Protecting Your Florida Home with a Lady Bird Deed in 2025

If you own a home in Florida and want to simplify how it’s passed along while keeping full control during your lifetime, a Lady Bird Deed (also known as an Enhanced Life Estate Deed) can be a powerful estate planning tool. In 2025, these deeds remain widely recognized and useful in Florida—providing benefits for probate avoidance, Medicaid planning, and preserving homestead protections. Here’s what every homeowner should know.

What Is a Lady Bird Deed?

A Lady Bird Deed is a legal document that allows you (the property owner, called the “grantor” or “life tenant”) to:

• Name one or more beneficiaries (remaindermen) who will automatically inherit your property upon your death.

• Retain all rights to the property during your lifetime, including the right to sell it, mortgage it, lease it, or even change or revoke the deed without the beneficiaries’ consent.

Unlike traditional life estate deeds, a Lady Bird Deed gives you more flexibility, especially regarding control during your lifetime.

Key Benefits in 2025

Here are the main advantages for Florida homeowners using a Lady Bird Deed in 2025:

Benefit	What It Means
Avoids Probate	Upon your death, the property automatically transfers to your named beneficiaries without going through probate. This saves time, court fees, and simplifies the process.
Retained Control	You maintain full control during your life—you can move, sell, mortgage, or change beneficiaries, revoke the deed, etc. Beneficiaries don’t have rights while you’re alive.
Homestead Protection Retained	Using a Lady Bird Deed doesn’t automatically revoke your homestead exemption or protections. As long as you continue to qualify as a principal Florida resident etc.
Medicaid / Estate Recovery Planning	Because the property avoids probate, it is less likely to be subject to Medicaid’s estate recovery after your death. The deed can help you preserve your home for heirs.
Step-Up in Tax Basis for Heirs	The beneficiaries often get a stepped-up basis (value at date of death) which can reduce capital gains tax if they later sell the property.

What It Doesn’t Do (and Common Misconceptions)

To make a good decision, it’s important to understand the limitations and myths:

• Not a shield from all creditors: While Florida homestead laws offer broad protections, a Lady Bird Deed doesn’t fully protect from lifetime creditor claims (other than those specifically barred by homestead laws).

• Not a substitute for full Medicaid eligibility planning: While it helps avoid estate recovery (in many cases), it doesn’t by itself ensure eligibility or remove all exposure under long-term care or Medicaid rules.

• Beneficiary rights begin only after the grantor’s death: Beneficiaries don’t have ownership or decision-making power while you’re alive.

• Homestead exemption can’t always transfer automatically: If a beneficiary inherits the home, the homestead tax exemption doesn’t always carry over from you unless they meet Florida’s requirements.

How to Set One Up in Florida (2025 Guide)

Here are the steps homeowners should take if considering a Lady Bird Deed this year:

1. Talk to an estate planning attorneyBecause the language matters (e.g. “enhanced life estate,” legal description, reserved rights, etc.), you want to make sure it's drafted correctly.

2. Decide on beneficiaries (remaindermen)Be specific: names, backup beneficiaries, whether they must survive you, etc. If someone named predeceases you, how will successor beneficiaries be handled?

3. Prepare the deed with required formalities

   • Full legal description of the property (not just postal address)

   • Signature of owner (grantor) before two witnesses and a notary

   • Include the enhanced life estate language & reserved control rights

   • For homestead properties, ensure the deed states or confirms homestead status so protections continue.

4. Record the deed with the county clerkAfter execution, recording with your county records is essential so that the deed is legally binding and beneficiaries’ rights will be recognized.

5. Keep it up to dateLife events (marriage, divorce, birth, death, selling, etc.) might require updating beneficiaries or revoking/changing the deed. Regular reviews are smart.

Is a Lady Bird Deed Right for You?

A Lady Bird Deed tends to be ideal for homeowners who:

• Want to simplify the inheritance process for their children or heirs without probate.

• Want to keep full control over their home and use, mortgage, or sell it during their lifetime.

• Care about Medicaid planning and want to reduce risk of estate recovery.

• Have a relatively simple situation where most estate values are tied up in the home, rather than in many different assets.

If you have a more complex estate (multiple properties, large non-real estate assets, trusts, business interests), a Lady Bird Deed might be one useful component—but not necessarily sufficient on its own. Sometimes combining with a trust makes sense.

Laws & Trends in 2025

• No major changes have been reported in Florida law regarding Lady Bird Deeds going into 2025. The requirements, benefits, and legal structure remain consistent.

• Because of increased awareness, title companies and estate planning attorneys are more familiar with these deeds—and more experienced—helping avoid past pitfalls.

• It remains important to monitor Medicaid rules and state-law developments, especially around estate recovery and property transfer statutes, to ensure a Lady Bird Deed continues to deliver the protections you expect.

How Absolute Law Group Can Help

At Absolute Law Group, we help homeowners protect their property and plan efficiently for the future. Here’s how we support clients considering a Lady Bird Deed:

• Review your current deed and estate plan to see if a Lady Bird Deed fits your goals.

• Draft and execute the deed correctly—making sure legal descriptions, reserved rights, and homestead status are all properly addressed.

• Coordinate with title companies and county clerks for recording.

• Advise on how this deed interacts with your Medicaid planning, tax situation, and other estate planning tools (trusts, wills, etc.).

If you own a home in Florida and haven’t explored a Lady Bird Deed yet, now in 2025 is a great time. Let’s schedule time to talk through whether it’s a fit for your situation—so you can protect what matters and leave a legacy without unnecessary legal burdens.