Putting Your House in a Trust in Florida

Transferring a Florida home to a trust means recording a new deed that names the trust as the property owner. The homeowner continues to live in the home, but legal title now belongs to the trustee. Whether the trust provides probate avoidance, creditor protection, or both depends on the type of trust.

A revocable living trust avoids probate but does not protect the home from creditors. An irrevocable trust removes the home from the owner’s personal estate and can shield it from judgment creditors, but the owner gives up direct control. Many Florida homeowners find that a simpler alternative, such as a lady bird deed, accomplishes probate avoidance without the cost or complexity of a trust.

How a Revocable Living Trust Works for a Home

A revocable living trust is the most common vehicle Florida homeowners use to hold their house. The owner creates the trust, names themselves as trustee, and remains the primary beneficiary. Nothing about day-to-day life changes. The owner still lives in the home, pays the mortgage, and can sell or refinance without anyone’s consent.

The primary benefit is probate avoidance. When the owner dies, the successor trustee transfers the home to the named beneficiaries without going through probate court. Florida’s probate process typically takes six months to a year and generates statutory attorney fees that can reach several thousand dollars depending on the estate’s value.

A revocable trust also addresses incapacity. If the owner can no longer manage their affairs, the successor trustee steps in and handles the property without a court-appointed guardian. The owner resigns as trustee, and the successor trustee assumes control while the original owner remains the lifetime beneficiary.

A revocable trust provides zero creditor protection. Florida Statutes § 736.0505(1)(a) makes all assets in a revocable trust available to the settlor’s creditors while the settlor is alive. A judgment creditor can reach the home inside a revocable trust exactly as if the trust did not exist. Homeowners concerned about lawsuit exposure need an irrevocable trust, not a revocable one.

Why an Irrevocable Trust Provides Creditor Protection

An irrevocable trust provides creditor protection that a revocable trust cannot because the owner transfers legal and equitable title out of their personal estate. The key is that the owner must not be a beneficiary. Florida treats self-settled trusts—where the person who created the trust is also a beneficiary—as providing no creditor protection at all under § 736.0505(1)(b).

A properly structured irrevocable trust names a spouse, children, or other family members as beneficiaries while the homeowner remains outside the beneficiary class. The trust combines a spendthrift provision (§ 736.0502), which blocks creditors from attaching a beneficiary’s interest, with discretionary distribution clauses (§ 736.0504), which block creditors from forcing the trustee to distribute.

The trade-off is real. The homeowner who transfers their home to an irrevocable trust gives up direct ownership. The trustee manages the property according to the trust terms. The homeowner cannot unilaterally sell, refinance, or take the property back without the trustee’s involvement.

Timing also matters. The transfer must occur when the homeowner is solvent and not facing pending litigation. A transfer made while the owner is insolvent, or made to hinder a known creditor, can be challenged as a fraudulent transfer under Florida’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (Chapter 726). The statute of limitations on a fraudulent transfer claim is four years from the transfer date or one year from discovery, whichever is later.

Does the Homestead Exemption Survive a Trust Transfer?

Florida’s homestead exemption has two components—a property tax reduction and constitutional creditor protection—and both can survive a transfer to a trust, but the rules differ depending on the type of trust.

Property Tax Exemption

A home transferred to a revocable living trust retains its property tax homestead exemption under § 196.031. The homeowner must continue to use the property as their permanent residence, and the trust must be structured so the homeowner retains equitable title. County property appraisers routinely approve homestead exemptions for homes in revocable trusts. The trust document should include a provision stating that the home and any replacement home will be used by the beneficiaries as their principal residence. Omitting this language can create unnecessary complications with the property appraiser’s office.

Constitutional Creditor Protection

Florida’s constitutional homestead protection under Article X, § 4 shields a primary residence from forced sale by most creditors. This protection attaches to the homeowner personally. When a home moves into a revocable trust, the homeowner is still treated as the equitable owner, so the constitutional homestead protection generally continues.

When a home moves into an irrevocable trust, the analysis changes. The homeowner no longer holds equitable title, so the constitutional homestead exemption may not apply in the traditional sense. The irrevocable trust’s own protections, including spendthrift provisions and discretionary distribution clauses under the Florida Trust Code, provide an independent layer of creditor protection that does not depend on homestead status. In many cases, the trust’s protections are stronger than the homestead exemption because they do not have the homestead exceptions for property taxes, liens, and mortgages.

Should Married Couples Transfer Their Home to a Trust?

Married Florida homeowners already have a form of non-probate transfer and creditor protection built into their ownership structure. A home held as tenants by the entirety passes automatically to the surviving spouse outside probate, and entireties ownership shields the property from the individual creditors of either spouse.

Transferring a jointly owned home to a trust changes the ownership structure and may eliminate entireties protection. For married couples, keeping the home in personal names during both spouses’ lifetimes often makes more sense. The couple gets both creditor protection and automatic survivorship without trust costs. Transferring to a trust becomes relevant after the first spouse’s death, when entireties protection is no longer available and the surviving spouse faces probate risk.

Married homeowners should also be aware of spousal homestead rights. Florida law guarantees a surviving spouse at least a life estate in the homestead property under § 732.401, regardless of what a will says. A trust transfer does not automatically override this right. Florida Statutes § 732.7025 allows spouses to waive homestead rights in writing, but the waiver must be executed properly to be enforceable.

Can a Home with a Mortgage Go into a Trust?

A mortgage does not prevent a homeowner from transferring property to a trust. The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3) prohibits lenders from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when a homeowner transfers their primary residence to a revocable trust in which the homeowner remains a beneficiary.

The homeowner remains personally liable for the mortgage debt after the transfer. For a revocable trust, nothing changes: the same person makes the same payments. For an irrevocable trust, the trustee may manage payments from trust assets, but the original borrower typically remains liable under the loan terms.

Two practical steps are required: notify the mortgage lender of the transfer and update the homeowner’s insurance policy to reflect the trust’s ownership. The lender cannot demand early repayment for a revocable trust transfer, but failure to notify the lender can cause administrative problems with escrow and correspondence.

Title insurance is another consideration. Some title insurance companies require a new endorsement when property is retitled to a trust. Others may issue a new policy. Checking with the title company before recording the deed avoids gaps in coverage.

How to Transfer a Florida Home to a Trust

Transferring a Florida home to a trust requires preparing and recording a new deed. The deed must include the full legal name of the trust, the trustee’s name, the date the trust was executed, and the property’s legal description exactly as it appears on the current deed.

The most common deed types for this transfer are a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed. A quitclaim deed is simpler and commonly used for transfers to the homeowner’s own trust because there is no change in beneficial ownership. A warranty deed provides title protection against liens and third-party claims but may require a title search. A lady bird deed is a third option that avoids probate entirely without requiring a trust. The owner retains full control during their lifetime, including the right to sell, mortgage, or revoke the deed.

Florida law requires the deed to be signed before a notary and two witnesses. The deed is then recorded with the clerk of court in the county where the property is located. Recording fees are $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.

Documentary stamp tax on a transfer to the homeowner’s own revocable trust is typically the minimum $0.70, because there is no change in beneficial ownership and no consideration is exchanged.

What a Trust Transfer Means for Taxes

A transfer to a revocable trust has no income tax consequences during the owner’s lifetime. The IRS treats the grantor and the revocable trust as the same taxpayer, so the homeowner continues to report any property-related income or deductions on their personal return.

Beneficiaries who inherit property through a trust receive a stepped-up tax basis at the owner’s death. If the owner purchased the home for $200,000 and it is worth $500,000 at death, the beneficiary’s basis is $500,000. Selling at that price produces no taxable capital gain. This stepped-up basis applies to property held in both revocable and irrevocable trusts, though the rules differ for irrevocable trusts where the grantor is not treated as the owner for tax purposes.

Florida has no state income tax and no state estate tax. Federal estate tax applies only to estates exceeding the current exemption amount, which in 2026 is approximately $7 million per individual after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions sunset.

Cost of Putting a House in a Trust

A standard revocable living trust in Florida costs between $1,500 and $2,500 when prepared by an attorney, including deed preparation and recording. An irrevocable trust designed for asset protection costs more because of the additional complexity involved in structuring spendthrift provisions, distribution standards, and trust protector powers.

Florida’s statutory probate attorney fees can reach several thousand dollars on even a modest estate. For homeowners whose primary goal is probate avoidance, a trust typically pays for itself by eliminating those fees entirely.

A lady bird deed costs a few hundred dollars to prepare and record. It accomplishes the same probate avoidance, but it covers only the property named in the deed and does nothing for other assets.

When a Trust Is Not the Best Option

A trust is not always the right tool for a Florida home. Several alternatives may serve the homeowner’s goals at lower cost and with less complexity.

A lady bird deed avoids probate without requiring a trust. The owner retains full control during their lifetime, including the right to sell, mortgage, or revoke the deed, and the property passes automatically to named beneficiaries at death. A lady bird deed preserves the homestead exemption and typically costs a fraction of what a trust costs. For homeowners whose only goal is keeping the house out of probate, a lady bird deed is often the simpler choice.

Married couples with no creditor concerns may find that tenancy by the entirety provides everything they need: automatic transfer to the surviving spouse outside probate and protection from either spouse’s individual creditors.

Homeowners who need creditor protection beyond what homestead and exemptions provide should consider an irrevocable trust as part of a broader asset protection plan rather than as a standalone measure. Protecting the home alone may not address the homeowner’s full exposure, particularly for liquid assets and investment accounts that have no automatic exemption.