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Living Trust and Estate Planning Attorney for Miami Beach, Florida

A complete Miami Beach estate plan keeps your family out of probate court, for a flat fee.

Wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, and health-care directives, built for Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County families, wherever you are.

  • Every core document in one flat-fee plan
  • Keep your home out of probate, and avoid a guardianship
  • Done by phone and video, serving Miami Beach wherever you are
Book a free consultation Trust plans from $3,200 / $4,500 · will plans from $1,200

Nobody travels. The consultation is by phone, you sign from home by online notarization, and the deed records in Miami-Dade County.

Quick Overview

For Miami Beach families, an estate plan coordinates the will or trust, the powers of attorney, the health-care directives, and the home so nothing lands in probate. Trust-based plans are a flat $3,200 to $4,500; will-based plans from $1,200. We handle it by phone and video, wherever you are. Which plan fits, and how the home passes, are below.

Topics to Know HideShow

Below, we walk through the 4 issues that decide whether this is the right move for you. Jump to any one.

  1. Estate Planning in Miami Beach: the Local Picture Miami Beach has the homeowners estate planning is built for. A home above Florida's $150,000 summary threshold (raised from $75,000 on July 1, 2026) can pull the family into a months-long probate without a plan.
  2. What a Complete Plan Covers A plan is a coordinated set of documents, not one piece of paper, and it takes a will or trust, a durable power of attorney, and health-care directives, often plus a deed on the home.
  3. Keeping a Miami Beach Home Out of Probate Your homestead has special rules and cannot be left freely in a will if you have a spouse or minor child. A funded trust or a lady bird deed keeps it out of probate.
  4. Flat Fees A trust-based plan is a flat $3,200 individual or $4,500 couple; a will-based plan $1,200 with a lady bird deed on the home included; single documents from $299. Government recording costs are added at cost.

That’s the quick version. The details below are what decide your situation, and where the costly mistakes hide.

Estate Planning in Miami Beach: the Local Picture

Miami Beach has a median age of 43 and 19 percent over 65, close to the state average. Planning demand among its 82,031 residents reflects high-value real estate and cross-border families. A median home value of $556,700 in Miami-Dade County makes Florida homestead protection and domicile a central part of any plan.

Miami Beach’s median age is around 43, and the median home value is about $556,700. A home at that value sits well above Florida’s $150,000 summary-administration threshold, raised from $75,000 on July 1, 2026, so without planning it can pull your family into a full, months-long probate. The fix is to coordinate the home, the will or trust, and any deed together, so the house passes the way you intend.

What a Complete Plan Covers

The wills, trusts, and powers of attorney people ask us about in Miami Beach are really one plan in three pieces. A last will and testament names who inherits, a living trust keeps the estate out of probate, and a durable power of attorney covers the years you are still here.

An estate plan is a coordinated set of documents, not one piece of paper. It takes a will or a revocable living trust to direct your property, a durable power of attorney so someone can act if you can’t, and a health-care surrogate, living will, and HIPAA authorization for medical decisions. Homeowners often add a lady bird deed on the homestead. See the full estate-planning guide →

Keeping a Miami Beach Home Out of Probate

Your Florida homestead carries special rules. It generally can’t be left freely in a will if you have a spouse or minor child, and it passes outside the will by its own path. A funded revocable trust or a lady bird deed keeps the home out of probate while you keep full control during life. See Miami-Dade County probate → or find the right deed →

Serving Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, wherever you are.

A free consultation maps your plan and quotes a flat fee. No office visit required.

Book a free consultation

Keeping Your Homestead Exemption With the Home in a Trust, Miami-Dade County

A home that moves into your revocable trust keeps its Florida homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes cap when the trust gives you the right to live there for life. The firm writes the deed and the trust that way. The exemption does not move by itself, and the county Property Appraiser decides what documents to require. Some counties want the whole trust, some want a one-page certificate on their own form, and one takes nothing online. The firm handles the appraiser filing as part of your plan, and the facts below are the Miami-Dade County rules read from the appraiser’s own page on the date shown.

What the appraiser asks for

  • "Legal/equitable title as of January 1. If the title is held in a trust, a copy of the trust document must be provided."
  • "Legal/equitable title as of January 1st (If title is held in a Trust, provide a copy of the trust document)" (Property Tax Exemption Requirements Guide, v. 2/2026)

How to file

Online filing is available.how to file online

Offices

  • Main Office, Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1 Street, Suite 710, Miami, Florida 33128-1984. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays
  • South Dade Government Center, 10710 SW 211 Street, Suite 207, Cutler Bay, Florida 33189. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays

Phone305-375-4712

Read from the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser on October 30, 2026. Rules change; confirm with the office before you file.

Notary Services in Miami Beach

The firm prepares your deed or trust and most clients sign from home by online notarization, with the firm arranging the notary and the two witnesses by video. Some people prefer to sign on paper in person. A Florida deed must be signed in front of two witnesses and acknowledged before a notary, so you need to bring two adult witnesses who are not named in the deed. Do not count on the store to supply witnesses. Call the store first to confirm a notary is on duty that day.

The UPS Store locations in Miami Beach that list notary services, with posted hours
StoreAddressPhoneHours
The UPS Store #1666At 15th And Alton1521 Alton Rd, Miami Beach 33139(305) 538-5076Mon to Fri 8:30 am to 7:30 pm · Sat 10 am to 5 pm · Sun 10 am to 3 pm
The UPS Store #6445Parking And Entrance Available In Rear529 W 41st St, Miami Beach 33140(305) 695-0500Mon to Fri 8:30 am to 7:30 pm · Sat 10 am to 5 pm · Sun 11 am to 4 pm
The UPS Store #6172Lobby Of The Eden Roc Hotel4525 Collins Ave, Miami Beach 33140(305) 674-5565Mon to Fri 8 am to 6:30 pm · Sat 10 am to 4 pm · Sun closed
The UPS Store #3041Old Blockbuster Plaza At 65th And Collins6538 Collins Ave, Miami Beach 33141(305) 866-5500Mon to Fri 8:30 am to 7 pm · Sat 10 am to 5 pm · Sun 10 am to 3 pm

Hours read from each store’s own page on October 30, 2026. Confirm by phone before you go.

Communities We Serve

We work with families across Miami-Dade County, and the rest of Miami-Dade County. Any deed in your plan records with the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller, whose office is at 20 NW 1st Avenue in downtown Miami; we prepare and e-record it for you. We are a Miami firm serving Miami Beach wherever you are; this is not a Miami Beach office.

Recently moved to Florida, or planning to? Make it official and cut your old state’s income tax with a Miami-Dade County Declaration of Domicile, then re-do your plan under Florida law.

Flat Fees

Trust-based plan $3,200 individual / $4,500 couple (trust + pour-over will + durable POA + health-care directives + one funding deed). Will-based plan $1,200 individual / $1,950 couple (will, durable POA, health-care directives and a lady bird deed on the home). Single documents from $299. Government recording costs are additional, at cost. See full pricing →

Secure Will Estate Plan
$1,200 individual · $1,950 couple
Five documents, designed together and signed together, plus a lady bird deed on your home so the house passes outside probate. The will, the durable power of attorney, the designation of health-care surrogate, the living will and the HIPAA authorization. The will carries survivorship and contingent takers, recitals that survive a later marriage or a new child, death-tax apportionment, and a trust for a minor’s share. We review your beneficiary designations, check the homestead, and guide the signing with a self-proving affidavit.
Complete Trust Plan
$3,200 individual · $4,500 couple
Everything in the Secure Will Estate Plan, with the revocable living trust drafted for your family, a pour-over will with a self-proving affidavit as the backup, one deed moving your Florida homestead into the trust, funding instructions and help retitling accounts, beneficiary designations coordinated with the trust, and instructions for your successor trustee. The trust pays out on a graduated schedule, holding each share and releasing it at the ages you set rather than handing it over at once. For blended families, out-of-state property, more than one property, and anyone who wants the family to skip probate entirely.
Lady bird deed
$399 · $449 joint
Passes the home to your family at death with no probate, and you keep full control and your homestead protection while you live. One owner $399, joint owners $449. Drafted with the homestead language Florida requires. A quitclaim, warranty or life-estate deed is $399.
Recording costs vary by county and start at $19.20 for a deed. Documentary stamp tax, court filing fees, publication and certified copies are additional and passed through at cost.
See every fee on one page →

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have an office in Miami Beach?

No. StepUpLaw is a Miami firm that serves Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County residents wherever they are, by phone and video. Most of the work happens online, and your signing is coordinated to meet Florida formalities (two witnesses and a notary).

Where are deeds recorded in Miami-Dade County?

Deeds and other documents for a Miami-Dade County property are recorded with the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. We handle the recording for any deed in your plan and pass the county’s cost through at cost.

Do I need a living trust, or is a will enough?

It depends on what you own and your goals. A will alone still goes through probate; a funded revocable living trust avoids it and manages things if you lose capacity. For a single home passing to your kids, a lady bird deed may be all you need. We talk through both at the free consultation.

Updated September 30, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. We serve Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County residents from our Miami office. Local figures are Census estimates (ACS 2024) and approximate.

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