The Villages Lady Bird Deed Frequently Asked Questions
My home is in The Villages. Which county records my Lady Bird Deed?
The county where the home sits. The Villages spans Sumter, Lake and Marion counties, so the deed is recorded with the Sumter County Clerk of Court and Comptroller in Bushnell, the Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller in Tavares, or the Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller in Ocala. Your property tax bill and your last recorded deed both show the county.
Does a Lady Bird Deed pay off or remove my CDD bond?
No. The bond assessment is attached to the property, appears as its own line on the tax bill, and stays with the home until it is paid. Your beneficiaries take the home subject to any remaining balance. Owners may prepay the bond in full at any time, and an heir who sells can pay it at closing or have the buyer assume it.
Will my children have to keep paying the amenity fee after they inherit?
Yes, for as long as they own the home. A typical Villages Declaration of Restrictions binds the owner’s heirs, successors and assigns to the monthly amenities fee, continues it whether or not the home is occupied, and secures it with a lien. Because there is no probate case, a Lady Bird Deed lets your beneficiaries sell or lease sooner, which shortens the time they carry those costs.
I remarried. Can I leave my Villages home to my children from my first marriage?
Yes, but if the home is your Florida homestead, your spouse has to be part of the plan. A married owner cannot convey homestead without the spouse joining the deed, and homestead cannot be left away from a surviving spouse unless the spouse has waived those rights. The cleanest approaches are a deed your spouse joins that includes the statutory homestead waiver language, or a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that the deed is drafted to match.
What happens if my spouse did not sign the deed?
If the home is homestead and your spouse survives you, the deed may not control. The home would pass under Florida’s homestead descent statute: your spouse receives a life estate and your descendants the remainder, or your spouse may elect within six months to take an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common. The fix is a new deed signed while you are both able to sign it.
We are snowbirds and our will is in another state. Do we still need a Lady Bird Deed?
Usually it is worth it. When someone domiciled in another state dies owning Florida real estate in their own name, Florida generally requires an ancillary probate case in the county where the property lies, on top of the home-state probate. A Lady Bird Deed avoids that second case. A funded revocable trust also avoids it, and a Lady Bird Deed can name that trust as the remainder beneficiary.
Can we sign the Lady Bird Deed in our home state?
Yes. A Florida deed may be signed in another state and acknowledged before a notary there, but it must still be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, which many out-of-state notaries do not expect. We provide signing instructions for out-of-state execution and record the deed in the correct Florida county.
Did Florida change the summary administration limit in 2026?
Yes. Effective July 1, 2026, CS/HB 1337 (ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla.) raised the non-exempt asset ceiling from $75,000 to $150,000 under Fla. Stat. section 735.201. The new limit applies only to decedents who die on or after that date, and summary administration remains available at any value once more than two years have passed since the death. Even then, a homestead usually still requires a separate order determining homestead status before title is marketable.
More general questions are answered on our Florida Lady Bird Deed FAQ page.