The Villages Lady Bird Deed Attorney

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

The Villages adds layers a generic deed form never sees. The community crosses three counties, so the recording office depends on where your street falls. Homes carry community development district assessments and a monthly amenity fee that pass to your heirs with the house. Many owners are snowbirds with a will in another state. And many residents are in a second marriage, where Florida homestead law protects the surviving spouse in ways that can override a deed signed without them.

Lady Bird Deed in The Villages: the short version

  • What it does: names beneficiaries who receive your home 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.
  • Three counties: the deed records with the Sumter, Lake or Marion County Clerk, depending on where the home sits.
  • CDD bond and amenity fee: both follow the house to your beneficiaries.
  • Snowbirds: the deed avoids a second, ancillary probate case in Florida.
  • Second marriages: on homestead, your spouse must join the deed, and waiver language may be needed to leave the home to your children.

What Is a Lady Bird Deed in The Villages?

A Lady Bird Deed in The Villages is the common name for a Florida enhanced life estate deed recorded on a Villages home or villa. It names the beneficiaries, called remaindermen, who receive the property 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 what makes it practical for retirees. Under a traditional life estate deed you could not sell or mortgage without every beneficiary signing. An enhanced life estate deed reserves the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without their consent, so moving to another village, downsizing to a villa, or selling to move near the grandchildren is never blocked.

Florida has not enacted a transfer on death deed statute for real property, so this is the tool Florida owners use to do what a TOD deed does in other states. Snowbirds often assume their home state’s TOD form works here; our Florida transfer on death deed guide explains why it does not.

The Villages Lady Bird Deed attorney preparing an enhanced life estate deed for a Sumter, Lake or Marion County home

Sumter, Lake or Marion: Which County Is Yours?

The Villages is one community in daily life, but it sits in three Florida counties. Most of it lies in unincorporated Sumter County. Part lies in Lake County, including areas within the Town of Lady Lake and the City of Fruitland Park, and a portion lies in southern Marion County.

For a deed, the county is not a detail. A Florida deed is recorded in the Official Records of the county where the land lies, and the legal description and parcel number come from that county. Two neighbors who share a golf cart path can live under different clerks, property appraisers and tax collectors.

Where a Villages Lady Bird Deed is recorded depends on where the home sits. Confirm on your tax bill or property appraiser record.
CountyRecording officeParcel record
Sumter CountySumter County Clerk of Court & Comptroller, BushnellSumter County Property Appraiser
Lake CountyLake County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, TavaresLake County Property Appraiser
Marion CountyMarion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller, OcalaMarion County Property Appraiser

To tell which county you are in, look at your property tax bill (it comes from that county’s tax collector, with your CDD assessments on it) or the recording stamp on your vesting deed. A deed recorded in the wrong county gives no public notice where the land actually is, so it does not do its job. Confirming the county is the first thing we do on every Villages file.

A 55+ Community: Your Heirs Can Own It, Occupancy Is Separate

A Lady Bird Deed transfers title, and title can pass to a beneficiary of any age. Occupancy is a different question. A typical recorded Declaration of Restrictions for a Villages neighborhood requires every occupied home to have at least one resident aged 55 or older and bars anyone under 19 from living there permanently, while allowing younger visitors for limited stays.

So a 48-year-old daughter can inherit your Villages home without difficulty, but whether she can move in depends on your neighborhood’s restrictions. Most heirs sell; some lease to a qualifying tenant where leasing is allowed. We cover the Housing for Older Persons Act and why the 80/20 rule is not a loophole on our Pembroke Pines 55+ community page, and that analysis applies here in full.

CDD Bonds, Maintenance Assessments and the Amenity Fee

Most of The Villages is governed by numbered Village Community Development Districts, local special-purpose governments created under chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes. A Villages home carries three recurring charges that owners often think of as one. They have different sources and different endings, and a Lady Bird Deed passes the home to your beneficiaries subject to all three.

How the three charges work. Balances and terms vary by district and by home; confirm yours with the district and on your tax bill.
ChargeWhat it isHow it is billedDoes it end?
CDD bond (debt) assessmentRepays the bonds the district issued to build roads, utilities, drainage and recreation facilitiesAnnually, as its own line on the property tax billYes. It can be prepaid in full at any time
CDD maintenance assessmentFunds the district’s ongoing operation and upkeepAnnually, on the property tax billNo
Monthly amenity feeA contractual fee for recreation and community services, created by the recorded deed restrictionsMonthly, separately from the tax billNo. It binds each later owner

The bond balance stays with the home

The bond assessment is attached to the parcel, not to you. If you die with a balance remaining, your beneficiaries take the home with that balance on it. Prepaying stops future interest, and when an heir sells, the bond is either paid at closing or assumed by the buyer.

Prepaying also has an estate planning side: cash that would pass under your will becomes value in a home that passes to the people named in your deed. In a blended family where the will and the deed name different people, decide that shift on purpose.

The amenity fee binds your heirs, even while the house sits empty

A typical Villages Declaration of Restrictions provides that the owner and the owner’s heirs, successors and assigns take title subject to the monthly amenities fee, that it is adjusted annually by an index, that it continues whether or not the home is occupied, and that it is secured by a lien on the home.

Heirs who live out of state and take months to decide what to do are paying the amenity fee, utilities, insurance and taxes the whole time. Because there is no probate case, a Lady Bird Deed lets them list or lease the home in weeks rather than waiting for a personal representative to be appointed.

Sources: Fla. Stat. ch. 190, including § 190.048 (disclosure in initial sale contracts that a district may impose taxes and assessments); Village Community Development District bond assessment information; recorded Declarations of Restrictions for Villages neighborhoods. Your own deed restrictions and district records govern.

Snowbirds: Avoiding a Second Probate Case in Florida

Many Villages owners still call another state home for legal purposes, and their will was signed there. That works, but when a non-Florida resident dies owning Florida real estate in their own name, Florida generally requires an ancillary administration: a second probate case in the Florida county where the property lies, on top of the home-state probate. A Lady Bird Deed avoids it, because the Florida home passes directly to your beneficiaries at death.

Domicile also decides the homestead picture. The Florida homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap apply only to a permanent residence, so owners domiciled up north generally do not receive them, and the homestead devise restrictions below generally turn on the same question. The deed works either way; the analysis around it changes, which is why we ask about domicile first.

Signing from out of state

A Florida deed may be signed in another state and acknowledged before that state’s notary. It must still be signed before two witnesses, which out-of-state notaries often miss because their own states do not require witnesses on deeds. We send signing instructions written for that situation. If you already have a funded revocable trust from your home state, the Florida home can be deeded into the trust, or the Lady Bird Deed can name the trust as the remainder beneficiary.

Lady Bird Deed lawyer for The Villages reviewing deed restrictions and CDD records for a snowbird client

Remarriage and Blended Families: The Spouse, the Children and the House

Many Villages couples married later in life, each with children from a first marriage. Florida homestead law has strong rules here, and a deed drafted without them can fail at exactly the moment it matters.

The two homestead rules that control

Under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, a married owner cannot convey homestead without the spouse joining in the deed, whether or not the spouse appears on title. And homestead cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or a minor child, except to the spouse when there is no 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.

What happens when the deed does not hold

If the restrictions defeat the deed and you leave a spouse and descendants, the home passes under Florida’s homestead descent statute. The surviving spouse receives a life estate and your descendants the remainder, or the spouse may elect within six months to take an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common, by recording a notice of election in the county where the home lies. Neither is what most blended families intend: one leaves your children waiting for decades, the other makes your spouse and children co-owners of a 55+ home the children may not be allowed to occupy.

Common blended-family situations. Each turns on titling, marital status at death and the exact deed language.
SituationWhat usually happensWhat fixes it
You own the home alone, remarried, and deeded it to your children without your spouseIf your spouse survives you and the home is homestead, the spouse’s rights can override the deedA new deed your spouse joins, with waiver language, or a valid marital agreement
Your spouse joins the deed and signs the statutory homestead waiverThe deed can pass the home to your children as writtenThis is the designed result
You both own the home and name “our children”The survivor keeps the enhanced powers and can sell, revoke or change beneficiariesAgree on the plan now, or use a trust that fixes each side’s share at the first death
You signed a Lady Bird Deed before your current marriageIt deserves review, because the limit on devising homestead is applied at deathReview the deed and any marital agreement together

The statutory waiver, and marital agreements

Since July 1, 2018, Florida law has provided language a spouse can sign in a deed to waive the homestead rights that would otherwise prevent the owner from leaving the home to someone else (Fla. Stat. § 732.7025). It is narrower than people assume: it does not remove the requirement that the spouse join the deed, it does not waive protection against creditors, and it does not waive other inheritance rights such as the elective share. Spouses can also waive homestead and other rights in a written agreement signed before two subscribing witnesses, before or after the marriage, with fair disclosure required after marriage (Fla. Stat. § 732.702). If you signed a prenuptial agreement, the deed should match it.

One more point for couples who own together: when both spouses reserve the enhanced life estate, the survivor holds full power to sell or revoke after the first death. In a blended family that means the first spouse’s children receive the house only if the survivor leaves the plan in place. Where that trust is not there, a revocable trust or a deed structured for the situation protects both sides. We discuss it candidly, with both spouses present.

Sources: Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.; Fla. Stat. §§ 732.401 (descent of homestead; spouse’s election), 732.702 (waiver of spousal rights), 732.7025 (waiver of spousal homestead rights by deed).

Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes and Stepped-Up Basis

Where your Villages home is your Florida homestead, a properly drafted Lady Bird Deed should not disturb the homestead exemption or the Save Our Homes cap during your lifetime. You retain the enhanced life estate, you remain in possession, and the county property appraiser continues to treat you as the owner of record. The cap resets on the change of ownership at death, as it would through probate or a trust.

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. Since most heirs of a Villages home sell rather than move in, the step-up is often the most valuable thing the deed does. Deeding the home to a child during your lifetime typically forfeits it. See our capital gains guide, and confirm the treatment with a tax advisor.

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. Because a Lady Bird Deed moves the home outside probate, it is one of the standard tools for reducing exposure on a Florida homestead. It does not qualify anyone for Medicaid, the five-year look-back still applies to other transfers, including an outright gift of the home, and protection depends on the home keeping homestead status and passing to heirs. 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 Lady Bird Deed in Sumter, Lake or Marion County

In all three counties, deeds are recorded by the Clerk of Court and Comptroller in the county’s Official Records:

  • Sumter County: Official Records of the Sumter County Clerk of Court & Comptroller is at 316 E. Anderson Avenue, Bushnell, with mail to the main office at 215 E. McCollum Avenue, Bushnell. The Villages Annex offers limited services. E-recording is accepted through approved vendors.
  • Lake County: the Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller records in Tavares, in the North Wing of the Lake County Courthouse at the Lake County Courthouse, 550 W. Main Street (North Wing, 3rd floor). E-recording is accepted through approved vendors.
  • Marion County: the Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller in Ocala. E-recording is 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, and a married owner’s spouse joins the deed on homestead property. Defective witnessing 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. All three counties apply 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, but the Department stated its conclusion applies regardless of any consideration.

Our flat fee is $595 for preparation plus $24.85 for recording, $619.85 in total. See our pricing page.

Sources: Sumter County Clerk of Court & Comptroller (locations; e-recording); Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Recording; Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller; 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. Record a death certificate in the right county

    In the Official Records of Sumter, Lake or Marion County, wherever the home sits. This shows the life estate has ended and the beneficiaries hold title.

  2. Check the six-month clock

    Where homestead rights apply, a surviving spouse who wants the one-half tenancy in common must record the election within six months.

  3. Keep the amenity fee and tax bill current

    The amenity fee continues whether or not anyone lives there, and CDD assessments ride on the tax bill.

  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. Decide: occupy, lease or sell

    Check the deed restrictions on occupancy and leasing, and get the bond payoff figure if you plan to sell.

Not on that list: a Florida probate case or an ancillary case for an out-of-state owner. Our after-death guide walks through each step.

What a Lady Bird Deed Does Not Do

Common misconceptions, several specific to The Villages.
People assume it…Reality
Pays off the CDD bondNo. The bond assessment stays with the home until it is paid.
Ends the amenity feeNo. The deed restrictions bind your heirs, successors and assigns.
Lets an under-55 heir move inNo. Occupancy is governed by the deed restrictions.
Overrides a surviving spouse’s homestead rightsNot unless the spouse joined and waived, or a marital agreement covers it.
Covers property in your home stateNo. Only the Florida real property described in the deed.
Replaces a willNo. You still want a will for everything else.

How a Villages Lady Bird Deed Compares to the Alternatives

General comparison for a Villages home. Results depend on domicile, titling and family circumstances.
OptionAvoids Florida probate?Preserves stepped-up basis?Typical Villages drawback
Lady Bird DeedYes, for that propertyYesIn a blended family, must be coordinated with the spouse’s homestead rights.
Will onlyNoYesFor a snowbird, a second probate case in Florida.
Deed the home to the kids nowYesNoGives away the step-up, and the kids may not be able to live there.
Revocable living trustYes, if fundedYesHigher cost, but often better where shares should be fixed at the first death.

See the full Florida Lady Bird Deed comparison page, and if plans change later, how to revoke or change a Lady Bird Deed.

How to Get a Lady Bird Deed in The Villages

  1. Identify the county

    Confirm from your tax bill or vesting deed whether the home is in Sumter, Lake or Marion County. That decides the recording office and the parcel record.

  2. Review marriage, domicile and family

    Who owns the home, whether you are married, any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, your state of domicile, and whose children should ultimately receive it.

  3. Pull the vesting deed and parcel number

    The exact legal description from the last recorded deed in that county’s Official Records, plus the parcel number from that county’s property appraiser.

  4. Read the deed restrictions and district records

    Occupancy and leasing rules, the amenity fee provisions and any remaining CDD bond balance.

  5. Draft the enhanced life estate reservation

    Reserving the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease and revoke without the beneficiaries’ consent, with spousal joinder and homestead waiver language where the plan calls for it.

  6. Sign before two witnesses and a notary

    Both witnesses present and signing, even when you sign in another state. A married owner’s spouse joins the deed on homestead property.

  7. Record with the correct county clerk

    Sumter, Lake or Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller, in person, by mail or by e-recording, at $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 per additional page.

START WITH A CONSULTATION

Plain-English Glossary

Enhanced life estate deedThe formal name for a Lady Bird Deed. You keep a life estate plus the power to sell, mortgage or revoke without anyone’s consent.
Community development district (CDD)A local special-purpose government that builds and maintains community infrastructure and levies assessments to pay for it.
Amenity feeA monthly contractual fee created by the recorded deed restrictions that binds each later owner of the home.
Spousal joinderThe requirement that a married owner’s spouse sign any deed conveying homestead property.
Homestead waiverA spouse’s written waiver of homestead inheritance rights, in a deed or a marital agreement.
Stepped-up basisThe reset of cost basis to date-of-death value, which can eliminate accumulated capital gain on a later sale.

Villages Areas We Serve

We prepare Lady Bird Deeds for homes and villas throughout The Villages and the surrounding communities of Sumter, Lake and Marion counties, including:

  • Spanish Springs
  • Lake Sumter Landing
  • Brownwood Paddock Square
  • Eastport
  • Sawgrass Grove
  • Lady Lake
  • Fruitland Park
  • Wildwood
  • Leesburg
  • Bushnell
  • Oxford
  • Summerfield
  • Belleview
  • Tavares
  • Eustis
  • Mount Dora

Nearby Areas We Serve

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

  • Ocala: acreage, horse farms, agricultural classification and multiple parcels in Marion County.
  • Spring Hill: why adding a child to the deed of a paid-off home is riskier than a Lady Bird Deed.
  • Orlando: probate avoidance for Orlando homeowners.
  • Orange County: the county-wide guide for Orlando-area property.
  • Pembroke Pines: our in-depth explanation of 55+ rules and the HOPA 80/20 rule.
  • Tampa: Lady Bird Deeds for Hillsborough County homeowners.

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

Work With a Lady Bird Deed Attorney for The Villages

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

  • Lady Bird Deed drafting, execution and recording in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties
  • Blended-family planning, spousal joinder and homestead waivers
  • Avoiding ancillary probate for snowbirds
  • Formal and summary probate administration


If either of you has children from an earlier marriage, the question worth answering now is not only who gets the house. It is what your spouse needs and what Florida law will give them. Schedule a consultation and we will tell you plainly where you stand.

Schedule Your Consultation
The Villages Lady Bird Deed attorney Yanitza Schoonover

Yanitza Schoonover

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.

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. CDD assessments, bond balances, amenity fees and occupancy rules depend on your district’s records and your neighborhood’s recorded deed restrictions; confirm with the district before relying on any general statement here. Recording locations, fees, tax rates and court procedures described were accurate as of October 2026 and should be confirmed with the Sumter County Clerk of Court & Comptroller, the Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, or the Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller, as applicable, and with the Florida Department of Revenue.

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