Can Walt Name His Grandchildren on a Florida Lady Bird Deed?

Walt's Plan: Skip the Estranged Son, Leave the House to the Grandkids

Walt is 76 and lives in a modest home in Vero Beach. He and his son have been estranged for years, and Walt has decided he wants the house to go to his two grandchildren, ages 9 and 12, when he passes. He likes the idea of a Lady Bird Deed because he keeps full control of the house for the rest of his life, including the right to sell it, refinance it, or change his mind, and the house passes to whoever he names without going through probate. (Walt is a composite character built from situations I see often in my practice, not an actual client.)

What Walt did not realize at first is that naming a minor directly on a deed creates a problem the deed itself cannot solve. The fix he landed on is common, and it is worth walking through here in full.

Why a Minor Cannot Simply Receive Title to a House

Under Florida law, a minor cannot legally own or manage real property in their own name. A child cannot sign a deed, cannot get a mortgage, cannot list the house for sale, and cannot deal with insurance, taxes, or repairs in any binding legal way. This isn't a quirk of Lady Bird Deeds specifically. It is true of any method of transferring real estate to a minor, whether by will, by deed, or by intestacy.

So if Walt's Lady Bird Deed named his 9-year-old and 12-year-old grandchildren directly, here is what would happen at his death: title to the house would pass to the children automatically, exactly as the deed intends. But because they are minors, nobody would be legally authorized to act on their behalf regarding that property, no one to sign closing documents if it needs to be sold, and no one to make repairs, pay property taxes, or deal with insurance claims, without going to court first.

The Guardianship of Property Problem

When a minor inherits real property in Florida with no other structure in place, the usual result is a court-supervised guardianship of the minor's property. Someone, often a parent or relative, has to petition the court to be appointed as guardian of the property. That guardian typically must:

• File an initial inventory of the property with the court
• Post a bond in many cases, which costs money and requires ongoing renewal
• Get court approval before selling, refinancing, or making major decisions about the house
• File annual accountings with the court showing exactly how the property and any related funds were managed
• Return to court again when the child turns 18 to formally close the guardianship

This process involves attorney's fees, court costs, and delay, and it continues every year until the child reaches adulthood. For a family already dealing with a death, it adds a layer of ongoing court supervision that most people never anticipated when they signed a simple deed.

How Walt Solved It: Naming a Trust Instead of the Children

Walt's fix was to name a trust as the beneficiary of his Lady Bird Deed, rather than naming his grandchildren directly. Practically, this meant Walt worked with our office to create a simple trust for the benefit of his two grandchildren, and then the Lady Bird Deed named that trust, not the children by name, as the person who receives the house at Walt's death.

Here is why that solved the problem: a trust is not a minor. It is not incompetent to hold title, sign documents, or manage property, because a trust is managed by a trustee, an adult (or a corporate fiduciary) that Walt chose and named in the trust document. When Walt dies, the house passes to the trust with no guardianship required. The trustee then holds and manages the house, or sells it and holds the proceeds, according to the instructions Walt wrote into the trust.

Those instructions can be as specific as Walt wants. He can direct that the trustee hold the house, or the proceeds from selling it, until each grandchild reaches a certain age, and can even stage the distribution, for example releasing a portion at age 25 and the remainder at age 30. He can also name a different relative to serve as trustee than the one raising the children, if that fits his family better. None of that flexibility exists if a minor is named directly on the deed.

A Related Option: Florida's Uniform Transfers to Minors Act

Florida also has a statute, commonly called the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (found in Chapter 710 of the Florida Statutes), that allows certain property to be held by a named custodian for a minor's benefit until the minor reaches an age set in the transfer document, which can extend into the early or mid-twenties depending on how the transfer is structured. This mechanism is used regularly for things like custodial bank and brokerage accounts, and Florida's version of the law does contemplate the possibility of real estate.

In practice, for most families I work with, a trust is the cleaner tool when real estate is involved, because a trust document can be written specifically around the house, the grandchildren's ages, and the family's wishes, rather than relying on a more generic custodial framework. Either approach, however, shares the same underlying goal: put an adult in charge of the asset so the court does not have to.

One More Thing Walt Had to Check: Homestead and Marital Rights

Walt is widowed, which simplified his situation. But it is worth noting for any reader in a similar spot: if Walt were still married, Florida's homestead protections (found in Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, along with related provisions in Florida Statutes) would generally require his spouse to join in any deed affecting the homestead, and would restrict how a homestead can be devised if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child. A Lady Bird Deed cannot be used to bypass those protections. Because Walt's situation did not involve a surviving spouse, this issue did not come up for him, but it is exactly the kind of fact pattern worth reviewing with an attorney before any deed is signed.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does reading it create an attorney-client relationship. Florida estate, elder, probate, and real estate law are fact-specific and change over time. Consult a licensed Florida attorney about your individual circumstances. Arthur Simpson, Esq. is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. Attorney advertising.