Many Floridians own more than one home. It may be a condo up north that you kept after moving south, a family house you inherited, or a vacation place in the mountains. If you live in Florida and own real estate in another state, your estate plan has a second set of rules to follow: the rules of the state where that property sits.

Two tools come up again and again when people want real estate to pass to someone at death without going through probate: the Lady Bird deed and the transfer-on-death (TOD) deed. They sound similar, and both can work well. But they are not interchangeable, and neither one is available everywhere. This article explains what each tool does, why Florida law cannot control your out-of-state property, and what to do when neither tool is available where your property is located.

Why the location of the property matters

Each state's law governs the land inside its borders. A Florida deed, will, or trust provision cannot change how another state treats a house located there. A Lady Bird deed signed under Florida law covers Florida land. It cannot reach a condo or house in another state.

So the first question for any out-of-state property is not "what does Florida allow?" It is "what does the state where the property sits allow?" The answer decides which tools are on the table.

What a Lady Bird deed is

A Lady Bird deed, also called an enhanced life estate deed, is a deed you sign during your lifetime. You keep the right to live in and control the property for the rest of your life, and you name one or more people to receive it at your death. The "enhanced" part is that you also keep the power to sell, mortgage, or change your mind, without the consent of the people you named.

In Florida, no statute creates or regulates this kind of deed. It rests on court decisions going back more than a century and on title standards published by The Florida Bar. The commentary to one of those standards says candidly that "there is no Florida Statute governing such conveyances and scant judicial authority supporting the practice." (Fla. Unif. Title Std. 6.11, comment.) The standard cites the Florida Supreme Court's 1917 decision in Oglesby v. Lee, which a Florida Bar Journal article describes as the common-law basis for these deeds. (Gassman, Exline & Farrell, 2023.)

Because the deed depends on title practice rather than a statute, its wording matters. Under the title standard, "the life tenant must have retained the power to divest the remainderman in the vesting deed." (Std. 6.11.) In plain English, the deed itself has to say clearly that you kept the power to take the property back or give it to someone else.

Where Lady Bird deeds are recognized

Only a minority of states recognize Lady Bird deeds. A few examples:

• Vermont has a statute, the Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act. It requires that the grantor "expressly reserves a common law life estate." (27 V.S.A. § 653(2).)
• Michigan recognizes these deeds through court decisions and a state land title standard. A 2024 Michigan Bar Journal article notes that "Michigan cases have unambiguously affirmed the ladybird deed's validity." (Sullivan & Nathanson, 2024.)
• Texas treats the Lady Bird deed as "governed by common law," according to the Texas State Law Library, which contrasts it with the separate transfer-on-death deed that Texas also offers. (Tex. State Law Library, 2024.)

Beyond these, counsel to the Uniform Law Commission wrote in 2025 that "a handful of additional states, mainly in the South, permit" Lady Bird deeds. (Sternecky, 2025.) Most states do not. If your out-of-state property is in a state that does not recognize them, a Florida-style Lady Bird deed is not the answer.

What a transfer-on-death deed is

A transfer-on-death deed is a deed created by statute. You sign and record it during your lifetime, you keep full ownership while you are alive, and the property passes to the person you name when you die. The Uniform Law Commission's model law, the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, describes the goal as letting owners pass real estate "without the expense and delay of probate." (Sternecky, 2025.)

TOD deeds are now widely available, but not universal. As of 2025, the Uniform Act had been adopted in "19 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands," and "32 American jurisdictions" allowed TOD deeds in some form. (Sternecky, 2025.) Some states, such as Ohio, have their own older versions. Ohio's statute lets an owner "designate the entire interest... as transferable on death." (Ohio Rev. Code § 5302.22(B).) The list keeps changing. Delaware's TOD deed law took effect on December 4, 2025. (Del. J. Corp. L. blog, 2026.) In Pennsylvania, a TOD deed bill passed the state House in October 2026 and is now before the state Senate; it is not law yet. (Pa. H.B. 2124.)

Because each state writes its own TOD deed law, the forms, signing rules, and recording deadlines differ from state to state. A TOD deed for property in another state should follow that state's statute exactly.

Florida does not have a TOD deed for real estate

This surprises many people. Florida allows transfer-on-death registration for investment accounts and securities (chapter 711, Florida Statutes) and pay-on-death designations for bank accounts (§ 655.82). But Florida has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate.

A committee of The Florida Bar's Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section has proposed one. The proposal would "allow parties to transfer real property upon the death of the owner of the real property without having to go through probate." (RPPTL proposal.) As of this writing, though, no such bill appears in the 2025 or 2026 legislative sessions, and Florida's statutes contain no such law. For a Florida home, the usual probate-avoiding tools remain a Lady Bird deed or a revocable trust.

Comparing the two tools

• Where they come from. A TOD deed is created by a state statute. A Lady Bird deed is, in most places, a product of court decisions and title practice. Vermont is an exception, with a statute.
• Where they work. Roughly 30-plus jurisdictions allow TOD deeds. Only a handful recognize Lady Bird deeds. Some states, like Texas, allow both.
• Control during life. Both are designed to let you keep using, selling, or changing your plan for the property while you are alive. Exactly how depends on the deed and the state's law.
• At death. Both are designed to pass the property to your named beneficiary without a probate case in that state.
• Formalities. Both must be signed and recorded correctly under the law of the state where the property is located. A small drafting error can defeat the purpose.

When neither tool is available: ancillary probate

If you own property in a state that recognizes neither a Lady Bird deed nor a TOD deed, and you hold that property in your own name, your family will usually need a second probate case in that state after your death. This is called ancillary probate. It runs alongside the main probate case in Florida and is handled under the other state's rules, often with a separate local attorney.

Florida has the same kind of process for people who live elsewhere and die owning Florida property. A personal representative must obtain ancillary letters in Florida (§ 734.102), and "all proceedings for appointment and administration of the estate shall be as similar to those in original administrations as possible." (§ 734.102(4).) Florida offers a shorter procedure when the Florida property has a gross value of $50,000 or less and there is a will. (§ 734.1025.) Other states have their own versions of these rules, so check the law where your property sits.

A revocable trust as the alternative

A revocable living trust is often the most flexible answer, especially for property in a state without a TOD deed. If you deed your out-of-state property into your trust during your lifetime, the trust owns it at your death, and ancillary probate in that state can generally be avoided. Florida's Trust Code sets the basic requirements for creating a valid trust, including that "the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary." (§ 736.0402.) The deed into the trust must still satisfy the law of the state where the property is located.

Some people try to avoid probate by adding a relative or partner to the title as a joint owner. Counsel to the Uniform Law Commission has called that fallback "a riskier and more problematic behavior." (Sternecky, 2025.) A joint owner gets a present ownership interest, and that can bring problems of its own. Talk with an attorney before adding anyone to a deed.

How your Florida homestead fits in

If you use a Lady Bird deed for your Florida home, keep Florida's homestead rules in mind. When a homestead owner dies survived by a spouse or a minor child, Florida's constitution limits who can receive the home. Florida's title standard says this restriction "must be considered" after the death of a life tenant who was survived by a spouse or minor child. (Std. 6.11, comment.) It adds that "conveyances from all of the heirs of the deceased life tenant, including the surviving spouse, may be required" to give the named beneficiary clear title. (Std. 6.11, comment.)

A Florida statute does treat some lifetime transfers of homestead as falling outside these limits, but only "if the transferor fails to retain a power... to revoke or revest that interest in the transferor." (§ 732.4017(1).) A Lady Bird deed keeps exactly that kind of power. So a Lady Bird deed does not, by itself, get around the homestead restriction.

On property taxes, Florida's homestead exemption statute treats a person holding "a beneficial interest for life" as having "equitable title to real estate." (§ 196.041(2).) The life estate you keep under a Lady Bird deed is that kind of interest, which is one reason these deeds are used for Florida homes.

Florida's homestead protections attach to your Florida residence. A second home in another state is not Florida homestead. How that state treats it depends on its own law.

What this means for unmarried partners

For many of our clients, the person they most want to protect is a partner they have not married. Florida's intestacy law gives an unmarried partner nothing. Without planning, a partner of decades can be left out entirely.

Both tools can help. A Lady Bird deed can name your partner as the person who receives your Florida home. A TOD deed, where the other state allows one, can name your partner for property there. A revocable trust can do the same for property in any state.

There is an important catch for a Florida homestead. If you die survived by a spouse or a minor child, the homestead restriction can override a Lady Bird deed that names your partner, as described above. That can happen, for example, if you are separated but never divorced from a spouse. Out-of-state property is different: because it is not Florida homestead, a TOD deed or trust naming your partner for that property does not run into Florida's homestead restriction.

Medicaid and estate recovery

If you may need long-term care paid for by Medicaid, how you hold property matters. Florida recovers certain Medicaid costs by filing "a statement of claim against the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient" in probate. (§ 409.9101(2).) The claim is not enforced if a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child survives. (§ 409.9101(6).) And "no debt under this section shall be enforced against any property that is determined to be exempt from the claims of creditors." (§ 409.9101(7).)

How a Lady Bird deed or TOD deed interacts with Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery is a question to review with an elder law attorney before you sign anything. If you receive Medicaid in another state, that state's own recovery rules apply to your property there, and they vary from state to state.

A short checklist for out-of-state property

1. List every piece of real estate you own, in Florida and elsewhere, and how each one is titled today.
2. For each out-of-state property, find out whether that state allows a TOD deed, recognizes a Lady Bird deed, or neither.
3. If the state allows a TOD deed, use that state's statutory form and follow its signing and recording rules.
4. If the state allows neither, consider deeding the property into a revocable trust to avoid ancillary probate there.
5. If you want an unmarried partner to receive property, put that plan in writing. Intestacy will not do it for you.
6. If your Florida home is your homestead, confirm whether a spouse or minor child could affect a Lady Bird deed.
7. If long-term care is a possibility, ask about Medicaid before you change any deed.
8. Review your deeds and beneficiary designations after a marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, or move.

We can help you plan

Owning property in more than one state is one of the most common reasons a family ends up in two probate cases. The Law Office of Shawn C. Newman, P.A. helps individuals and couples throughout Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties review their deeds, trusts, and wills, including how property in other states fits into a Florida plan. Initial consultations are free and can be held at our office at 710 NE 26th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305, or by Zoom.

Call us at (954) 563-9160 to schedule a time to talk. You can also learn more at www.shawnnewman.com.

Give us a call. We can help.

Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with the Law Office of Shawn C. Newman, P.A. Laws change, and every situation is different. Please consult an attorney about your specific circumstances before acting on any information here.