transfer on death deed guide.

Spring Hill Estate Planning Snapshot

Spring Hill is an unincorporated community in southwestern Hernando County, founded in 1967 as a planned community by the Deltona Corporation and the Mackle brothers. It has no city government; county services, the Hernando County Clerk and the Hernando County Property Appraiser handle everything a deed touches.

The estate planning picture here is consistent. Many Spring Hill owners are long-time retirees in modest single-family homes they bought years ago and have since paid off. The house is often the family’s only significant asset, held in the owner’s name alone after a spouse has died, with a little money in the bank and adult children living elsewhere in Florida or out of state. That profile makes a Lady Bird Deed especially valuable, and it makes the shortcut of adding a child to the deed especially tempting.

When the House Is the Estate

Families with modest estates often assume probate is something for wealthy people. In Florida it is the opposite: probate is triggered by what is titled in your name alone at death, and a paid-off house in your name is exactly that. Without planning, your children need a court case in Hernando County before they can sell it, rent it or even refinance it.

Florida’s summary administration helps with smaller estates, and the 2026 change raised its ceiling, but it does not remove the court from the picture. A homestead usually still requires a separate court order determining homestead status before title is marketable. For a family whose only asset is the house, those court costs come out of the same modest inheritance, and the house sits, with taxes, insurance and upkeep running, until the order is entered.

A Lady Bird Deed takes the house out of that process for a flat $595 preparation fee plus $24.85 to record. At your death, your children record a death certificate and own the home. See our pricing page.

The “Just Add My Child to the Deed” Mistake

It is the most common do-it-yourself plan we see in Spring Hill. A parent, often a widow or widower, signs a quitclaim deed adding a son or daughter to the title so the house will “go to them automatically.” It often does avoid probate. It also does several other things the parent did not intend, and most of them cannot be undone without the child’s signature.

1. It is a gift, today

Adding a child to the deed gives the child a present ownership interest in your home. That is a completed gift. If the value of the interest exceeds the annual federal gift tax exclusion, you are generally required to file a federal gift tax return (Form 709). Tax is rarely owed, because the gift counts against your lifetime exemption, but the filing obligation is real and frequently missed.

2. Your home is exposed to your child’s problems

Your homestead protects your interest from your creditors. It does not protect your child’s interest, because the house is not your child’s homestead. A judgment against your child can attach to their share of your home. Your child’s bankruptcy, a car accident, a business failure or a divorce can put your house in the middle of a legal proceeding you are not a party to, and a co-owner’s creditor can in some cases seek a forced sale.

3. You lose control

Once your child is on title, you cannot sell, refinance, borrow against the home or change your mind without their signature. If your child becomes incapacitated, a guardianship may be needed before the house can be sold. If your child dies before you, their share may pass to their own heirs, which can mean a son-in-law or daughter-in-law as your co-owner. Any co-owner can generally file a partition action to force a sale when owners disagree.

4. Your homestead exemption can shrink

How the child is added matters. If you and your child hold title as tenants in common and your child does not live in the home, the property appraiser may limit your homestead exemption to your proportionate share, because the exemption under Fla. Stat. § 196.031 follows the interest of the owners who reside there. The Florida Attorney General read the statute that way for tenants in common in Opinion 2007-08.

Your Save Our Homes cap is treated differently. Under Fla. Stat. § 193.155, a deed in which you are both grantor and grantee and another person is added is generally not a change of ownership, so the cap usually does not reset, unless the added person later applies for a homestead exemption on the property. Because the result depends on the wording of the deed, confirm with the Hernando County Property Appraiser before anything is recorded.

5. Your child loses most of the stepped-up basis

This is usually the most expensive consequence. Property received at death generally takes a stepped-up basis equal to its value at death. Property received as a lifetime gift keeps your original basis, called a carryover basis. On a Spring Hill house bought decades ago, the gifted share keeps your old purchase price as its basis, and when your child sells, the gain on that share is taxed. A Lady Bird Deed keeps the home in your estate for tax purposes and generally preserves the full step-up.

6. It can create Medicaid problems

A gift of an interest in your home can be treated as a transfer for less than fair value under the Medicaid look-back rules, depending on who receives it and why. A Lady Bird Deed is a different animal: you keep the enhanced life estate, and the home passes outside the probate estate that Florida’s estate recovery reaches.

Sources: Fla. Stat. §§ 193.155(3), 196.031; Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 2007-08 (2007); 26 U.S.C. §§ 1014, 1015, 2511; 42 U.S.C. § 1396p. Confirm the property tax treatment with the Hernando County Property Appraiser and the tax treatment with a tax advisor.

Adding a Child vs. a Lady Bird Deed, Side by Side

Our Lady Bird Deed vs. quitclaim deed guide goes deeper on the quitclaim deeds used to add children, and the comparison page covers wills and trusts.

If you already added your child

It can usually be repaired, but it takes your child’s cooperation. Typically the child deeds their interest back, and then a Lady Bird Deed is recorded. Because the child’s deed back is itself a transfer, the tax and Medicaid effects of undoing it should be reviewed before anyone signs. If your child will not sign, your options narrow considerably, which is the best argument for not adding them in the first place.

Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes and Spousal Rights

A properly drafted Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed should not disturb your homestead exemption or your Save Our Homes assessment cap during your lifetime. You retain the enhanced life estate, you remain in possession, and the Hernando County Property Appraiser continues to treat you as the owner of record. The cap does not pass to your beneficiaries; it resets on the change of ownership at death, the same as it would through probate or a trust. For a long-time owner, that reset is often the largest change your children notice, and it happens with or without the deed.

On the constitutional side, Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution provides that a married owner cannot convey homestead without the spouse joining in the deed, and that homestead cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or a minor child. The joinder requirement applies when the deed is signed; the limit on devising homestead is applied based on the property and the family at death. A married couple normally signs the Lady Bird Deed together, naming the beneficiaries who take after the second death. A widowed owner with adult children signs alone.

Medicaid and Estate Recovery

Florida’s Medicaid program must seek reimbursement from the estates of recipients aged 55 and over who received long-term care benefits, and Florida defines that estate narrowly: recovery reaches assets passing through the probate estate. For a Spring Hill owner whose house is the only real asset, that is the whole question. 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.

Recording a Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed

Deeds for Spring Hill property are recorded by the Hernando County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller in the county’s Official Records. The main office is at 20 N. Main Street, Brooksville, open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. Closer to home, the Spring Hill Office in the Forest Oaks Government Center, 7405 Forest Oaks Boulevard, lists recording and copies of Official Records among its services and is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. E-recording is also available.

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. Hernando 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 Department reached that conclusion regardless of any consideration, including a mortgage.

Sources: Hernando County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller, Locations (Main Office and Spring Hill Office); Florida Department of Revenue TAA 20B4-004 (Oct. 16, 2020); Fla. Stat. ch. 201; Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13); Fla. Stat. §§ 689.01, 695.03.

After a Death: What Your Family Actually Does

1. Order certified death certificates

   Several copies. Institutions want originals, not photocopies.

2. Record one against the property

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

3. Notify the property appraiser and tax collector

   The homestead exemption ends with the owner. Expect a higher assessment the following year as the Save Our Homes cap resets.

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

   The property insurer needs to know who owns and occupies the home. Vacant property has different coverage requirements.

What is not on that list: a probate case, a personal representative, publication of notice to creditors, or a creditor claim period for that property. Our after-death guide walks through each step, and if your children plan to sell, the capital gains guide explains the step-up.

What a Lady Bird Deed Does Not Do

If you later want to change the beneficiaries, see how to revoke or change a Lady Bird Deed. If you are thinking of using a form, read our guide to Lady Bird Deed forms first.

How to Get a Spring Hill Lady Bird Deed

1. Gather the vesting deed and parcel number

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

2. Check how the home is titled now

   If a late spouse is still on title, or a child was added earlier, that is addressed before the new deed is drafted.

3. Confirm the deed fits your goals

   Who you want to receive the home, whether you are married, and whether there is a minor child. Florida homestead rules determine whether a Lady Bird Deed works as intended.

4. Draft the enhanced life estate reservation

   The deed must reserve the powers to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without the consent of the beneficiaries. Weak reservation language is the most common defect in do-it-yourself deeds.

5. Sign before two witnesses and a notary

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

6. Record with the Hernando County Clerk

   At the Brooksville main office, the Spring Hill Office or by e-recording, at $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.

Plain-English Glossary

Spring Hill and Hernando County Communities We Serve

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for homes throughout Spring Hill and Hernando County, including:

• Spring Hill
• Timber Pines
• Weeki Wachee
• North Weeki Wachee
• Hernando Beach
• Brooksville
• South Brooksville
• High Point
• Brookridge
• Garden Grove
• Masaryktown
• Wiscon
• Ridge Manor
• Istachatta
• Nobleton

Nearby Areas We Serve

We also prepare Lady Bird Deeds for owners in nearby markets. Each page covers what is different there:

• Tampa: Lady Bird Deeds for Tampa homeowners.

• Hillsborough County: the county-wide guide for Tampa Bay property south of Hernando.

• The Villages: three counties, CDD bonds, amenity fees, snowbirds and blended families.

• Ocala: acreage, horse farms, agricultural classification and multiple parcels.

• Orlando: probate avoidance for Orlando homeowners.

Browse every market on our areas we serve page, or see the flat fee on our pricing page.