Florida Life Estate Special Warranty Deed (Two Married Co-Owners Holding by the Entirety)

When two Florida spouses hold property as tenants by the entirety, the estate belongs to both of them as one owner, and a deed of that property is the act of both. This Florida life estate special warranty deed is built for exactly that pair: two grantors who are married to each other and hold by the entirety, signing together to convey the remainder today while reserving a life estate for their joint lives and for the life of whichever spouse survives. The remainder vests on delivery, and the warranty is a special one limited to the grantors' own period of ownership.

Two spouses, one estate, two signatures

Florida treats an estate by the entirety as held by the spouses as a single person, a rule the Florida Supreme Court restated in Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001). Neither spouse holds a separable share to convey alone, so the grantor section is fixed around the couple: two name blanks followed by printed text reciting that the named persons are married to each other and hold title as tenants by the entirety. Both spouses sign, and where the home is the couple's constitutional homestead the two signatures carry the spousal joinder Article X, Section 4(c) of the Florida Constitution requires.

A life estate measured by two lives

Section 5 conveys the property to the grantee in fee simple forever and reserves to the grantors a life estate for their joint lives and for the life of the survivor of them. At the first death the surviving spouse keeps the whole possessory estate; at the second the life estate ends and the grantee holds free of it, without probate, because the remainder was already vested. The estate is an ordinary life estate: the deed states that it carries no power to sell, convey, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of or divest the remainder, the line Florida practice draws between a life estate deed and an enhanced life estate or lady bird deed. Spouses in a second marriage directing the remainder in a home they hold by the entirety to the children of their earlier marriages, and a couple settling the future of an entireties-held waterfront lot on one niece while keeping its use for both of their lives, present the pattern this deed recites.

The warranty the couple gives

Florida's statutory warranty deed form in Section 689.02 carries, through Section 689.03, the full common-law covenants, and no statute prescribes a special warranty deed. Section 6 therefore writes the covenant out: the grantors warrant and defend the title against the lawful claims of all persons claiming by, through, or under the grantors, and against no others, and the deed states that it is not made in the Section 689.02 form.

What the deed prints and what it leaves blank

The grantor configuration, the two-life reservation, and the special warranty are fixed deed text; the blanks hold the spouses' names and address, the grantee, the consideration, and the property. The grantee block receives one or two natural persons with any form of co-ownership Florida recognizes between them under Section 689.15. The form is not set up as a conveyance by a sole owner, by co-owners who hold as joint tenants or tenants in common rather than by the entirety, by an entity, trustee, or attorney-in-fact, or by or to three or more persons on either side.

Execution for two signers

Section 689.01 requires a Florida conveyance of a freehold interest to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, and the deed gives each spouse's signature its own pair of witness blocks carrying the printed names and post-office addresses Section 695.26 requires. A separate acknowledgment certificate follows for each spouse in the Section 695.25 short form, so the two may acknowledge together or on different dates before different notaries. Documentary stamp tax under Section 201.02 is computed on the consideration for the remainder, including any mortgage balance, and the guide describes how Sections 196.041 and 193.155 treat the life tenants' homestead exemption and assessment.

Three pieces make up the package: the fillable deed, a completed example prepared for a Volusia County couple, and a guide covering each numbered section, the two-witness and notary requirements, and the recording and documentary stamp tax points. The description and the guide explain the form and the governing statutes in general terms and are not legal advice.