Enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deeds

“Enhanced life estate deed” and “Lady Bird deed” are two names for the same tool. You deed a Florida property to yourself for life and name one or more people (or a trust) to receive it when you die, while reserving the power to sell, mortgage, or change the beneficiaries without their consent. At death, the property passes to the named beneficiaries without probate for that property.

It covers only the property described in the deed. Because you keep the power to take the property back, it does not get around Florida’s homestead protections for a surviving spouse or minor child.

How it differs from a conventional life estate

	Conventional life estate deed	Enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deed
Owner’s rights during life	Use and occupy only	Use, occupy, sell, mortgage, lease, or change beneficiaries
Need beneficiaries’ signatures to sell or mortgage?	Yes	No
Beneficiaries’ interest	Fixed when the deed is signed	Can be cancelled or changed by the owner
At the owner’s death	Passes to the remainder beneficiaries	Passes to the remainder beneficiaries

Florida has no statute that creates or defines the enhanced life estate deed. It rests on the wording of the deed itself, so the reserved powers must be drafted precisely.

What it can accomplish

No probate for that property. The property passes to the remainder beneficiaries at death without a court proceeding for that parcel.
Full control during life. You can sell or refinance without the beneficiaries’ signatures, and change your mind about who receives it.
Homestead tax exemption continues. A beneficial interest for life counts as equitable title for the exemption (§ 196.041(2)). A deed in which the owner is both grantor and grantee and other people are added as grantees is not a change of ownership that resets the assessed value, unless an added grantee applies for a homestead exemption on the property (§ 193.155(3)(a)1.c).

Remainder and alternate beneficiaries

The deed should say what happens if a beneficiary dies before you: whether that share goes to the beneficiary’s children, to the other beneficiaries, or somewhere else. Without clear alternates, the property may pass in a way you did not intend, or need a probate to sort out. Naming a minor or a person with special needs directly can also create problems; naming the trustee of a trust for that person is often better.

Coordinating with a trust

The remainder beneficiary can be the trustee of your revocable trust. The property then passes outside probate to the trust, which can hold it, distribute it in stages, or sell it under the trust’s instructions. This keeps one set of instructions for the whole plan.

Homestead: spouses and minor children

Florida’s constitution limits leaving a homestead when the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child (Art. X, § 4(c)). A lifetime transfer escapes those limits only if the owner keeps no power to revoke or revest the transferred interest (§ 732.4017). An enhanced life estate deed keeps exactly that power. So if the owner of a homestead dies survived by a spouse or a minor child, the remainder may fail, and the home may instead pass as Florida law directs: a life estate to the spouse with the remainder to the descendants, or the spouse’s election of a one-half interest (§ 732.401, § 732.4015).

For a married owner, the spouse’s joinder in the deed, or a valid written waiver of homestead rights, needs to be considered. A spouse cannot waive a minor child’s protection.

Existing mortgages and liens

The mortgage stays. A deed does not remove a mortgage or other lien.
Due-on-sale clauses. For residential property with fewer than five units, federal law bars a lender from calling the loan because of a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower’s death, or a transfer that makes the borrower’s spouse or children owners (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)). The beneficiaries still need to keep the loan paid, refinance, or sell.
Other liens, such as judgment liens or condominium and homeowners’ association assessments, need to be identified before the deed is signed.

Title, deed form, and title insurance

Before the deed is prepared, the current vesting deed, legal description, and any title policy should be reviewed. Whether the new deed is drafted as a warranty deed or a quitclaim deed, and whether your existing owner’s title insurance policy continues to protect you and the beneficiaries afterward, depend on that specific policy’s terms. Avoid any blanket statement either way until the policy has been read.

Limits

Only this property. Bank accounts, investments, vehicles, and other real estate need their own plan.
Incapacity. If you become unable to manage your affairs, an agent under a power of attorney can exercise your reserved powers only if the power of attorney grants them. Changing survivorship rights or beneficiary designations requires your separate signature or initials next to that specific authority (§ 709.2202).
Several beneficiaries. At your death, they become co-owners and must agree on whether to keep, rent, or sell.
Not a substitute for a plan. It does not name a guardian for children, appoint a personal representative, or provide staged distributions.

Questions for a consultation

A copy of the current recorded deed and any title insurance policy
Mortgage, home-equity, and association information
Whether you are married, and whether you have children under 18
Who should receive the property, and what should happen if one of them dies first
Whether you already have a revocable trust or power of attorney
Whether you intend to sell or refinance in the next few years

Related planning

Sources: Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.; Florida Statutes § 193.155, § 196.041, § 709.2202, § 732.401, § 732.4015, and § 732.4017 (2026); 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d). Checked on October 23, 2026.