Skip to content
StepUpLaw logo StepUpLaw

Living Trust and Estate Planning Attorney for Royal Palm Beach, Florida

A complete Royal Palm Beach estate plan keeps your family out of probate court, for a flat fee.

Wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, and health-care directives, built for Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach County families, wherever you are.

  • Every core document in one flat-fee plan
  • Keep your home out of probate, and avoid a guardianship
  • Done by phone and video, serving Royal Palm Beach wherever you are
Book a free consultation Trust plans from $3,200 / $4,500 · will plans from $1,200

Your consultation is by phone from Royal Palm Beach, your signing is online from home, and the firm records your deed in your own county.

Quick Overview

A complete Royal Palm Beach estate plan is a coordinated set of documents (a will or living trust, a durable power of attorney, and health-care directives) that keeps your family out of probate court. A trust-based plan is a flat $3,200 individual or $4,500 couple; a will-based plan $1,200. We build it for Palm Beach County families, wherever you are. What you actually need is below.

Topics to Know HideShow

Below, we walk through the 4 issues that decide whether this is the right move for you. Jump to any one.

  1. Estate Planning in Royal Palm Beach: the Local Picture Royal Palm Beach has the homeowners estate planning is built for. A home above Florida's $150,000 summary threshold (raised from $75,000 on July 1, 2026) can pull the family into a months-long probate without a plan.
  2. What a Complete Plan Covers A plan is a coordinated set of documents, not one piece of paper, and it takes a will or trust, a durable power of attorney, and health-care directives, often plus a deed on the home.
  3. Keeping a Royal Palm Beach Home Out of Probate Your homestead has special rules and cannot be left freely in a will if you have a spouse or minor child. A funded trust or a lady bird deed keeps it out of probate.
  4. Flat Fees A trust-based plan is a flat $3,200 individual or $4,500 couple; a will-based plan $1,200 with a lady bird deed on the home included; single documents from $299. Government recording costs are added at cost.

That’s the quick version. The details below are what decide your situation, and where the costly mistakes hide.

Estate Planning in Royal Palm Beach: the Local Picture

Royal Palm Beach has a median age of 42 and 19 percent over 65, close to the state average. Planning needs for the 40,344 residents span families and those approaching retirement. Palm Beach County homes here have a median value of $437,700, making a lady bird deed a sensible way to pass the home.

Royal Palm Beach’s median age is around 42, and the median home value is about $437,700. A home at that value sits well above Florida’s $150,000 summary-administration threshold, raised from $75,000 on July 1, 2026, so without planning it can pull your family into a full, months-long probate. The fix is to coordinate the home, the will or trust, and any deed together, so the house passes the way you intend.

What a Complete Plan Covers

Three documents come up in nearly every Royal Palm Beach consult, the will, the trust, and the power of attorney. Your last will and testament directs what you own, a living trust can skip probate entirely, and a durable power of attorney lets someone act for you if you cannot.

An estate plan is a coordinated set of documents, not one piece of paper. It takes a will or a revocable living trust to direct your property, a durable power of attorney so someone can act if you can’t, and a health-care surrogate, living will, and HIPAA authorization for medical decisions. Homeowners often add a lady bird deed on the homestead. See the full estate-planning guide →

Keeping a Royal Palm Beach Home Out of Probate

Your Florida homestead carries special rules. It generally can’t be left freely in a will if you have a spouse or minor child, and it passes outside the will by its own path. A funded revocable trust or a lady bird deed keeps the home out of probate while you keep full control during life. See Palm Beach County probate → or find the right deed →

Serving Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach County, wherever you are.

A free consultation maps your plan and quotes a flat fee. No office visit required.

Book a free consultation

Keeping Your Homestead Exemption With the Home in a Trust, Palm Beach County

A home that moves into your revocable trust keeps its Florida homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes cap when the trust gives you the right to live there for life. The firm writes the deed and the trust that way. The exemption does not move by itself, and the county Property Appraiser decides what documents to require. Some counties want the whole trust, some want a one-page certificate on their own form, and one takes nothing online. The firm handles the appraiser filing as part of your plan, and the facts below are the Palm Beach County rules read from the appraiser’s own page on the date shown.

What the appraiser asks for

  • "If you have filed for a homestead exemption or if you currently have a homestead exemption and your property is put into a trust, our office does not need the Trust Agreement, which can be large and have personal information."
  • "Instead, we use a Certificate of Trust (COT). The COT lets us know who has beneficial interest along with who is entitled to the use and occupancy of the property."
  • Submission: "Email: [email protected] or Mail: Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office Exemption Services, 1st Floor 301 N. Olive Ave. West Palm Beach, FL 33401"
  • Certificate of Trust form (Revised 4/26): "It is hereby certified that I am/we are the Beneficiary(ies)/Homestead Applicant(s) ... and I am/we are entitled to the use and occupancy of the following real property for my/our lifetime(s) under the terms of the: (NAME OF TRUST), This must match the Trust name on current deed. Date of Trust ____; and therefore have sufficient equitable title to claim an entitlement to homestead exemption pursuant to Section 196.041(2), Florida Statutes and Chapter 12D-7.011 Florida Administrative Code." ... "Note: If more than two beneficiary(ies), please attach additional Certificate of Trust." ... "Return completed form to: [email protected]."

How to file

Online filing is available.how to file online

Offices

  • Main Office (5th Floor) and Downtown Service Center, Exemptions (1st Floor), County Governmental Center, 301 North Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Monday through Friday, Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  • South County Service Center, 14925 Cumberland Drive, Delray Beach, FL 33446. not stated on the contact page (phone 561.276.1250)
  • North County Service Center, 3188 PGA Boulevard, 2nd Floor, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410. not stated on the contact page (phone 561.624.6521)
  • Mayor Fred Pinto Midwestern Community Building, 200 Civic Center Way, Suite 200, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411. not stated on the contact page (phone 561.784.1220)
  • Belle Glade Service Center, 2976 State Road 15, Belle Glade, FL 33430. not stated on the contact page (phone 561.996.4890)

Phone561-355-2866

Read from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser on October 30, 2026. Rules change; confirm with the office before you file.

Notary Services in Royal Palm Beach

The firm still arranges online notarization with remote witnesses by video. A bank branch where you hold an account usually has a notary available. Call ahead and bring two witnesses.

Communities We Serve

We work with families across Palm Beach County, and the rest of Palm Beach County. Any deed in your plan records with the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, whose office is at 205 North Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach; we prepare and e-record it for you. We are a Miami firm serving Royal Palm Beach wherever you are; this is not a Royal Palm Beach office.

Recently moved to Florida, or planning to? Make it official and cut your old state’s income tax with a Palm Beach County Declaration of Domicile, then re-do your plan under Florida law.

Flat Fees

Trust-based plan $3,200 individual / $4,500 couple (trust + pour-over will + durable POA + health-care directives + one funding deed). Will-based plan $1,200 individual / $1,950 couple (will, durable POA, health-care directives and a lady bird deed on the home). Single documents from $299. Government recording costs are additional, at cost. See full pricing →

Secure Will Estate Plan
$1,200 individual · $1,950 couple
Five documents, designed together and signed together, plus a lady bird deed on your home so the house passes outside probate. The will, the durable power of attorney, the designation of health-care surrogate, the living will and the HIPAA authorization. The will carries survivorship and contingent takers, recitals that survive a later marriage or a new child, death-tax apportionment, and a trust for a minor’s share. We review your beneficiary designations, check the homestead, and guide the signing with a self-proving affidavit.
Complete Trust Plan
$3,200 individual · $4,500 couple
Everything in the Secure Will Estate Plan, with the revocable living trust drafted for your family, a pour-over will with a self-proving affidavit as the backup, one deed moving your Florida homestead into the trust, funding instructions and help retitling accounts, beneficiary designations coordinated with the trust, and instructions for your successor trustee. The trust pays out on a graduated schedule, holding each share and releasing it at the ages you set rather than handing it over at once. For blended families, out-of-state property, more than one property, and anyone who wants the family to skip probate entirely.
Lady bird deed
$399 · $449 joint
Passes the home to your family at death with no probate, and you keep full control and your homestead protection while you live. One owner $399, joint owners $449. Drafted with the homestead language Florida requires. A quitclaim, warranty or life-estate deed is $399.
Recording costs vary by county and start at $19.20 for a deed. Documentary stamp tax, court filing fees, publication and certified copies are additional and passed through at cost.
See every fee on one page →

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have an office in Royal Palm Beach?

No. StepUpLaw is a Miami firm that serves Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach County residents wherever they are, by phone and video. Most of the work happens online, and your signing is coordinated to meet Florida formalities (two witnesses and a notary).

Where are deeds recorded in Palm Beach County?

Deeds and other documents for a Palm Beach County property are recorded with the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. We handle the recording for any deed in your plan and pass the county’s cost through at cost.

Do I need a living trust, or is a will enough?

It depends on what you own and your goals. A will alone still goes through probate; a funded revocable living trust avoids it and manages things if you lose capacity. For a single home passing to your kids, a lady bird deed may be all you need. We talk through both at the free consultation.

Updated September 30, 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. We serve Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach County residents from our Miami office. Local figures are Census estimates (ACS 2024) and approximate.

Your Royal Palm Beach estate plan, made simple

Book a free consultation with Attorney Kevin D. Klagge, Esq. We’ll map what you need and quote a flat fee.

Book a free consultation Elder law & Medicaid