Florida general warranty deed

What a general warranty deed does in Florida

A general warranty deed transfers ownership and adds the full set of title covenants: the grantor promises they own the property, have the right to sell it, that it is free of undisclosed encumbrances, and that they will defend the title against any claim, including claims that arose long before they owned it. It is the standard instrument for an arm's-length sale between private parties.

The Florida law behind this deed

Start with Fla. Stat. § 689.02 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.

When Florida homeowners use a general warranty deed

• Sell a property directly to a buyer without an agent
• Transfer a property where the buyer expects full title protection
• Satisfy a purchase contract that calls for a warranty deed
• Convey property where a title company requires warranty covenants

What Florida requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules circuit court clerks enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.

How to complete and record it in Florida

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Clerk of the Circuit Court can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Florida deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID and 2 witnesses. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary and the witnesses, who must see you sign.
5. 5Record it with the Clerk of the Circuit CourtFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
6. 6Update insurance and tax recordsA change of ownership can affect your homeowner's policy, your homestead or senior exemption, and in some states the assessed value. Do this within a few weeks.

What it costs in Florida

Florida charges a documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 of consideration ($0.60 per $100 in Miami-Dade County, plus a $0.45 surtax on non-single-family property).

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: A deed of homestead property between spouses (one spouse to the other, one spouse to both, or both to one) where the only consideration is the existing mortgage (§ 201.02(7)(b)) and A deed of the marital home between spouses or former spouses made under a dissolution-of-marriage action, with tax paid on such a deed up to 1 year before the dissolution refundable (§ 201.02(7)(a)). You have to claim the exemption. The recorder won't apply it for you.

Where to record it in Florida

Florida deeds are recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 67 counties in Florida.

Many Florida recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Florida: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Polk, Brevard, Pasco, Volusia. See all Florida recording offices.

What a general warranty deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• The covenants only bind the grantor personally. If they have no assets, a covenant claim may be worth little.
• It does not replace title insurance or a title search. It gives you a claim after the fact, not clean title today.
• It does not avoid probate and cannot be revoked once delivered and recorded.
• Signing one when you don't actually know the property's history exposes you to real liability. Where that is a concern, a special warranty deed is the safer instrument.

Quirks of Florida law that catch people out

• Florida requires TWO witnesses to the grantor's signature in addition to the notary. This is the single most common reason a Florida DIY deed gets rejected. The notary can be one of the two witnesses, but you still need a second person. Each witness also prints a name and post-office address under the signature (Fla. Stat. § 695.26(1)(c)).
• The deed must show the name and post-office address of the person who prepared it (Fla. Stat. § 695.26(1)(b)). Deedly prints them in the PREPARED BY block.
• Florida homestead law requires BOTH spouses to sign a conveyance of a homestead property, even when only one spouse's name is on the deed. The exception is a deed from one spouse to the other, which the receiving spouse need not sign (Fla. Stat. § 689.11(1)).
• Documentary stamp tax applies to any mortgage balance the grantee takes subject to. A $0 sale price does not mean $0 tax if there is a loan on the property, unless it is a homestead transfer between spouses (Fla. Stat. § 201.02(7)(b)).
• Leave a 3-inch by 3-inch blank block at the top right of page one. Florida clerks stamp there and will reject deeds that fill it.
• Most Florida counties record deeds with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, but Broward County records them with its Records, Taxes and Treasury Division and Orange County with the Orange County Comptroller. Send the deed to the right office.
• Florida does not have transfer-on-death deeds. The lady bird deed is Florida's probate-avoidance instrument. If the property is your homestead and you leave a spouse or a minor child, Florida's homestead rules can override it at your death (Fla. Const. art. X, § 4(c); Fla. Stat. §§ 732.4015, 732.4017).

How to hold title in Florida

When two or more people take title in Florida and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a tenancy in common, which means no automatic survivorship. If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the words have to be on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in Florida: tenancy by the entirety (married couples only), joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy in common.