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Lady Bird Deed in Daytona Beach, Florida

Your Daytona Beach home is likely the most valuable thing you own. A lady bird deed keeps it out of probate while you stay in full control for the rest of your life.

  • No probate on the home, recorded right here in Volusia County
  • Full control for life, so you can sell, refinance, or change it anytime
  • Keeps the step-up in basis, and avoids the Medicaid penalty that gifting the home would trigger
Book a No-Cost Phone Consult Attorney-drafted, $399 flat + recording

Quick Overview

For Daytona Beach homeowners, a lady bird deed is the simplest way to pass the home with no probate while keeping full control during your life. It is attorney-drafted from $399 plus recording and e-recorded for you in Volusia County. The recording steps, the common mistakes, and the cost that decide it are 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. Why Daytona Beach Homeowners Use a Lady Bird Deed The home passes to your family the moment you die, with no probate, while you keep full control to sell or change it for life.
  2. Recording a Lady Bird Deed in Volusia County Your deed protects the family only once it is recorded with the Volusia County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. We e-record it for you, so you never drive to a courthouse, and the cost is set by Florida law.
  3. The Mistakes We Fix for Volusia County Families A plain gift to the kids loses the step-up and can trigger a five-year Medicaid penalty. A do-it-yourself form often misses the homestead and spousal rules that quietly void it.
  4. What It Costs A flat $399 for an individual or $449 for a joint deed, the same price the form mills charge, with an attorney behind it. Only the government recording cost is added, at cost.

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

Why Daytona Beach Homeowners Use a Lady Bird Deed

Most families in Daytona Beach never think about how their home will pass until something forces the question. A lady bird deed (its formal name is an enhanced life estate deed) answers it quietly. The home passes to the people you name the moment you die, with no probate, and you keep complete control while you are alive. You can sell it, borrow against it, or change your mind, all without anyone's permission.

Daytona Beach and Volusia County draw a large beachside retiree and snowbird population alongside working coastal families. A coastal market with a sizable older-adult and snowbird base, where elder law, Medicaid, homestead, and probate avoidance are front of mind. See exactly how a lady bird deed works → You do not need a lawyer with an office in Daytona Beach, because the deed records in Volusia County no matter where it is drafted. Here is how working with a Florida lady bird deed attorney runs, wherever you are.

Recording a Lady Bird Deed in Volusia County

A deed only protects your family once it is properly recorded, and in Volusia County that happens with the Volusia County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. The Volusia County recording office sits at 101 North Alabama Avenue in DeLand, but we e-record your deed electronically, so you never make the trip. The cost to record is modest and set by Florida law, the same in every county, usually around $18 to $30. The Department of Revenue has ruled that an enhanced life estate deed is not subject to documentary stamp tax, and in practice the deed is recorded with a nominal recital and a seventy cent stamp. We pull your exact legal description from the last recorded deed, prepare the document, and e-record it for you, so nothing depends on you driving to a courthouse.

Your Deed in Daytona Beach, Step by Step

Volusia County has 159,518 homesteads, and the Save Our Homes cap holds the average one $112,493 below its market value in 2026. 36,292 Volusia County parcels belong to an owner with a mailing address in another state, and 1,575 more to an owner abroad. An owner who lives elsewhere is the one a lady bird deed helps most, because a Florida house otherwise needs a second probate here. The Volusia County court opened 2,499 new probate cases in the 2024 to 2025 court year. A house that passes by lady bird deed stays out of that count.

Street map of Daytona Beach around Steven C. Henderson Judicial Center (Clerk drop box), with numbered markers for the places named below
  1. 1Steven C. Henderson Judicial Center (Clerk drop box), 125 East Orange Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  2. 2Volusia County Courthouse, Recording Department, 101 North Alabama Avenue, DeLand, FL (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  3. 3VIP Printing & Promotional Products, 133 West International Speedway Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  4. 4The UPS Store, beachside, 2665 North Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  5. 5The UPS Store, Latitude Landings, 2662 LPGA Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  6. 6Copperline Coffee + Cafe, 118 South Beach Street, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  7. 7Dancing Avocado Kitchen, 110 South Beach Street, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  8. 8Truist, 200 South Palmetto Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  9. 9Daytona Beach Post Office, 220 North Beach Street, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  10. 10Daytona Beach Regional Library, 105 Jackie Robinson Parkway, Daytona Beach, FL 32114. Directions
  11. 11City Island Park, 113 Jackie Robinson Parkway, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  12. 12Jackie Robinson Ballpark, 105 East Orange Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL. Directions
  13. 13Volusia County Property Appraiser, Holly Hill office, 921 North Nova Road, Holly Hill, FL (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  14. 14Volusia County Veterans Services, 1845 Holsonback Drive, Daytona Beach FL 32117 (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  15. 15Volusia Tax Collector, Daytona Beach office, 1847 Holsonback Drive Daytona Beach FL 32117 (a drive, not on the map). Directions
  16. 16Department of Health, Vital Statistics, 1845 Holsonback Drive, Daytona Beach, FL (a drive, not on the map). Directions
Your deed is recorded in DeLand, not Daytona Beach, and why we e-record it

Volusia records deeds in one place. Laura E. Roth, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, is also the County Recorder, and the Recording Department is in Room A121 on the first floor of the Volusia County Courthouse, 101 North Alabama Avenue in DeLand. The desk is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and answers at 386-736-5912.

The Steven C. Henderson Judicial Center in Daytona Beach, at 125 East Orange Avenue on City Island in the Halifax River, has no recording counter. The Clerk keeps an outdoor drop box outside its front doors, meant only for documents that are not time sensitive. Staff empty the box at 7 a.m. each business day and carry the documents to DeLand. A deed left there has to be in a sealed envelope with a check or money order for the exact fee (no cash) and a self-addressed stamped envelope for its return.

You will not need to drive to DeLand or use the drop box. We record your deed electronically through Simplifile, which the Clerk lists by name among its approved e-recording services. Volusia posts its recording fee as $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each page after, so a two-page deed records for $18.50.

After it records: find it, print it, and watch it

We send you the recorded deed as soon as the Clerk returns it. The deed also appears in Volusia’s official records search, which reaches back to April 4, 1988 and lets you print a copy free. If you would rather have it printed downtown, VIP Printing & Promotional Products at 133 West International Speedway Boulevard makes black and white and color copies, Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday until 3 p.m., at 386-258-3326.

If a bank or title company asks for a certified copy, the Clerk charges $1 a page plus $2 to certify the document. Requests go through the Clerk’s online contact form, choosing Recording.

Then take two minutes to sign up for the Clerk’s free Property Fraud Alert, or call 800-728-3858. The service emails or calls you within 48 hours whenever a document is recorded in your name, which is the simplest protection there is against someone recording a false deed on your house. If an alert ever looks wrong, the Clerk sends you to the Recording Department at 386-736-5912.

Signing your deed

A Florida deed needs two witnesses and a notary. We set up the signing for you by video, so you can sign from your own kitchen table. If you would rather sign in person, The UPS Store has two Daytona Beach locations, at 2665 North Atlantic Avenue on the beachside and at 2662 LPGA Boulevard in Latitude Landings, and the chain lists notarizing among its services. Call ahead to confirm when a notary is in.

If you are at the Henderson center anyway

Some families pass through the Henderson Judicial Center for another reason and want to know what is close. Parking is free in the lot at 125 East Orange Avenue. Downtown is across the river by Jackie Robinson Parkway and Magnolia Avenue, and the Riverfront Shops line Beach Street between Orange Avenue and Bay Street, with more than 60 shops, restaurants and services.

For coffee before the day starts, Copperline Coffee + Cafe at 118 South Beach Street opens at 7 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday, about 11 minutes on foot. Dancing Avocado Kitchen is on the same street at 110 South Beach Street, about 12 minutes on foot, if the morning runs into lunch.

The errands are close together. VIP Printing at 133 West International Speedway Boulevard is about 13 minutes on foot if you need copies. Truist has its downtown branch at 200 South Palmetto Avenue, about 13 minutes on foot, which helps if you bank there. The downtown post office at 220 North Beach Street is about 17 minutes on foot and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Closer still, the Daytona Beach Regional Library shares City Island at 105 Jackie Robinson Parkway, about 8 minutes on foot. Printing there costs 15 cents a page in black and white and 25 cents in color, and the library is open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., at (386) 257-6036.

When you are done, City Island Park at 113 Jackie Robinson Parkway is about 6 minutes on foot from the courthouse on the same island, a riverfront field on the Halifax River with fishing docks and picnic tables. The park is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from April to November and until 5 p.m. from December to March.

Next to it, Jackie Robinson Ballpark at 105 East Orange Avenue, about 8 minutes on foot, opened on June 4, 1914, and is the oldest ballpark still used in Minor League Baseball. Jackie Robinson played his first professional game there, the park was renamed for him in 1989, and his statue stands outside the Orange Avenue Gate.

Your homestead exemption, and where to ask about it

Homestead is handled by Larry Bartlett, the Volusia County Property Appraiser. The main office is at 123 West Indiana Avenue, Room 102, in DeLand, at 386-736-5901. The second office is in Holly Hill, at 921 North Nova Road, at 386-254-4601. Both are open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Exemptions Division also takes email at [email protected].

You can file for homestead online, and the deadline is March 1. The Property Appraiser’s site also carries a 2026 Amendment 3 FAQ and a Homestead Exemption Impact Estimator if you want to see what the exemption is worth on your home.

The Volusia Property Appraiser says any change in ownership means filing a new homestead application by March 1, even for an owner who has always lived there, and lists a deed adding a name, removing a name or placing the home into a trust as examples. A lady bird deed changes the title too, so we tell you whether yours needs a new application, and the Exemptions Division can confirm it before March 1.

Property tax bills go out on or about November 1. The Volusia Tax Collector takes 4 percent off a bill paid in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January and 1 percent in February.

If you are a veteran with a disability rating

A disabled veteran may qualify for more than the basic homestead exemption, and the proof is a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Volusia Property Appraiser lists a $5,000 exemption for a veteran with a service-connected disability of at least 10 percent, a property tax discount for an honorably discharged veteran 65 or older whose permanent disability is partly combat related, equal to the disability percentage, and a full exemption on the homestead for an honorably discharged veteran with a service-connected total and permanent disability. Each application is due by March 1, and some of these exemptions can carry over to a surviving spouse.

Volusia County Veterans Services helps with the paperwork at 1845 Holsonback Drive in Daytona Beach, at 386-254-4646, weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. You can schedule an appointment online or by calling the office.

If your name has changed since you bought the home

Marriage or divorce often leaves a home titled in a name you no longer use. We write the new deed with both names, the name on your old deed and your name today, so the record connects them and a future title search does not stall on the difference.

Your driver license should match as well. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles requires every name change on a license to be made in person at a local office, and only after the Social Security Administration has updated your name, allowing 24 to 48 hours after that. The Volusia Tax Collector’s Daytona Beach office at 1847 Holsonback Drive handles driver licenses, at 386-254-4610, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, with appointments at vctaxcollector.org/appt. The same stretch of Holsonback Drive has the Veterans Services office and the health department’s Vital Statistics office, so one trip can cover all three.

When the time comes: what your family does, without probate

After you die, the house is already your family’s. To show that in the record, they record a certified copy of your death certificate and an affidavit, and then a title company can insure a sale. Certified death certificates come from the Department of Health’s Vital Statistics office in Daytona Beach itself, at 1845 Holsonback Drive, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., at 386-274-0614. The Volusia health department posts the fee as $8 for a death certificate. The county office issues certificates for Florida deaths from 2009 on, and the Tax Collector’s Daytona Beach branch is next door at 1847 Holsonback Drive. We prepare and record the rest.

Local details checked September 29, 2026 on the offices' and businesses' own sites and Google Maps. Places are listed for convenience, not as a recommendation; call ahead, since hours change. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. County figures from the Florida Department of Revenue 2026 property roll and Data Book and the Florida courts' FY 2024 to 2025 Statistical Reference Guide. Sources: Volusia Clerk official records and recording · Volusia Clerk drop box instructions · Volusia Clerk contacts · Volusia Property Fraud Alert · Volusia County Property Appraiser · Volusia Property Appraiser FAQ · Volusia Tax Collector due dates and discounts · Florida Department of Health in Volusia County · City of Daytona Beach, City Island Park · City of Daytona Beach, Riverfront Shops · Volusia County Public Library, hours and locations · Volusia County Public Library, printing · Jackie Robinson Ballpark, Daytona Tortugas · Volusia County Veterans Services, hours and locations · Volusia Property Appraiser, veteran exemptions · FLHSMV name and address changes · FLHSMV Volusia County office locations · OpenStreetMap foot routing (walking times)

The Mistakes We Fix for Volusia County Families

The cheap way usually costs the most. A plain gift of the home to the kids loses the step-up in basis (a tax break that can save the family tens of thousands when they sell) and can trigger Florida's five-year Medicaid penalty. A do-it-yourself form often misses the homestead and spousal rules, which can quietly void the deed for a married owner. We handle those checks as part of the flat fee, so the deed actually holds up. What a valid form must contain → · when a deed is the wrong tool →

One home, one deed, no probate for your Daytona Beach family.

A No-Cost Phone Consult confirms a lady bird deed fits, by phone or video. If a trust is the better tool, we will tell you that too.

Book a no-cost consult

What It Costs

Our flat fee is $399 for an individual owner and $449 for a joint deed, the same price the form mills charge, with a real attorney behind it. On top of that you pay only the government recording cost and the documentary stamp, passed through with no markup. The fee is posted up front and honored for 90 days. See the full cost breakdown →

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.
Deed revocation or amendment
$250
Revoking or correcting a deed already on record.
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.

Communities We Serve Near Daytona Beach

We work with homeowners across Volusia County, including Port Orange, Ormond Beach, Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach, Deltona, Daytona Beach Shores, and the surrounding area. StepUpLaw is a Miami firm serving Daytona Beach families wherever you are; this is not a Daytona Beach office, and we frame our work that way out of respect for Florida's advertising rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Daytona Beach office to set up a lady bird deed?

No. StepUpLaw is a Miami firm that serves Daytona Beach and Volusia County homeowners by phone and video, with the deed signed by remote online notary and e-recorded in your county. Many of our clients are adult children handling a Florida parent's home from another state.

Where does a Daytona Beach lady bird deed get recorded?

With the Volusia County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, in the county where the property sits. Recording fees are set by Florida law and are the same in every county, usually about $18 to $30 for a deed like this. The Department of Revenue has ruled that an enhanced life estate deed is not subject to documentary stamp tax, and in practice the deed is recorded with a nominal recital and a seventy cent stamp.

Will a lady bird deed help my Daytona Beach home avoid Medicaid estate recovery?

Yes. Florida only recovers Medicaid costs from the probate estate. Because a lady bird deed passes the home outside probate, it stays out of recovery's reach, while your homestead also stays exempt during your lifetime. It is one of the main reasons Volusia County families use it.

Can the notary be one of the two witnesses on my Daytona Beach deed?

Yes, when the notary watches you sign and also signs on a witness line with a mailing address. A notary who only completes the acknowledgment is not a second witness, and a deed with one witness and a notary is a witness short. Florida law cures a missing witness five years after the deed is recorded, absent fraud, so recording promptly with the Volusia County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller is also what starts that clock.

Can I still sell my Daytona Beach home after signing?

Yes, and that is the whole point of the "enhanced" part. You keep the right to sell, refinance, rent, or change your mind, all without asking the beneficiaries. If the home is your homestead and you are married, your spouse still joins the deed for a sale or mortgage.


Updated October 18, 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 Daytona Beach and Volusia County residents wherever they are. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.

Keep your Daytona Beach home out of probate

Book a No-Cost Phone Consult with Attorney Kevin D. Klagge, Esq. We confirm the deed fits, draft it, and record it in Volusia County for a flat $399 (individual) / $449 (joint) plus recording.