Florida Real Estate Insider
•
Tom McNamara
Free Download — Series Companion Guide
The Florida Inheritance
Protection Checklist
Everything your family needs to do — right now, before it matters — to protect what you've built and keep it out of the courthouse.
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The families that get this right aren't smarter than you. They just did it before they had to. Use this checklist to make sure you're one of them — before the clock starts, before the courthouse gets involved, and before someone else is making decisions about what you spent your life building.
$35K+
Avg. Florida Probate Cost on $500K Estate
12–18
Months a Frozen Florida Estate Sits in Court
6×
Property Tax Increase Heirs Can Face Overnight
1
Know What You Have Right Now
Property Owner
Pull your deed and read how the property is titled
You need to know the exact legal ownership structure before any planning conversation. The title tells you whether you have a problem already.
Start Here
Look up your property on your county property appraiser's website
Confirm: (1) your homestead exemption is on file and active, (2) your current assessed value vs. market value — that gap is the tax bomb your heirs inherit.
Homestead exemption filed and active: YES / NO
Current assessed value: $______________
Current market value: $______________
Gap (potential heir tax exposure): $______________
If homestead exemption is NOT filed — file it immediately
It costs nothing. It caps your annual tax increases at 3% and provides creditor protection. Filing it today starts protecting you today.
Free Fix
Check for all additional Florida exemptions you may qualify for
Most people claim only the basic homestead. Many qualify for more. Each one lowers the annual bill for you now and for your heirs later.
Senior Low-Income Exemption (age 65+, income limits apply)
Widow/Widower Exemption
Veteran's Disability Exemption
Total & Permanent Disability Exemption
Know whether there is a reverse mortgage on the property
If yes — locate the loan paperwork, find the servicer's contact information, and know the current balance. Your heirs will have 30 days to respond when you pass. If they don't know it exists, the clock runs without them.
Urgent
Get a current market valuation of the property
Every planning conversation — with your attorney, CPA, or financial planner — starts with this number. Guessing is not a strategy.
2
Protect the Deed — Do Not DIY This
High Risk Area
Before you touch your deed for any reason: Florida is one of only 5 states requiring 2 witnesses. As of January 2024, witness mailing addresses are also required. Your marital status affects what signatures are needed. One wrong detail = clouded title your heirs can't sell for years.
Do NOT add a child's name to your deed without talking to an attorney first
Adding a child's name today means they receive the property as a gift — not an inheritance. Gift = your original purchase price carries over. Inheritance = stepped-up basis to current value. That difference can be $90,000–$120,000 in capital gains taxes on a typical Florida home.
Stop
Do NOT use an online deed form for any Florida property transfer
Generic forms are built for other states. Even attorneys from other states use Florida attorneys for Florida deeds. If you're not a Florida real estate attorney, you're rolling the dice.
Stop
Have any previously DIY-transferred Florida deed reviewed by an attorney-owned title company
A $150–$300 full title search now catches problems before they become a $5,000+ quiet title lawsuit at the worst possible moment — when your kids need to sell.
Ask your attorney about a Lady Bird Deed (Enhanced Life Estate Deed)
This is Florida's most underused tool. You keep total control of the property during your lifetime. At death it transfers directly to your heirs — no probate, no court, and with a stepped-up basis so their tax bill can be zero.
Key Tool
3
Wills, Probate & Trusts
Property Owner
Florida probate fee schedule (non-negotiable by law): 3% on the first $1M of estate value. On a $500,000 home that's approximately $15,000 in statutory fees — before court costs. All in, expect 3–7% of gross estate value. A Will does not avoid this. A Lady Bird Deed or properly funded Trust does.
Understand this clearly: a Will does NOT bypass probate
A Will is an instruction manual for a probate judge. You are still going to probate. The only way to avoid probate is a tool that transfers the asset outside of your estate — a Lady Bird Deed, a properly funded Trust, or a beneficiary designation.
If you have a Will — find it, read it, and have it reviewed
When was it last updated? Does it reflect your current wishes, family, and assets? Florida law requires a review every 3–5 years at minimum.
Date Will was last signed: ______________
Attorney review scheduled: ______________
Do NOT write on your Will, cross anything out, or make notes in the margins — ever
Florida courts do not recognize handwritten changes to a Will. The court ignores the markings and enforces the original — but handwritten notes can trigger legal challenges that freeze everything. To make a change: sign a new Will or a formal codicil with witnesses. That's it. Those are your only options.
Critical
Ask your attorney directly: "Will my estate go through probate?" — not just "Is everything in order?"
These are different questions. Get a specific answer. If yes, ask what it would take to change that answer.
Discuss whether a Revocable Living Trust is appropriate for your situation
A Trust is the right answer when: you have multiple properties, multiple beneficiaries, complex assets, a need for privacy (probate is public record), or a beneficiary who needs structured rather than immediate distribution. A Lady Bird Deed is simpler and cheaper for a single property with a clear heir.
Single property, simple situation → Lady Bird Deed conversation
Multiple properties or complex situation → Trust conversation
Rental/investment properties + LLC structure → Attorney + CPA conversation
If you have a Trust — confirm that your assets are actually IN it
The single most common Trust failure: the attorney builds a perfect Trust, but the financial planner never retitles the accounts. The Trust is empty. Everything goes to probate anyway. Verify that every asset intended for the Trust has been retitled into it.
Verify
If you recently moved to Florida — have your existing documents reviewed by a Florida attorney
Estate planning documents are state-specific. What worked in Ohio or New York may not be enforceable in Florida. Do not assume what you have travels with you.
4
Tax Reassessment — Protect Your Heirs
For Heirs
The Save Our Homes cap dies with you. A property bought in 1995 for $120,000 now worth $500,000 — currently taxed at ~$3,000/year — will be reassessed at $500,000 when it transfers. New annual bill: $7,500–$10,000. Show your heirs this number before anyone passes.
Calculate what the annual property tax bill will be after reassessment
Go to your county property appraiser's website. Look up the current millage rate. Multiply by the current market value. That is what your heir will pay. Show them this number now.
Current annual tax bill: $______________
Estimated post-reassessment bill: $______________
Annual increase heir will face: $______________
Discuss the five reassessment escape hatches with your attorney
Each applies to different circumstances. Most people have never heard of them. Any one of them could save thousands per year.
Legal Dependent Exception (FL Statute 193.155) — heir was financially dependent & living there
Lady Bird Deed — fully protects surviving spouse or minor child; steps up basis for all heirs
Portability — heir can port up to $500K of their own Save Our Homes savings to inherited property
JTWROS — only if heir already lives there with their own homestead (see Video 2 warning first)
LLC structure — for investment/rental properties only, 50% threshold rule (attorney + CPA required)
5 Options
INVESTORS ONLY: Review LLC operating agreements for the 50% ownership threshold
Florida reassesses non-homestead property when more than 50% of the LLC ownership transfers. If the heir already owns 51%, a transfer of the parent's 49% does not cross the threshold. The 10% non-homestead cap survives. This must be structured in advance — not after death.
Investors
NEVER put your primary residence in an LLC
Florida courts are unambiguous: an LLC cannot qualify for homestead exemption. Transferring your home into an LLC loses the 3% cap, the creditor protection, and the homestead exemption in one move. The LLC strategy is for investment and rental properties only.
Never
5
Sibling Warfare — Prevent It Before It Starts
For Heirs
Understand what "tenancy in common" means — and that it's the default
If a property is left to multiple heirs without specific instructions, they become tenants in common. Every decision — sell, rent, hold — requires unanimous agreement. One person can block everything. Any one person can also force a partition sale through the courts.
Have the conversation about the property plan while everyone is alive and rational
Does everyone know what the plan is? Who gets what? What happens if one sibling wants to sell and another doesn't? These conversations are uncomfortable. They are infinitely less uncomfortable than a partition lawsuit.
Have the Talk
Ask your attorney about a Trust with specific distribution instructions
A Trust eliminates the legal vacuum that family dynamics rush in to fill. It can specify: who has the right to buy out other heirs, at what price, on what timeline, and who makes decisions when there is disagreement.
If multiple heirs already co-own a property — create a written agreement now
A buy-sell agreement can be created at any time. It establishes what happens if one sibling wants out. It is much easier to draft when everyone is getting along than after someone files a partition lawsuit.
6
The Five Living Probate Documents — While You Still Can
Everyone Needs These
Living probate is what happens when you are still alive but cannot speak for yourself. Without these five documents, a court appoints a public guardian — a stranger who does not know you, does not know what you value, and will put you in a nursing home and sell everything you own. This is preventable with one afternoon and one attorney appointment.
Durable Power of Attorney
Designates who handles your financial affairs — pays your bills, manages accounts, deals with your property — if you cannot. Without this, nobody can legally touch your finances, even a spouse in certain situations.
Doc 1 of 5
Healthcare Surrogate Designation
Names who makes medical decisions for you when you cannot make them yourself. This person talks to your doctors and decides on treatment. This is not the same as your financial power of attorney.
Doc 2 of 5
Living Will (Advance Directive)
Tells doctors how far you want them to go to keep you alive depending on your condition and prognosis. Takes an impossible decision out of your family's hands at the worst possible moment.
Doc 3 of 5
HIPAA Release Authorization
Allows specific people to receive your medical information. Your healthcare surrogate can make decisions, but other people you trust — family members, care managers — may need to be kept informed. This document makes that legal.
Doc 4 of 5
Pre-Need Guardianship Designation
Names in advance the person you want a court to appoint as your guardian if you are ever declared legally incompetent. Without this document, the court goes to a list of public guardians and picks someone for you. This is the document most people have never heard of and the one that matters most.
Doc 5 of 5
+
The Digital Estate — Don't Let the Paper Trail Go Dark
Property Owner
Set up a mail forwarding address plan for your heirs
When you pass, your heirs should immediately set up USPS mail forwarding. Mortgage servicers, lenders, and financial institutions still send critical paper notices. This is how reverse mortgage servicers send their Due and Payable clock.
Create a secure record of digital accounts, email access, and passwords
Most of your financial life comes to email now, not mail. If your heirs cannot get into your email accounts, they will not know what you owe or own. Store this securely — a password manager, a sealed envelope with your attorney, or a documented plan they can access.
Keep all legal and financial paperwork in one place your heirs know about
Deed, mortgage statements, Trust documents, insurance policies, reverse mortgage paperwork if applicable — all of it in one location. Tell someone where it is.
🤝 The One Meeting That Makes All of This Work
Every tool on this checklist works better — or only works at all — when your three professionals are in the same conversation at the same time. The tax strategy affects the Trust structure. The Trust structure affects the financial plan. One thread pulled, and the others move. Do not be your own telephone game.
⚖️ Florida Real Estate Attorney
📊 CPA / Tax Advisor
💼 Financial Planner
Action: Schedule one meeting with all three professionals looking at the same picture. Give them permission to talk to each other directly. That meeting might take two hours. It might save your family $35,000 and nineteen months of court time.
This Checklist Is the Beginning of Your Education — Not the End
I'm not your attorney and this isn't legal advice. Every item on this list is a conversation to have with a qualified real estate attorney licensed in the state where your property sits. Florida law is specific, local, and changes. What works in one county may not work in another. The tools exist. Use the professionals who know how to use them correctly.