Can a Florida Lady Bird Deed Cover the House Up North Too?

Ken and Barb's Two Addresses, Two Sets of Rules

Ken and Barb are a composite couple I use to illustrate a question I hear constantly at the firm: they are 74 and 72, they winter in a condo in Flagler Beach, and they spend their summers in a house outside Traverse City, Michigan. They are not actual clients, but their situation is one I see in some form nearly every month. They came to Truestead assuming that once we prepared a lady bird deed for the Florida condo, the Michigan house would somehow be covered by the same document. It will not be. Real estate is governed by the law of the state where it sits, full stop. A deed recorded in Flagler County has no legal reach over a parcel in Grand Traverse County, no matter how the paperwork is worded.

The Florida Condo: A Lady Bird Deed Does the Job

For the Flagler Beach condo, the plan is straightforward. Florida recognizes the enhanced life estate deed, often called a lady bird deed, as a matter of long-standing common law and title-insurance practice rather than a specific statute. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the core idea, a life estate paired with a reserved power to sell or mortgage, all the way back in 1917, and title examiners today follow Florida Bar Uniform Title Standards written specifically for these deeds.

A properly drafted lady bird deed lets Ken and Barb keep full control of the condo for as long as either of them is alive. They can sell it, refinance it, rent it out, or change their minds and revoke the deed entirely, all without asking permission from the children named as future beneficiaries. When the second of them passes away, the condo passes directly to those beneficiaries by recorded deed, without a Florida probate case. Because Florida has no transfer-on-death deed statute for real estate, the lady bird deed is the simplest tool the state offers for this purpose.

One detail matters here: if the condo is Ken and Barb's Florida homestead, Florida's constitutional homestead protections still apply, and if either of them were single and the property were homestead, a spouse would generally need to join in signing away homestead rights. Since Florida requires two witnesses and a notary on any deed, and the deed must be recorded in the county where the land sits, our office handles that filing as part of the engagement.

The Michigan House: Recognized, But Still a Separate Deed

Here is the good news for Ken and Barb: Michigan is one of only a small handful of states, alongside Florida and Texas, that recognizes the enhanced life estate deed. So the Michigan house can also use a lady bird-style deed. But it has to be its own instrument, drafted to satisfy Michigan's execution and recording requirements, signed and recorded in the Michigan county where the property sits. A Florida deed dropped into a Michigan county clerk's office does nothing for a Michigan title. Each state's deed stands on its own.

This is the piece that trips up a lot of snowbird families. They assume estate planning documents travel with the person. Some do, like a will or a revocable trust. A recorded deed does not. It is tied permanently to the parcel and the state where that parcel exists.

What About States That Only Allow a TOD Deed, or Neither?

Ken and Barb happen to be lucky that Michigan is a lady bird state. Many snowbirds are not so fortunate. A growing number of states, roughly 32 plus the District of Columbia as of this year, allow a different tool called a transfer-on-death deed (TOD deed), which accomplishes a similar goal through different mechanics: the owner records a deed naming a beneficiary, and title passes automatically at death. Florida does not have this option for real estate, but many second-home states do, including a number of popular retirement and vacation states.

Then there is a third category: a handful of states offer neither a lady bird deed nor a TOD deed. For property in those states, the family generally needs a will (which still requires probate) or, more efficiently, a properly funded revocable living trust that holds title to the out-of-state property during the owner's lifetime.

When a Revocable Trust Is the Better Multi-State Tool

For families who own property in three or more states, or who own property in states that recognize neither a lady bird deed nor a TOD deed, a revocable living trust is usually the cleaner answer. The owner deeds each property, in every state, into the trust during their lifetime. Because the trust, not the individual, holds legal title, there is no probate to open anywhere when the owner dies. The successor trustee simply distributes or manages the property according to the trust's terms. One trust document can coordinate real estate in Florida, Michigan, and anywhere else, even though each state's own deed transferring title into the trust still has to be prepared and recorded under that state's own rules.

For a two-property couple like Ken and Barb, where both states happen to allow the simpler enhanced life estate deed, two separate lady bird deeds accomplish the same probate-avoidance goal at a lower cost than a full trust. Truestead prepares Florida lady bird deeds for $199 self-guided or $399 attorney-prepared, including recording, for clients whose situation fits this straightforward approach.

Which Home Is Actually the Homestead?

One more question for snowbird couples: which property is the Florida homestead for tax and creditor-protection purposes? Florida homestead status, and its associated protections and Save Our Homes tax benefits, generally attaches to the one property a person or married couple claims as their permanent residence, established through things like a Florida driver's license, voter registration, and where they actually live most of the year. For Ken and Barb, if the Flagler Beach condo is where they are legally domiciled, it is the one eligible for Florida homestead treatment, while the Michigan house is simply a second home under Michigan law, unrelated to Florida's homestead rules entirely. This distinction does not change whether a lady bird deed works, but it matters for tax planning and is worth confirming with an attorney familiar with both states.

Sources

• Alper Law, How Florida Lady Bird Deeds Work, Pros and Cons, and Costs, September 2026
• Step Up Law, Florida Enhanced Life Estate Deed (Lady Bird Deed) 2026, September 1, 2026
• Lyons Law Group, What Is Ancillary Probate in Florida and When Is It Required?, February 18, 2026
• Peshke Law (Vero Beach), Florida Ancillary Probate Administration, January 21, 2026
• Nolo, Which States Allow Transfer-on-Death Deeds for Real Estate?, December 22, 2025
• Deeds.com, Transfer on Death Deed: Why More States Allow It in 2026, July 23, 2026

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.