Highlands County Grant Deed Form

The Florida grant deed is a written conveyance used to transfer ownership of real property from a grantor to a grantee with limited covenants of title. Unlike most states, Florida's deed statutes do not name the grant deed specifically — it is a practitioner instrument that occupies the middle ground between a quitclaim deed (which conveys only whatever interest the grantor happens to hold) and a warranty deed (which warrants title against all defects, including those that arose before the grantor took title). In a Florida grant deed, the grantor covenants that the title has not been previously conveyed to anyone other than the grantee and that the property is free of encumbrances except as disclosed in the deed itself. Because Florida is one of the few remaining states that requires two subscribing witnesses on every deed conveying an interest in real property (689.01), the execution formalities for a Florida grant deed catch out-of-state preparers and self-filers more often than almost any other requirement.

When a Florida Grant Deed Is Used

A Florida grant deed is commonly used to transfer ownership between living parties when the grantor is willing to make limited covenants — that title has not already been granted away, and that the property is unencumbered except as stated — but is not prepared to warrant against title defects predating the grantor's ownership. It is used in arm's-length sales where the parties have a clean title commitment, in transfers between family members, and in conveyances where the protection of a quitclaim is too thin and the warranties of a full warranty deed are more than the situation calls for. The form is not named in the Florida Statutes but is recognized in practice and recorded routinely throughout the state's 67 counties.

Execution Requirements for a Florida Grant Deed

Florida's signing rule is unusual. A deed conveying any estate of freehold, or any leasehold of more than one year, must be signed by the grantor in the presence of two subscribing witnesses (689.01). A notary's acknowledgment alone is not sufficient — the witness requirement is independent of the notarization requirement. A notary public may serve as one of the two witnesses, but if so the notary must sign the deed twice: once as a subscribing witness and once in the notary block.

The deed must also be acknowledged. Acknowledgment in Florida may be taken before a judge, clerk, or deputy clerk of any court; a United States commissioner or magistrate; or a Florida notary public or civil law notary. The certificate of acknowledgment must bear the official seal of the officer (695.03). Acknowledgments taken outside Florida or in a foreign country must conform to 695.03(2) and (3).

Florida-Specific Traps

Several Florida-specific requirements routinely cause rejected recordings or downstream title problems:

• Homestead joinder. If the property is the grantor's homestead under Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, both spouses must sign the deed — even when only one spouse holds title. A homestead conveyance without spousal joinder can be voided. This rule is constitutional, not statutory, and applies based on the property's legal status as homestead, not on whether the parties consider it the family residence.
• Marital status recital. The grantor's marital status should be recited on the face of the deed. This is the customary mechanism for putting the homestead question on the record and for confirming whether spousal joinder is required.
• Two subscribing witnesses. Both witnesses must sign in the grantor's presence. Names should be printed below the signatures so the clerk can identify them, and a witness should not also be the grantee.
• Preparer identification. The name and address of the person who prepared the deed must appear on the instrument, typically as a "Prepared by" block on the first page (695.26).
• Documentary stamp tax. Florida imposes a documentary stamp tax on deeds at $0.70 per $100 of consideration in every county except Miami-Dade, which charges $0.60 per $100 plus a $0.45 per $100 surtax on transfers other than single-family residences (201.02). The tax is collected at recording, and the deed should state the consideration or be accompanied by the appropriate documentation.
• Clerk's recording space and margins. The first page must reserve a 3-inch by 3-inch space in the upper right corner for the clerk's recording information, and a 1-inch margin on the other sides; subsequent pages require a 1-inch top margin (695.26). Deeds that crowd this space are routinely rejected.
• Printed names and grantor address. Each natural person who executes the deed must have their name legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath the signature, and the post office address of each grantor must appear on the instrument (695.26).
• Legal description and plat reference. A street address alone is not sufficient. For platted property, the deed should reference the plat book and page where the subdivision plat is recorded; for unplatted property, a metes-and-bounds description is required.

Vesting Options

Florida does not presume survivorship between co-grantees. Under 689.15, a conveyance to two or more grantees creates a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly provides otherwise. To create a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, the deed must clearly state that intent. Married couples who take title together are presumed to hold as tenants by the entirety, an estate available only to spouses that carries automatic survivorship and shields the property from the separate creditors of either spouse. The deed should still recite the marital relationship so that the entirety estate is clear on the face of the instrument.

Recording the Florida Grant Deed

Grant deeds are recorded with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property is located. Until recorded, the deed is not good or effectual in law or equity against creditors or subsequent purchasers for valuable consideration and without notice (695.01). Among competing recorded instruments, priority is established by the order and time of recording. Prompt recording protects the grantee against intervening liens, judgments, and conflicting conveyances, and establishes the chain of title that future purchasers, lenders, and title insurers will rely on.

What the Florida Grant Deed Package Includes

The Florida grant deed package includes the deed form, line-by-line guidelines for completing each section correctly under Florida law, and a completed example showing how a properly executed Florida grant deed appears. The forms are prepared by the Deeds.com forms development team and are formatted to satisfy the execution and recording requirements discussed above.