Lady Bird Deeds: Passing Palm Beach Property Outside Probate

For Palm Beach property owners who want a simple way to pass a home to their family without probate, the Lady Bird deed, formally an enhanced life estate deed, is one of Florida’s most practical tools. It lets you keep complete control of your real estate during your lifetime while naming who automatically receives it at your death. Because Florida recognizes this kind of deed, many owners use it to keep a single property out of the probate process without the cost of a full trust.

How a Lady Bird Deed Works

A traditional life estate deed gives away a future interest and limits what you can do with the property. A Lady Bird deed is different: it reserves an enhanced life estate, meaning you retain the power to sell, mortgage, lease, or change your mind entirely during your life without anyone’s permission. The named remainder beneficiaries receive the property only if you still own it at death, and then it passes to them automatically, outside probate.

Why Property Owners Like It

The appeal for real-estate owners is control plus simplicity. You are not locked into a decision, you do not need a beneficiary’s signature to refinance, and the property avoids the Palm Beach County probate court at your death. For someone whose main asset is the family home, a Lady Bird deed can accomplish probate avoidance for that property more simply than some alternatives.

Homestead and Tax Effects

A Lady Bird deed is generally designed to preserve your Florida homestead protection under Art. X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution and your homestead tax benefits during your life, because you keep the enhanced life estate. It also avoids making a completed gift while you are alive. Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, so the deed’s value lies in probate avoidance and retained control rather than tax savings.

Limits to Understand

A Lady Bird deed handles one property at a time and does not manage incapacity, coordinate multiple parcels, or address everything a revocable trust can. Homestead restrictions on devising property when you have a spouse or minor child still apply, and an improperly drafted deed can create title problems that surface only when heirs try to sell. Owners with several properties or complex families often combine deeds with a trust.

Consult a Florida Attorney

This page is educational and not legal advice for your circumstances. Whether a Lady Bird deed fits your goals depends on your title, family, and other holdings, and the deed must be drafted and recorded correctly to work. Talk with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney before using one for your Palm Beach real estate.