What to do with a lady bird deed after death
If you're a remainder beneficiary under a lady bird deed and the life tenant has died, the property is already legally yours. What remains is paperwork: proving the death on the public record so the chain of title is clean.
What to do, in order
- Get certified death certificatesOrder at least three to five certified copies from the state vital records office or the funeral director. Photocopies are not accepted for recording.
- Find the recorded lady bird deedYou need the book and page or instrument number. If you can't find the original, the county recorder can provide a certified copy for a few dollars.
- Prepare an affidavit of deathSometimes called an affidavit of continuous marriage or a death of life tenant affidavit. It identifies the deceased, references the recorded deed, and confirms the death. Some counties publish their own form.
- Record the affidavit and death certificateFile both with the same county office that recorded the deed. The fee is normally $10–$50.
- Update the property tax recordsContact the county assessor. This is also when you apply for any homestead or senior exemption you now qualify for. The deceased owner's exemption does not carry over.
- Handle the mortgageCall the servicer. Federal law (the Garn-St Germain Act) prevents them from calling the loan due when a relative inherits a home they will occupy. You'll need to be recognized as a successor in interest before you can pay or modify it.
- Update the insuranceThe existing homeowner's policy insured someone who has died. Call the insurer immediately. An uninsured gap on an inherited house gets expensive fast.
What you don't have to do
- Open probate. That is the entire point of the deed. The property never enters the probate estate.
- Get the other heirs to sign anything. They have no interest in this property.
- Pay off the mortgage immediately. It stays in place; you keep making the payments.
- Sign a new deed to yourself. You already own it. The affidavit just puts the proof on the record.
Taxes
The step-up in basis is the valuable part
Because the life tenant retained control until death, the property is included in their estate and you take it with a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death. If they bought it for $60,000 and it is worth $400,000, that step-up eliminates $340,000 of potential capital gain. Get a date-of-death appraisal and keep it forever.
If there are several of you
Multiple remainder beneficiaries take as co-owners, normally tenants in common in equal shares. Decide early what happens next: one buying the others out, selling and splitting the proceeds, or renting it. Get the agreement in writing. Co-owners who fall out end up in a partition action, which is the court process the deed was meant to avoid.
If one of you is buying the others out, a quitclaim or warranty deed handles it. From $39.
Common questions
Most states set no deadline, because the transfer already happened by operation of law. Do it promptly anyway: you can't cleanly sell, refinance, or insure the property until the public record shows you as the owner, and details get harder to reconstruct as time passes.
Usually not. Recording a death certificate and an affidavit is administrative. Get a lawyer if the deed's validity is being challenged, if the legal description is wrong, if there are competing claims, or if the estate is insolvent.
Once the affidavit is recorded, yes. You own it. A title company will want the recorded affidavit and the death certificate in the file before it insures the sale, so do that step first.
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Deedly is not a law firm
We provide self-help software and state-specific statutory forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.