Florida Deed Forms for Real Estate Transfers

What types of deeds are used to transfer Florida real estate?

Florida real estate is transferred by a document called a deed. By signing a deed, the current owner (the grantor) transfers property to the new owner (the grantee). Florida recognizes several forms of deeds.

Warranty of title is a guarantee that the person who signs a deed actually owns the property and that there are no problems with the property’s title. Three of Florida’s most common deed forms are defined by the warranty of title that they provide or don’t provide.

Florida Quitclaim Deed Form

A Florida quitclaim deed form provides no warranty of title. The transferee receives whatever interest the transferor has in the property when signing the deed. Quitclaim deeds make no promises about whether the transferor has clear title to the property (or any interest at all). The transferee has no legal recourse against the person who signed the deed if there are title issues or if the transferor did not really own the property.

Florida deeds that involve no consideration—or value given in exchange for the deed—are often quitclaim deeds. For example, a quitclaim deed might transfer property as a gift or add an owner’s spouse to the title.

Florida General Warranty Deed Form

A Florida warranty deed form—sometimes called a general warranty deed—transfers property with a complete warranty of title that covers all prior issues with the property’s title.¹ The warranty is not limited to the time that the current owner owned the property and instead covers problems at any point in the property’s chain of title.² This means that the current owner who signs a Florida warranty deed could be legally responsible for title issues that arose before the current owner acquired the property.

Florida Special Warranty Deed Form

A Florida special warranty deed form provides a middle-ground alternative between a Florida warranty deed’s complete warranty and a Florida quitclaim deed’s lack of warranty. A special warranty deed’s limited warranty only covers the period when the transferor owned the property. An owner who transfers property with a special warranty deed guarantees that he or she has done nothing to cause title problems. Special warranty deeds include no guarantees about the property’s title before the current owner acquired the property.

What types of estate planning deeds are used in Florida?

Florida also recognizes types of deeds that are used to avoid probate of Florida real estate. Florida estate-planning deeds are named based on how they avoid probate—not based on their warranty of title.

Florida Life Estate Deed Form

A Florida life estate deed divides ownership between the current owner—called the life tenant—and the future owners—called remainder beneficiaries. The life tenant keeps the property for life, and the remainder beneficiaries take title to the property when the life tenant dies.

Traditional life estate deeds allow property to avoid probate, but they have a significant drawback: An owner who signs a traditional life estate deed cannot sell, mortgage, convey, gift, or otherwise transfer complete ownership of the property without the remainder beneficiaries’ consent.

Florida Enhanced Life Estate Deed Form

Enhanced life estate deeds—commonly called lady bird deeds—are a special form of life estate deed that only a few states recognize. A Florida lady bird deed allows a property owner to keep broad rights over the property—including the right to amend or revoke the deed without involving the remainder beneficiaries.

The special features of lady bird deeds make them highly useful in estate planning. An owner can use a lady bird deed to avoid probate without giving up control of the property. Lady bird deeds can also have tax and Medicaid-planning advantages.

Florida Survivorship Deed Form

The name survivorship deed refers to a deed that transfers real estate to co-owners who share a right of survivorship. Co-owners with a right of survivorship each have a right to automatically receive the other owner’s interest if the other owner dies first. In other words, the last surviving co-owner takes complete title to the property.

Survivorship deeds can be useful for estate planning because they keep real estate out of a deceased co-owner’s probate estate. For example, a Florida property owner might sign and record a survivorship deed that transfers title to the owner and a family member with a right of survivorship. A Florida survivorship deed can pass title to the co-owners as joint tenants with right of survivorship or (if they are married) as tenants by the entirety.

What are the ways that multiple owners can hold title to Florida real estate?

More than one person may own a single parcel of Florida real estate. Florida law recognizes three possible forms of co-ownership when multiple owners hold a property’s title:

Tenancy in Common

Tenancy in common is Florida’s default co-ownership form.³ Each owner—called a tenant in common or co-tenant—has an undivided interest in the property. A co-tenant’s interest is usually described as a fraction or percentage.

When a tenant in common dies, his or her interest passes to his or her probate estate. Any individual or entity can hold Florida property as a tenant in common. The other two co-ownership forms have special requirements.

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship

Co-owners who hold title as joint tenants with right of survivorship each have a right to receive the other co-owner’s interest if the other owner dies first. A joint tenant’s interest therefore avoids probate because upon a co-owner’s death, his or her interest passes directly to the surviving co-owners.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship is only available for co-owners who are natural persons—actual human beings and not entities. A right of survivorship is inapplicable to property held by business entities or trusts because only individuals can be “survived.”

Tenancy by the Entirety

Tenancy by the entirety is a form of co-ownership for married couples that provides a right of survivorship and increased creditor protection. Florida law treats tenants by the entirety as a single unit. Each spouse owns the entire property—rather than a partial interest in the property.

Tenancy by the entirety is available only when co-owners are a married couple. Marriage is an essential element of a tenancy by the entirety, so co-owners who divorce cease to be tenants by the entirety and instead become tenants in common.⁴

What are the rules for spousal ownership of Florida real estate?

Florida has special rules for real estate ownership and transfers by married persons. A married person who acquires or transfers Florida real estate must consider spousal rights and obligations when deciding how to hold title or treat property in an estate plan.

Community Property

Florida is a separate property state (not a community property state). That means that real estate titled in only one spouse’s name belongs to that spouse alone. A non-owner spouse ordinarily has no ownership interest in property merely because the other spouse acquired it during the marriage. However, Florida gives non-owner spouses rights in Florida real estate that is a couple’s marital home.

Florida Homestead Rights

Florida’s homestead law provides special spousal protections for real estate that qualifies as a married couple’s homestead. The homestead rules prevent one spouse from transferring the marital home without the other spouse’s consent. A deed that transfers a married couple’s homestead is only valid if both spouses join in the transfer—even if only one spouse owns the homestead.⁸

The Florida Constitution provides an important exception to this rule: A deed requires only the owner spouse’s signature if it transfers real estate from a married owner to create a tenancy by the entirety between both spouses. An owner might choose to create a tenancy by the entirety if he or she acquired the property before the marriage and wants both spouses’ names on the property’s title.

Florida deeds should include a statement specifying whether the property being conveyed is the transferor’s homestead. Unlike some other states, Florida does not give a spouse dower or curtesy rights that require the spouse’s signature to convey property that is not a homestead.

Spousal Inheritance Rights

Florida law gives a surviving spouse strong inheritance rights in a deceased spouse’s property. A spouse’s potential inheritance rights can affect how a Florida property owner chooses to title property.

• Spousal intestate share. If a deceased spouse is intestate (i.e., leaves no will), the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate (including real estate) or splits the estate with the deceased spouse’s children.⁹
• Spousal elective share. Even if a deceased spouse has a will, Florida law gives the surviving spouse a legally guaranteed interest—called an elective share—in the deceased spouse’s estate.¹⁰ The elective share is at least 30 percent of the estate—even if a will provides for a lesser share.
• Homestead. Florida law also guarantees a surviving spouse a life estate in the couple’s homestead if the deceased spouse has surviving children or grandchildren.¹¹

A Florida spouse can waive his or her right to a share of the other spouse’s estate—including the right to an elective share and homestead—by signing a written waiver agreement.¹²

Where are deeds filed in Florida?

A signed, notarized original Florida deed must be filed in the land records of the county where the property is located.¹³ The county clerk of the circuit court maintains the county’s land records.

Florida allows deeds to be filed electronically in counties that have adopted electronic recording programs.¹⁴ A deed in electronic form with an electronic signature counts as an original, signed document for purposes of recording eligibility.¹⁵ Florida counties with electronic recording must continue to accept deeds in paper form.

How much does it cost to file a Florida deed?

The clerk of the circuit court accepts payment for any recording fees or documentary stamp taxes when a deed is submitted for recording. The recording fee for a Florida deed is $10.00, plus $8.50 for each extra page after the first page.¹⁶ There is an additional $1.00 fee for each name that must be indexed beyond four.

Does Florida charge a transfer tax on real estate transfers?

Florida’s equivalent of a transfer tax on deeds is called the documentary stamp tax. Florida charges the documentary stamp tax for deeds that transfer title to real estate.¹⁷ The tax rate for deeds in every county but Miami-Dade is $0.70 per $100.00 of consideration given for the property. Miami-Dade County charges $0.60 per $100.00, plus an extra $0.45 per $100.00 if a deed transfers real estate that is not a single-family residence.

Which deeds are exempt from Florida’s transfer tax?

Florida law exempts certain deeds from the documentary stamp tax.¹⁸ Common types of exempt deeds include deeds transferring a homestead between spouses for no consideration or between former spouses in a divorce. Deeds to living trusts for no consideration and deeds that only change ownership form without actually changing control of the property—such as a deed to an LLC wholly owned by the transferor—also avoid documentary stamp tax.

Does Florida require any other form when recording a deed?

Florida has no transfer tax return or other official forms that must be filed when a deed is recorded. Some types of deeds may need another document—such as a power-of-attorney instrument or memorandum of trust—to be recorded alongside the deed.

1. Fla. Stat. § 689.02.
2. Fla. Stat. § 689.03.
3. Fla. Stat. § 689.15.
4. Fla. Stat. § 689.15.
5. See Fla. Stat. § 736.0402.
6. Fla. Stat. § 736.0402(1)(e).
7. Fla. Stat. § 736.0403.
8. Fla. Const., Art. X, § 4(c).
9. Fla. Stat. § 732.102.
10. Fla. Stat. §§ 732.201, et. seq.
11. Fla. Stat. § 732.401.
12. Fla. Stat. § 732.702.
13. Fla. Stat. § 695.01(1).
14. Fla. Stat. § 695.27(4).
15. Fla. Stat. § 695.27(3).
16. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13).
17. Fla. Stat. § 201.02.
18. Fla. Stat. § 201.02; Fla. Admin. R. 12B-4.013.