What Florida Charges, and on What
Florida taxes the document, not the sale. Every deed recorded in the state carries a documentary stamp tax of seventy cents for every $100 of consideration, and sixty cents in Miami-Dade County. A $400,000 sale outside Miami-Dade costs $2,800. Miami-Dade adds a separate surtax of forty-five cents per $100 on property that is not a single-family residence, which is why a duplex or a commercial building in that county is priced differently from a house next door to it.
Consideration is a broader word than price. Florida counts the money paid, the money agreed to be paid, the discharge of any obligation, and the amount of any mortgage or other encumbrance on the property. Where something other than money changes hands, the law presumes the consideration equals the fair market value of what was transferred.
One small mechanic explains a number you see everywhere. The tax runs on each $100 or any fraction of $100. A deed reciting the traditional ten dollars therefore falls inside the first hundred-dollar block and comes out at seventy cents rather than seven cents. That is the origin of the seventy cent figure quoted on nearly every Florida deed page, including, until today, several of ours.
Why a Mortgaged Home Costs More to Give Away
Most people expect a gift to be free, and for an unmortgaged home it very nearly is. The trap is the loan. Because consideration includes the amount of any mortgage on the property whether or not the person receiving it assumes the debt, Florida treats the transfer as if it were a sale for the balance of that loan.
A mother deeds her Ocala home to her daughter as a gift. The house carries $150,000 on a mortgage the mother keeps paying and the daughter never signs. No money moves. The stamp tax is still $1,050, because the state measures the transfer by that balance. The daughter also takes the mother's original cost basis instead of a stepped-up one, so the tax bill at recording is usually the smaller of the two problems.
Here is what the same house costs to move, four different ways.
| Transfer | Stamp tax | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sale of a $400,000 home | $2,800 | Seventy cents per $100 of the price |
| Gift of a home with no mortgage | $0.70 | No consideration to measure, and a rule exempts a gift of unencumbered property |
| Gift of a home carrying a $150,000 loan | $1,050 | The mortgage balance counts, assumed or not |
| Lady bird deed, mortgaged or not | None due | No present transfer, so the tax never reaches the consideration question |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Why a Lady Bird Deed Is Not Taxed at All
A lady bird deed, which lawyers call an enhanced life estate deed, names who gets your home at your death while you keep the full right to sell it, mortgage it, or change your mind. Because you give up nothing today, nothing is transferred today, and the tax has nothing to attach to.
The Florida Department of Revenue said so twice on the same day in October 2020, in two rulings issued on one request from a practitioner. An enhanced life estate deed, it concluded, transfers no present beneficial interest, so the deed is not subject to documentary stamp tax regardless of any consideration. The Department repeats the same answer in the question and answer page it maintains for the public, which says a lady bird deed where the owner keeps full rights and ownership is not subject to the tax.
The important half is which two rulings those were. One of them involved a home in Clay County that was encumbered by a mortgage, and the other involved unencumbered property in Putnam County with no other consideration. The Department reached the identical conclusion in both. So the widely repeated claim that a lady bird deed on a mortgaged home gets taxed on the loan balance is answered directly by the ruling that is closest to those facts, and the answer is no.
That claim is worth naming plainly because it circulates so freely. The mortgage balance rule is real, and it is exactly why an ordinary deed of a mortgaged home is expensive. It simply never gets reached here. The Department stops one step earlier, at whether anything was transferred at all, and answers that nothing was.
In practice these deeds are still recorded with a nominal recital and a seventy cent stamp. Paying it is harmless, several county e-recording systems expect a figure in the box, and no clerk has ever refused the money. What should never happen is a bill computed on a mortgage balance.
Where the wrong answer comes from
A widely cited treatise reports that Florida charges a minimum stamp when the lady bird deed is recorded and full stamps later, when the life tenant dies. It rests that on a letter of technical advice written in 2000 to a title-industry member.
That letter is not a public document. Florida publishes its formal advisements in a searchable library, and the 2000 series for this tax runs to fifteen documents, none of them the one cited. A letter of technical advice is private correspondence and was never part of the published series, so no one outside its recipient can read it or check what it says.
Meanwhile the two documents anyone can read, and the Department's own current public answer, all say the deed is not subject to the tax. We tell clients what is verifiable. For what happens when the life tenant dies and the family records the death certificate, no Florida court has decided it and no readable Department document sets a number, so anyone quoting you a confident figure is quoting something they have not seen.
What a Department Ruling Is Actually Worth
Both 2020 rulings are technical assistance advisements, and it matters that you know what that is. Under Florida law an advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer who requested it, on the facts that taxpayer presented. Each one says as much on its own face, and warns that a later change to the statute, to the rules, or a court decision could produce a different answer for someone else.
So this is the Department's stated position rather than settled law, and that is the honest way to describe it. It is still the most reliable guidance available, because it is recent, it is written by the agency that collects the tax, it addresses this exact deed by name, and it exists in two versions covering both the mortgaged and the unmortgaged case. A position built on that is defensible. A position built on a document nobody can produce is not.
Not sure what your deed will actually cost to record?
Bring the loan balance and the current deed to a free 30-minute consult. We will tell you the tax before anything gets signed, and whether a different deed avoids it entirely.
Book your free consultTransfers That Are Exempt or Nearly Free
Several common transfers escape the tax, each on a condition worth reading closely.
- Homestead between spouses. A deed of homestead property from one spouse to both, from both to one, or between them, is exempt where the only consideration is a mortgage or other lien already on the property when the deed is signed. The word doing the work is only. Add real money to the deal and the exemption stops applying.
- A gift of unencumbered real estate. A department rule exempts it outright. The condition is the whole trap covered above, since a loan on the property means the transfer is not unencumbered.
- A deed correcting an earlier mistake. Fixing a misspelled name or a wrong legal description in a deed already taxed does not buy a second tax bill, because nothing new is being conveyed.
Two situations deserve a question rather than an assumption. Moving a home that still carries a mortgage into your own revocable living trust is the one to ask about before signing, because the balance can be treated as consideration. So is a deed between former spouses after a divorce, where the treatment depends on what the judgment actually required. Both are quick to check and expensive to guess at.
Stamp Tax on Notes and Mortgages
The same chapter of Florida law taxes written promises to pay, at a different rate. A promissory note carries thirty-five cents per $100, and an unsecured note is capped at $2,450 however large it is. A mortgage securing the note carries the tax on the amount secured, with no cap.
The consequence here reaches past the money. Florida appellate courts have refused to enforce a note where the tax was never paid, so a lender who skipped a few hundred dollars at signing can hand the borrower a defense worth far more. The defect is curable by paying the tax with penalties, which restores the note. More on Florida promissory notes →
What a Deed Costs With Us
An attorney-prepared lady bird deed is $399 for an individual owner and $449 for a joint deed. Recording runs about $18 to $30, and any documentary stamp is passed through at cost with no markup. We confirm the tax for your county and your loan before anything is recorded, which on a mortgaged home is the difference between seventy cents and four figures. The legal fee is posted and honored for 90 days from September 2026.
Not sure which deed you need? The deed selector walks you through four questions, or see the full lady bird deed cost breakdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Is Documentary Stamp Tax on a Florida Deed?
Seventy cents for every $100 of consideration, and sixty cents in Miami-Dade County. On a $400,000 sale that is $2,800. The tax is charged on each $100 or any fraction of $100, which is why a deed reciting a nominal ten dollars comes out at seventy cents rather than seven.
Do I Pay Documentary Stamp Tax if I Give My House to My Child?
A gift of a home with no mortgage on it carries no real tax, because there is no consideration to measure. A department rule exempts a gift of unencumbered real estate outright. Most people record it with a nominal ten dollar recital and pay seventy cents. The answer changes completely if there is a loan on the house, which is the trap covered on this page.
Why Does a Mortgage Make a Deed Cost More?
Florida measures the tax by consideration, and consideration includes the amount of any mortgage on the property whether or not the person receiving it takes on the debt. So deeding a home with a $150,000 balance to your daughter is treated as a transfer for $150,000 and the stamp tax is $1,050, even though no money changed hands and she never signed for the loan.
Is a Lady Bird Deed Subject to Documentary Stamp Tax?
The Department of Revenue has said no. It ruled twice in 2020 that an enhanced life estate deed transfers no present beneficial interest, so it is not subject to the tax regardless of any consideration, and one of those two rulings was about a home with a mortgage on it. The Department repeats the same answer in its own published question and answer page. In practice these deeds are still recorded with a nominal recital and a seventy cent stamp, which nobody objects to.
Does a Lady Bird Deed on a Mortgaged Home Get Taxed on the Loan Balance?
Not under the Department’s stated position. That is the single most common error we see repeated, including by people who should know better. The 2020 ruling that addresses it involved a home encumbered by a mortgage, and the Department still concluded the deed was not subject to the tax regardless of any consideration. The mortgage balance rule is real, but it applies to an ordinary deed rather than to a lady bird deed.
Are Transfers Between Spouses Exempt?
A deed of homestead property between spouses is exempt where the only consideration is a mortgage or other lien already on the property at the time of the transfer. That covers moving a home from one spouse to both, or from both to one. Transfers of non-homestead property, and transfers where real money changes hands, are measured the ordinary way.
What About Stamp Tax on a Promissory Note?
Notes carry a different rate, thirty-five cents per $100, and an unsecured note is capped at $2,450 no matter how large it is. This one has teeth beyond the money. Florida courts have refused to enforce a note where the tax was never paid, so a lender who skipped it can find the borrower has a free defense. The tax is curable by paying it with penalties.
Who Actually Pays the Tax?
The clerk collects it when the deed is recorded, so as a practical matter it comes out of the closing or out of whoever is recording the document. In a sale the contract usually assigns it to the seller outside Miami-Dade, but that is a matter of agreement rather than law. For an estate planning deed there is no negotiation, since the person recording it pays.
Common Situations
The gift that came with a bill. A widower deeds his home to his son to keep it simple, using a form he found online. The house still carries $180,000. The clerk records it, and the stamp tax comes to $1,260 on a transfer where nobody paid anybody anything. A lady bird deed would have kept the house out of probate, kept his control, and cost him seventy cents.
The closing agent who quoted the balance. A daughter calls after being told her mother's lady bird deed will cost several hundred dollars in stamps because of the mortgage on the house. The ruling on point involves exactly that, a mortgaged home, and reaches the opposite result. Sending the two advisements to the person preparing the document settled it in one email.
Sources of Law
- Fla. Stat. §201.02 (rate of $0.70 per $100, $0.60 in Miami-Dade, on each $100 or fractional part; consideration includes money paid or agreed to be paid, the discharge of an obligation, and the amount of any mortgage or other encumbrance whether or not the underlying indebtedness is assumed; fair market value presumed where consideration is other than money); §201.02(7) (interspousal homestead exemption where the only consideration is a mortgage or lien on the property); §201.031 (Miami-Dade discretionary surtax). flsenate.gov
- Fla. Stat. §201.08 (notes and written obligations at $0.35 per $100, $2,450 cap on an unsecured note); §201.02 and ch. 201 generally on enforceability where the tax is unpaid.
- Rule 12B-4.014(2)(a), F.A.C. (gift of unencumbered real property); Rule 12B-4.013, F.A.C. (conveyances subject to tax); Rule Ch. 12-11, F.A.C. (technical assistance advisements).
- Fla. Dept. of Revenue, Technical Assistance Advisement 20B4-003 (Oct. 16, 2020), indexed by the Department as "Lady Bird Deed", concerning property encumbered by a mortgage, and 20B4-004 (Oct. 16, 2020), concerning unencumbered property with no other consideration. Both conclude an enhanced life estate deed makes no present transfer of beneficial interests and is not subject to documentary stamp tax regardless of any consideration. 20B4-003 · 20B4-004
- The tax is read off the document, not the deal: State, Department of Revenue v. McCoy Motel, Inc., 302 So. 2d 440, 442 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974) ("The liability to pay the documentary stamp tax, as well as the amount of the tax, is to be solely determined by the form and face of the instrument and not by proof of extrinsic facts."), citing Metropolis Pub. Co. v. Lee and Choctawhatchee Elec. Co-op. v. Green; the same opinion holds the chapter 201 taxes are "excise taxes on the documents themselves and not upon the transaction contemplated by the documents." Crescent Miami Center, LLC v. Dep't of Revenue, 903 So. 2d 913 (Fla. 2005). (Opinions read 2026-09-08.)
- Fla. Stat. §213.22 (a technical assistance advisement binds the Department only as to the taxpayer who requested it, on the facts presented).
- Fla. Dept. of Revenue, published question and answer, "Is a ladybird deed (enhanced life estate) subject to documentary stamp tax?", answering that such a deed, where the grantor retains full rights and ownership including a life estate, is generally not subject to tax. Record created July 14, 2016 and last modified September 1, 2026.
- Reported but not publicly available: Letter of Technical Advice 00B4-024 (2000), cited in secondary literature for a contrary minimum-tax position. The Department's published documentary stamp series for 2000 runs 00B4-001 through 00B4-015, and a letter of technical advice is not part of that published series. (All sources retrieved 2026-09-07.)
What I Have Learned Watching People Pay This Tax
In 14 years of law practice, documentary stamp tax is the cost that surprises people most, and almost always on a transfer they thought was free.
I have a few take-home points.
The first is the mortgage. An owner who gives a house away assumes a gift cannot be taxed, and the loan on the property quietly converts the gift into a sale in the eyes of the state. The number is not small. A balance of $150,000 produces $1,050 at the recording desk, payable by someone who received no money to pay it with.
The second is who you are getting the answer from. Closing agents, form services and title clerks repeat the mortgage rule correctly for ordinary deeds and then apply it to a deed it was never meant to reach. I also litigate deeds after they fail, which enhances the practice of drafting deeds, and the pattern I see is that nobody involved had read the ruling that answers the question. It runs to three pages.
Practice pointer. Before recording any deed on a mortgaged property, pull the current payoff and decide the tax question in writing first. The tax is charged off the face of the document, so what the deed says about consideration is what you are taxed on, and that language is fixed the moment it is recorded.
Avoid reciting "other good and valuable consideration" on a deed meant as a gift. That phrase recites, on the face of the instrument, consideration that is not money, which is the condition that invites a valuation of the property instead of a nominal stamp. If the transfer is a gift, the deed should say gift.
An honest limit belongs here. The Department's position on this deed is the best guidance available and it is not a court decision, and no Florida appellate court has ruled on stamp tax and an enhanced life estate deed at all. A different administration or a future case could take another view, and anyone who tells you the question is closed is overstating it.
Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., admitted in Florida since 2012. General information rather than advice on your situation.
Updated on September 7, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.