What Each One Is
Lady Bird Deed Now describes itself on its website as a guided self-help document preparation service. The company states that it is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, legal representation, or engage in the practice of law. A customer completes a guided online form to receive the lady bird deed, transfer on death deed or beneficiary deed available in the customer's state.
StepUpLaw is the Florida law practice of Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., a member of the Florida Bar and a partner at Assouline & Berlowe, P.A. Kevin drafts the deed himself after a conversation about the property and the family, and the fee includes his advice on whether a lady bird deed is the right tool at all. A self-help service and a law firm are different kinds of purchase, and the table below sets them side by side using the company's own words and our posted fee. Our firm is not affiliated with Lady Bird Deed Now.
The Side-by-Side Comparison
Only verifiable facts go in this table. The Lady Bird Deed Now column comes from the company's home page and About page as read on October 2, 2026, for a Florida property. Our column is our posted fee schedule.
| Item | Lady Bird Deed Now (as posted 10/2/2026) | StepUpLaw |
|---|---|---|
| Who prepares the deed | The customer completes a guided online form to receive the deed. The company describes itself as a guided self-help document preparation service and states it is not a law firm | Drafted by Kevin D. Klagge, a Florida attorney (Fla. Bar No. 99502), after a review of title, marital status and homestead |
| Price for a Florida deed | Full Service $399.99. Document Only $199.99. No separate price for a couple was listed | $399 for one owner, $449 for a joint deed |
| What the price includes | Full Service lists a guided step-by-step process, electronic notarization, recording with the county, a confirmation email once recorded, a certified recorded copy, a 100% refund if the property is not eligible, and 1 business day processing available, and the home page states witnesses are provided for the signing. Document Only delivers the deed by email with step-by-step recording instructions, and lists the property legal description, the parcel ID, notarization and county recording as requirements. The About page offers a 4-hour rush in Florida, with same-day delivery when ordered by 1 PM ET on weekdays | Attorney drafting, the homestead and marital review, the legal description from your prior recorded deed, coordinating witnesses and a notary, e-recording, and one certified copy |
| Recording | Full Service states recording fees are included, with instructions for local recording where electronic recording or full-service filing is not available. Document Only states county recording fees are paid separately | Recorded by our office. The county recording charge (about $18 to $30 for a typical deed) and any remote-notary surcharge are passed through at cost |
| Legal advice | No. The company states it does not provide legal advice, legal representation, or engage in the practice of law | Yes, including whether a lady bird deed fits your family or another tool fits better |
Lady Bird Deed Now packages and prices are as posted on its home page and About page on October 2, 2026, and may change. The current version of the company's own site controls.
Price is the row that differs least. The Full Service package and our fee are 99 cents apart before recording, and our client pays the county's recording charge of about $18 to $30 on top. The rows that differ most are who prepares the deed and whether legal advice comes with it.
What a Florida Attorney Adds to a Lady Bird Deed
A lady bird deed is two pages long, and most of the work happens before the drafting starts. Florida layers five rules on top of the form, and each one turns on a fact about your title or your family.
- Homestead and spousal joinder. The Florida Constitution lets the owner of a homestead give it away by deed only when joined by the spouse if married, whether or not the spouse is on the title. A homestead deed signed without the spouse can be void as to the home. Our lady bird deed form guide explains why the spouse signs even when the spouse owns nothing.
- A minor child. Florida bars leaving a homestead away from a surviving spouse or a minor child. An owner with a child under 18 can sign a lady bird deed that records cleanly and still fails as to the home, which then passes by statute to people the owner did not name. A minor named as a beneficiary is a separate problem, because a sale before the child turns 18 can need a guardianship and a judge's approval.
- Title and the legal description. The deed needs the full legal description from the last recorded deed, which differs from the short version on a tax bill, and the grantor has to be the person who actually holds title in the capacity in which title is held. A wrong description clouds title, and the fix is a corrective deed while the owner is alive or a quiet-title suit (a court action to clear disputed ownership) after a death. Our guide to finding your legal description shows where the right one lives.
- Medicaid planning. Florida's Medicaid manual treats a correctly drafted lady bird deed as no transfer at all, so the five-year look-back has nothing to penalize, and the home passes outside probate, where the state's estate recovery cannot reach it. The retained power to sell without the beneficiaries signing is what earns that treatment, and a deed missing that language can count as a gift. The Medicaid planning guide covers the details.
- Litigation if the deed is challenged. A lady bird deed can be contested in court on grounds such as undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud and improper execution. Kevin litigates deed disputes, and in his own words, "I also litigate deeds after they fail, which enhances the practice of drafting deeds." The contested deed guide covers both sides of a challenge.
Every one of these rules is public, and a careful owner can read about every one of them. Each rule is a question about your facts, and answering those questions for a client is legal advice, which the company states it does not provide.
Not sure whether your deed needs a lawyer?
A free 30-minute consult checks homestead, marital status and title, and tells you whether a lady bird deed fits at all.
Book your free consultWhen a Document Service May Be Enough
Florida does not require a lawyer to prepare a deed, and a deed from a document service can be valid when it is drafted and signed correctly. An unmarried owner with no minor children, holding a non-homestead property in his or her own name, who wants it to pass to adult beneficiaries and already has the full legal description from the last recorded deed, faces fewer of the questions above. An owner in that position who is comfortable representing himself or herself may decide a self-help service fits, and Florida leaves that choice to the owner.
The list narrows quickly in real life. A married owner, a homestead, a child under 18, a trust or a company on the title, a Medicaid application on the horizon, or a beneficiary who may need protection each moves the deed into territory where a judgment call decides whether it works. Our deed selector gives a first read in four questions, and our page on doing your own lady bird deed walks through the do-it-yourself route step by step.
Our Flat Fee for a Lady Bird Deed
Our attorney-prepared lady bird deed is a flat $399 for one owner and $449 for a joint deed, plus recording. The fee covers the attorney drafting, the homestead and marital review, the legal description pulled from your prior recorded deed, coordinating the two witnesses and the notary (in person or by remote online notarization), e-recording with your county, and one certified copy. Government costs are passed through at cost with no markup, namely the recording charge of $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each added page, any documentary stamp tax that applies, extra certified copies, and a remote-notary surcharge if you use one. Fees are posted and honored for 90 days. The full breakdown is on our lady bird deed cost page, and how the deed works is on the lady bird deed guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Lady Bird Deed Now?
Lady Bird Deed Now is a company that describes itself as a guided self-help document preparation service. The company site states that it is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, legal representation, or engage in the practice of law. A customer completes a guided online form to receive the deed available in the customer's state. Our firm is not affiliated with the company, and everything stated about it here comes from its home page and About page as read on October 2, 2026.
How Much Does Lady Bird Deed Now Charge for a Florida Deed?
As posted on October 2, 2026, the Full Service package for Florida was $399.99, listing electronic notarization, county recording with recording fees included, a confirmation email, and a certified recorded copy, and the home page states that witnesses are provided for the signing. The Document Only package was $199.99, delivering the deed by email with recording instructions, and the package lists the property legal description, the parcel ID, notarization and county recording as requirements, with recording fees paid separately. The company site controls if those numbers have changed.
What Does an Attorney Lady Bird Deed Cost at This Firm?
The flat fee is $399 for one owner and $449 for a joint deed, plus the county recording charge passed through at cost. Recording runs $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each added page, about $18 to $30 for a typical deed. The fee covers attorney drafting, a homestead and marital review, the legal description pulled from your prior recorded deed, coordinating witnesses and a notary, e-recording, and one certified copy. Fees are posted and honored for 90 days.
Where Can I Read Lady Bird Deed Now Reviews?
Our comparison does not summarize or quote reviews of any company, by design. Customer reviews describe service experience such as speed and courtesy. Whether a particular deed works is a legal question about how the property is titled, whether the owner is married, whether the home is homestead, and whether a minor child is in the picture, and a review of someone else's order does not answer those questions for your home.
Can I Do a Lady Bird Deed Without an Attorney in Florida?
Yes. Florida does not require a lawyer to prepare a deed, and a deed you prepare yourself or through a document service can be valid if it is drafted and signed correctly. A Florida deed is signed before two subscribing witnesses, acknowledged before a notary so the county will record it, and since January 1, 2024 each witness's mailing address must appear on the deed. Homestead and marital status add requirements on top of those.
Does My Spouse Have to Sign the Lady Bird Deed?
A spouse usually has to sign a lady bird deed on a Florida homestead. The Florida Constitution lets the owner of homestead give it away by deed only when joined by the spouse if married, whether or not the spouse is on the title. A homestead deed signed without the spouse can be void as to the home. The spousal joinder question is one a lawyer settles before anyone signs.
Is a Lady Bird Deed Safe for Medicaid?
A correctly drafted Florida lady bird deed is treated by the state Medicaid manual as no transfer at all, so the five-year look-back has nothing to penalize, and the home passes outside probate, where Florida's estate recovery cannot reach it. The retained power to sell without the beneficiaries signing is what earns that treatment. A deed that drops the retained powers can become a gift for Medicaid purposes.
Common Situations
The second wife who never signed. A Palm Beach County widower remarried and later signed a lady bird deed leaving his condo, his homestead, to his two sons. His new wife was not on the title and did not sign the deed. After his death the sons learned the deed could not pass the homestead away from his surviving wife, and the condo passed under Florida's homestead rules instead. A joinder signature at the start would have settled the question.
The owner who fit the simple case. A single retiree in Ocala owned a rental duplex outright and wanted it to pass to her adult niece. The retiree had no spouse, no minor child and no homestead on the property, and her last recorded deed was in hand. The consult confirmed that none of the homestead, marital or Medicaid questions applied, and the deed she needed was the plain version. The retiree chose to have it drafted and recorded for the flat fee.
Sources
- Lady Bird Deed Now packages and prices (Full Service and Document Only, Florida), what each includes, recording fees, and witnesses: ladybirddeednow.com home page, pricing section (read October 2, 2026).
- Company description, Florida 4-hour rush delivery, and "not a law firm" statement: ladybirddeednow.com/about-us (read October 2, 2026). The current versions of these pages control.
- Homestead joinder and devise restrictions: Fla. Const. Art. X, §4(c) (flsenate.gov); Fla. Stat. §732.401 (descent of homestead).
- Deed execution and recording: Fla. Stat. §689.01 (two subscribing witnesses); §695.03 (acknowledgment to record); §695.26 (witness mailing addresses, effective January 1, 2024); §28.24 (recording charges).
- Medicaid: Fla. Stat. §409.9101 (estate recovery from the probate estate); Fla. DCF ESS Policy Manual §1640.0613.01 ("no transfer has occurred") and §1640.0305.03 (homestead and enhanced life estate exclusion).
- Our fees: posted fee schedule, honored 90 days from the posted date; government costs (recording, documentary stamps, certified copies) are additional and passed through at cost. Fees are not a prediction of outcome.
An attorney-prepared lady bird deed, at a posted price
Book a free 30-minute consult. Kevin checks homestead, marital status and title, quotes the flat fee up front, and records the deed when it is signed.
Updated on October 2, 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. This article is general information about Florida law and posted pricing, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Lady Bird Deed Now is a trademark of its owner. StepUpLaw is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lady Bird Deed Now LLC, and the company's prices and packages are stated as posted on its public home page and About page on October 2, 2026 and may change. Our fees are honored as posted for 90 days; government costs are additional at cost. Your result depends on your specific facts. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.