Can a lady bird deed be used to pass property to a non-family member?

Fran: Yes, I wanted to know if a ladybird clause in your mortgage, if that is only for a family member, or can you put a person's name in there that's not a family member?

Attorney Tom Olsen: A ladybird deed is a tool to avoid probate on real estate. It might be your home, your rental property, your investment property, your vacant land, your beach condo, and we can do it even if there's a mortgage on it. You can leave your home, using a ladybird deed, to your kids, but you can also do it to friends, family, charity. It's all available to you. Fran, does that answer the question for you?

Fran: Yes, it does. Yes, it does. I might contact you to have that taken care of. Thank you.

Tom: We'd be pleased to assist. Holley, we often talk about that, that we're always talking about ladybird deeds, leaving it to your kids, but you can do it with anybody you want to, you.

Attorney Holley Knapik: You can. You can. You can leave it to close family relatives, a cousin, an auntie, niece, or nephew, or a very close friend. Sometimes some of our clients are single, with no children, or are the only children of only children, so they're nearest dearest might be a best friend from high school. We even have clients who have left them to charities. One thing we do advise, if it is a charity, check with the charity, first, and ensure that they want to receive a home as a gift from you upon your passing. Some charities would rather have cash.

Tom: If we do a ladybird deed, whether it's to a friend or a charity or to your kids, and mom passes away, what do the kids need to do?

Holley: The only thing they would be required to do, at that point, is to record the previous owner's death certificate in the county where the property is located, and there's an automatic transfer of ownership at that point.

Tom: That's right. Ladybird deed, together with death certificate, transfer its title into the names of the kids. No headaches, no hassles, no probate. Fran would be pleased to assist you here at the Olsen Law Group. By the way, we have a free booklet on that very topic, How to Avoid Probate on Your Home. If you want that free booklet, call the Olsen Law Group in Orlando, any time, at 407-423-5561, and we will mail that booklet out to you. If we're not here, just leave your name and mailing address. We'll get that in the mail to you.

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