How to Put Your House in a Trust in Florida

How Putting Your House in a Trust Actually Works

Your house does not move into a trust on its own, and no page of the trust document moves it either. The transfer happens by deed, a new deed from you, the owner, to you as trustee of your trust, recorded with the clerk of court in the county where the home sits. That recorded deed is the whole event. Before the deed is recorded, the trust is a plan, and after it the trust holds title. The order matters too. The trust must exist first, because the deed needs a trustee to receive the property. If you are still deciding whether a trust fits at all, start with how a Florida revocable living trust works.

The deed itself has formalities. Florida law requires two witnesses and a notary, the same signing ceremony as a sale. A well-drafted deed also spells out the trustee’s authority on its face, so a future buyer, lender, or title company can rely on the public record instead of demanding the whole trust. Once it is recorded, daily life does not change. You are the trustee, so you keep full control. Live in the home, rent it, sell it, refinance it, or revoke the trust and deed the house back to yourself.

Putting Your House in a Trust: Pros and Cons

A trust gives a Florida homeowner four real advantages and costs four real things. The advantages come first.

• No probate on the house. At your death, your successor trustee passes the home under the trust terms, privately, with no court case.
• Incapacity is handled. If you can no longer manage your affairs, the successor trustee you chose steps in, without a guardianship proceeding.
• Privacy. A will becomes a public court file in probate. A trust keeps who gets the house between your family and your attorney.
• Out-of-state property. A vacation home in another state can go into the same trust, sparing your family a second probate case there.

The four costs are as concrete as the advantages.

• No protection from your creditors. Because you can take everything back, Florida law lets your creditors reach revocable-trust assets during your life. Your homestead keeps its own constitutional protection, but the trust adds none.
• No Medicaid help. Assets in a revocable trust stay countable if you ever need long-term-care Medicaid.
• Cost, for a simple estate. If your whole goal is passing one Florida home to adult children, a lady bird deed at $399 does that without a trust. The deed-versus-trust comparison walks through which fits.
• The deed has to be recorded. A trust with no deed behind it controls nothing, and the house goes through probate anyway.

How Is a Lady Bird Deed Better Than Putting a House in a Trust?

A lady bird deed is the better tool when the estate is one Florida home passing to adults who get along, because it skips probate on that home for $399 ($449 for a couple), leaves you full control for life, and needs no separate funding step. A common question I hear is, “Why would I pay $3,200 for a trust if a $399 deed keeps the house out of probate?” The answer is that the deed moves one property and does nothing else. A trust earns the higher fee when there is more to manage, such as a second home in another state, a child under 18, a blended family, or a parent who wants a successor trustee ready to pay the bills if dementia sets in. A lady bird deed has no one to manage the house during your incapacity, and it cannot hold a share back for a young or struggling beneficiary.

Many Florida plans use both, a trust as the backbone and a lady bird deed on the homestead. The deed-versus-trust comparison works through the choice property by property.

Practice pointer. A lady bird deed and a trust can name different people for the same house when the two documents are signed years apart. Whoever drafts the second document should read the first one, so the deed’s remainder beneficiaries and the trust’s beneficiaries match.

What Happens to Your Florida Homestead in a Trust?

Your homestead keeps all three of its protections when the transfer into the trust is drafted correctly. The homestead question stops most homeowners, and the fear is reasonable, because your home has more protection in Florida than almost anywhere else and nobody wants to sign that away. Your homestead tax exemption and the Save Our Homes cap (the limit on how fast your assessed value can climb) continue, because Florida’s property-tax law treats your interest in the trust as equitable title; the trust has to say so in the right words, and the property appraiser needs to know about it. The constitutional creditor protection survives too, because a Florida appellate court has held that homestead keeps that shield inside a revocable trust.

Two rules follow the house into the trust. If you are married, your spouse must also sign the deed (lawyers call it spousal joinder); the Florida Constitution requires it, and a homestead deed missing that signature is void as to the homestead. And the homestead inheritance restrictions still apply. A trust cannot leave the homestead away from your spouse without a valid written waiver, and if you have a minor child, the home generally cannot be left away from the family at all.

The creditor protection reaches a child who inherits through a trust too. A Florida mother who died in 1990 owned one thing, a house worth $45,000, and her will left it in a spendthrift trust for her daughter, her only heir. Her former husband served as trustee and held legal title. A hospital holding an $8,856.45 judgment against her claimed the house, arguing that homestead protection belongs to an heir and a trustee is not one. The daughter kept the house. The appeals court called the mother’s choice of a trust over a will “a matter of form rather than substance,” and it said plainly that its answer depended on the trustee holding title and doing nothing more than supervising the property.

Practice pointer. A general power to sell does not cost a trust-held home its protection, but where no spouse or minor child survives you, a clause directing the trustee to sell the house after your death can turn it into ordinary trust property that your estate’s bills can reach. I read the residence article of every trust I review for that one instruction.

Can You Put Your House in a Trust Without a Lawyer?

Yes, you can, because Florida does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed. What we can tell you, from cleaning up the aftermath, is exactly where do-it-yourself transfers go wrong.

• The wrong deed type. Many DIY transfers use a bare quitclaim deed (it transfers whatever the signer owns, with no assurances about the title). A quitclaim carries no warranties forward and, under older title policies, can cut off the successor trustee's coverage after your death. A warranty deed is the form the Florida Bar's manual prefers.
• The missing powers paragraph. A deed that names the trust by title and date and recites none of the trustee's powers leaves a title the successor trustee cannot sell without producing the trust, as the section on what the deed has to say explains.
• Lost homestead language. A deed or trust that skips the homestead provisions can cost you the tax exemption, and a married owner who records without the spouse’s signature has a deed that is void as to the homestead.
• Documentary-stamp surprises. A deed into a trust you can revoke is not a taxable transfer under the Department of Revenue’s rule, mortgage or not, and it records with the minimum stamp of about 70 cents. The mortgage balance becomes taxable consideration when the trust is irrevocable and someone other than you is a beneficiary, so a deed into an irrevocable trust is the one to price before recording.
• Execution defects. A deed signed without two witnesses and a notary does not convey Florida real estate, no matter how good the trust is.
• The unfunded trust. The most common failure of all. The trust gets signed, the deed never gets recorded, and the family discovers it in probate court.

If you have a trust and need the house moved into it, an attorney-prepared and recorded deed is a flat fee from $550. Measured against your largest asset, it is the cheap part of the plan.

What Has to Be on the Deed So the Trustee Can Sell the House Later?

Clients are often confused about why a title company asked for the whole trust at a closing, and ask me, "Did the deed into the trust not work?" The deed worked. What it left out is the paragraph that lets a buyer rely on the deed alone. Florida's recording statute vests full power in a trustee when the recorded deed names the grantee as trustee and confers the power "to protect, to conserve, to sell, to lease, to encumber, or otherwise to manage and dispose of" the property. With those words on the deed, nobody dealing with the trustee has to ask who the beneficiaries are or whether the trustee is authorized, and a buyer takes free of the beneficiaries' claims. Without them, the deed names a trust that is not in the public record, and a reference in a recorded deed to an unrecorded document is itself a cloud on the title. Two Florida appellate decisions, from 1961 and 1965, draw that line, and the Florida Bar's trust administration manual, written for title underwriters, says the title company will then require the trust, excerpts from it, or a certification of trust before it insures a sale. Writing the statute number on the deed is not enough. The six powers themselves have to be recited.

Three more things belong on the deed. The grantee line names the person "as Trustee" of the trust by its title and date rather than naming the trust itself, because a trust is not a legal entity and cannot hold title. The powers run to the successor trustees as well, because the trustee who sells after your death will be the successor. And the deed is a warranty deed rather than a quitclaim. The Bar's manual calls the warranty deed preferable in most circumstances because it preserves your existing title insurance, the prior owner's warranties and any title you acquire later. Older owner's policies continued coverage only for a successor who took by operation of law or under a warranty, so a quitclaim into the trust could leave the successor trustee without a policy at the moment a title problem surfaces, after your death or incapacity. The 2021 revision of the standard owner's policy covers a trustee of an estate planning trust whatever deed was used, so the answer turns on the date of your policy. On a homestead the warranty form has one more benefit, because the warranties you and your spouse give are enforceable against your estate, which the manual says eases the technical objections title examiners raise to homestead conveyed into a revocable trust.

Practice pointer. Pull the recorded deed into any trust that already holds a house and read the grantee line and the paragraph after it. A deed that names the trust by title and date with no powers recited can be fixed now by a corrective deed for $550, and a title examiner who finds it at a closing after your death fixes it by demanding the trust from your family. Avoid a deed that reads "to the John Smith Trust" with no trustee named, which conveys to a grantee that cannot hold title, and a deed the owner signs as an individual for a house the trust already holds, because the trustee is the one who has to sign.

What Happens to Your Mortgage?

Most mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause (a term letting the lender demand full payment if you transfer the property). Homeowners read that and freeze. You can relax. Federal law has barred lenders from enforcing that clause against a transfer into your own living trust since 1982, as long as you remain a beneficiary of the trust and the transfer does not change who has the right to live in the home. You keep making the same payments to the same lender, usually without the lender ever noticing the deed.

Two practical points apply. The federal protection covers residential property with fewer than five dwelling units, so your home and a small rental qualify while an apartment building does not. And if you refinance later, some lenders ask you to deed the home out of the trust for the closing and back in afterward. The extra deeds are paperwork rather than a penalty, and the deed back into the trust matters as much as the first one. The full answer, including the occupancy and notice conditions, rentals, the stamp tax and what to send your servicer, is on our page about whether you can put a house with a mortgage in a trust.

How to Put a House in Trust in Florida, Step by Step

1. Sign the trust first. The deed needs an existing trust to receive the home. Florida requires the trust to be signed with will formalities, meaning two witnesses and a notary.
2. Prepare the new deed. It runs from you to yourself as trustee, names the trust and its date, recites the six powers Florida's recording statute lists so a buyer can rely on the deed alone, extends them to your successor trustees, and handles the homestead correctly. If the home is homestead and you are married, your spouse signs too.
3. Sign with two witnesses and a notary. The formalities are the same as for any Florida deed, and a deed missing a witness does not convey the house.
4. Record the deed with the clerk of court in the county where the home sits, paying the recording fee and any documentary stamp.
5. Protect the homestead exemption. Make sure the property appraiser has what it needs so your exemption and Save Our Homes cap continue without interruption. This is the step people forget.
6. Finish the job. Let your insurance company know title has changed, and fund the rest of the trust. The house is usually the biggest asset, but it is rarely the only one.

What It Costs to Put Your House in a Trust

If we are building the trust, the deed is part of the package. The trust-based plan is a flat $3,200 for an individual or $4,500 for a couple, and it includes the revocable trust, a pour-over will, a durable power of attorney, your health-care documents, and one deed funding your Florida home into the trust. The full cost breakdown shows what each piece does, and the complete price list is posted.

If you have a trust and only need the deed, a standalone deed into an existing trust is a flat fee from $550. The only additions in either case are government costs passed through at cost, mainly the county recording fee and any documentary stamp, and posted fees are honored for 90 days. And if your estate is one Florida home headed to adult children, say so at the consultation. A $399 lady bird deed may do everything you need without a trust, and we would rather tell you that than sell you the bigger plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The trust that never owned the house. A Port St. Lucie widow brought in her late husband’s trust binder from an online service, ten years old and professionally printed. The trust was fine on paper, but no deed was ever recorded, so the house was still titled in his name alone and his estate went through the probate the couple had paid to avoid. For her own plan, the deed was signed and recorded the same month as the trust.

The missing signature. A married Brandon man prepared his own deed moving the homestead into his new trust and left his wife’s signature off, reasoning that the house was titled in his name only. Under the Florida Constitution, a married owner cannot transfer homestead without the spouse joining, so the deed was void as to the homestead. A corrective deed with both signatures fixed it, and only because the problem surfaced during a refinance instead of after a death.

The couple who did not need the trust at all. A Venice couple asked for a trust because a dinner seminar told them everyone needs one. They owned one Florida home, their accounts carried beneficiary designations, and everything was headed to two adult daughters who get along. A $449 joint lady bird deed did the work they wanted. We would rather say so than sell a $4,500 plan that adds nothing.

Sources of Law

• Florida Trust Code, Fla. Stat. ch. 736: §736.0505 (annotated) (a revocable trust does not shield assets from the settlor’s own creditors); §736.1109 (annotated) (homestead held in a revocable trust). flsenate.gov (retrieved 2026-08-11)
• Engelke v. Estate of Engelke, 921 So. 2d 693 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (homestead keeps its constitutional creditor protection inside a revocable trust; district-court-of-appeal authority).
• Callava v. Feinberg, 864 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003), reh’g denied Jan. 30, 2004 (a resident holding only a beneficial interest in a home titled to “Jorge Gaviria, as Trustee” may claim the exemption from forced sale; §689.07 did not defeat it where the trustee never conveyed or encumbered); HCA Gulf Coast Hospital v. Estate of Downing, 594 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (the exemption inures to a spendthrift-trust beneficiary who would have been entitled to it had title passed directly; the court relied on the trustee holding only a supervisory interest). Quotations verified against CourtListener opinion text, retrieved 2026-10-15.
• Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. §1701j-3(d)(8) (a lender may not enforce a due-on-sale clause against a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary, for residential property with fewer than five dwelling units).
• Fla. Stat. §689.01 (deed execution with two subscribing witnesses); §689.07(1) (a deed to a grantee “as trustee” that names no beneficiaries, sets out no trust purposes, and does not identify the trust by title or date grants the trustee power to sell and encumber); §736.1109(2) to (3) (a power of sale does not expose protected homestead; a direction to sell non-restricted homestead leaves title in the trustee subject to the trust); §196.041(2) (homestead tax exemption through equitable title in a trust); §201.02 and Fla. Admin. Code R. 12B-4.013 (documentary stamp tax on deeds; mortgage balance as consideration). (retrieved 2026-08-11)
• Fla. Const. Art. X §4 (homestead protections; §4(c) requires the spouse to join a transfer of homestead); Fla. Stat. §732.7025 (spousal homestead waiver).
• The powers on the deed: Fla. Stat. §689.073(1) to (3) and (5) (a recorded instrument naming a grantee as trustee and conferring the power “to protect, to conserve, to sell, to lease, to encumber, or otherwise to manage and dispose of” the property vests those powers in the trustee; no duty to inquire; purchasers take free of beneficiary claims; applies to chapter 736 trusts); §736.1017 (annotated)(1)(d), (1)(h) and (5) (a certification of trust states the trustee’s powers and the manner of taking title, and the recipient may require the excerpts conferring the power to act). Resnick v. Goldman, 133 So. 2d 770 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961), and Grammer v. Roman, 174 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965), as cited in Florida Real Estate Transactions §10.06[3] (a deed to a trustee referring to an unrecorded trust leaves the title unmarketable unless the deed grants the trustee broad powers; opinions not read for this page). Administration of Trusts in Florida (The Florida Bar, rev. Dec. 2025) ch. 14, §14.2 (trustee registration by name, trust identifier and date), §14.4.D (a warranty deed is preferable because it preserves existing title insurance, prior warranties and after-acquired title, and the prior ALTA policy forms versus the 2021 revision), §14.5.B.4 (the trust, excerpts or a certification will be required unless the deed grants the powers, and citing the statute number alone is insufficient), §14.6.D.2 (homestead). Fla. Bar Uniform Title Standard 16.1 (an unrecorded instrument referred to in the chain of title ordinarily constitutes a cloud). (statutes verified against the 2026 text, 2026-10-18)
• Advertised fees are honored for 90 days from the posted date; government costs (recording, documentary stamps, certified copies) are additional and passed through at cost. Fees are not a prediction of outcome.

What I See When a Home Is Titled to a Trustee

I have come across a divorce case from Miami-Dade that shows both how strong homestead protection is inside a trust and how close it came to failing. After a long divorce from a husband who was a citizen of Argentina, a mother was awarded a house to cover the child support and alimony he owed. In 1995 she sold it, bought a much cheaper home, and put the title in another man’s name “as Trustee” (the opinion never says who he was to her). A former divorce lawyer of hers, who had not been paid from the first sale, won a judgment for $168,301.71 and then an order foreclosing on the new house. The lawyer argued that the trustee owned the house on paper, so the mother had no homestead to protect.

The mother kept her home, but only after winning an appeal in 2003, and I read the opinion as a near miss. Florida’s recording statute lets a trustee named on a deed sell or mortgage the property when the deed names no beneficiary and does not identify the trust, and the court noted that her trustee “did not do so.” Had he signed a mortgage, the statute would have let the lender rely on his signature. A deed to herself as trustee, naming the trust by its title and date, would have answered the lawyer’s argument on the face of the public record and spared her the appeal. I charge $550 for a deed into an existing trust.

Practice pointer. Before I record a funding deed, I check that the grantee line names the trust by its title and date and that the owner who lives in the house is the trustee, so the public record shows whose home it is.

Avoid titling a Florida home to a relative or a friend “as trustee” on a one-line deed, which hands that person the record power to sell or mortgage the house you live in.

Homestead protection has an honest limit. The protection stops a creditor from forcing a sale of the home, and the debt itself survives, which is why the court left the lawyer free to collect the $168,301.71 any other way the law allowed. A mortgage you signed and the property taxes stay enforceable against the house no matter how it is titled.

Updated on October 18, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. General information about Florida law and our posted fees, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. The right plan depends on your specific facts, which we confirm at a free consultation.