Lavaca County Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) Form
Last validated July 18, 2026 by our Forms Development Team
Lavaca County Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) Form
Fill in the blank Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) form formatted to comply with all Texas recording and content requirements.

Lavaca County Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) form.

Lavaca County Completed Example of the Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) Document
Example of a properly completed Texas Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) document for reference.
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Additional Texas and Lavaca County documents included at no extra charge:
Where to Record Your Documents
County Clerk's Office
Hallettsville, Texas 77964
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm / Wed only closed from 12:00 - 1:00pm
Phone: (361) 798-3612
Recording Tips for Lavaca County:
- Ensure all signatures are in blue or black ink
- Both spouses typically need to sign if property is jointly owned
- Bring extra funds - fees can vary by document type and page count
Cities and Jurisdictions in Lavaca County
Properties in any of these areas use Lavaca County forms:
- Hallettsville
- Moulton
- Shiner
- Sublime
- Sweet Home
- Yoakum
Hours, fees, requirements, and more for Lavaca County
How do I get my forms?
Forms are available for immediate download after payment. The Lavaca County forms will be in your account ready to download to your computer. An account is created for you during checkout if you don't have one. Forms are NOT emailed.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Lavaca County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable formatting requirements used for recording in Lavaca County, including margin requirements, font requirements, and other layout standards. This guarantee applies to formatting, not to the legal sufficiency of information entered by the user or the suitability of a form for a particular transaction.
Can I reuse these forms?
Yes. You can reuse the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have multiple properties in Lavaca County you only need to order once.
What do I need to use these forms?
The forms are PDFs that you fill out on your computer. You'll need Adobe Reader (free software that most computers already have). You do NOT enter your property information online - you download the blank forms and complete them privately on your own computer.
Are there any recurring fees?
No. This is a one-time purchase. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.
How much does it cost to record in Lavaca County?
Recording fees in Lavaca County vary. Contact the recorder's office at (361) 798-3612 for current fees.
Questions answered? Let's get started!
The enhanced life estate deed, better known in Texas as the lady bird deed, performs a trick no ordinary deed manages: it conveys the property today and still leaves the people who signed it free to sell, mortgage, lease, or give away that same property tomorrow, without asking anyone named in the deed. This version of the instrument is drafted for two co-owners who hold Texas real property as joint owners with right of survivorship, and it carries their plan across two deaths: the entire enhanced life estate belongs to the survivor after the first death, and the named remainderman takes only when the last owner dies.
A conveyance that keeps every power that matters
The deed grants, sells, and conveys the property to the grantee as remainderman, then reserves to the grantors, and to the survivor of them, an enhanced life estate: exclusive possession and income for life, together with the power to sell, convey, mortgage, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property, with no joinder, consent, or notice from the grantee, and all proceeds kept. If the owners dispose of the entire property during life, the remainder is divested and the deed transfers nothing at the second death. The conveyance is made without warranty of title and expressly excludes the covenants that Texas Property Code Section 5.023 would otherwise imply from words of grant, the drafting pattern that separates a no-warranty conveyance from a quitclaim.
Two owners, one survivorship, one remainder
The form recites title held under a written survivorship agreement made under Texas Estates Code Section 111.001, the arrangement common among unmarried pairs: siblings, partners, a parent and an adult child. While both grantors live, the reserved powers operate jointly; after the first death, the surviving grantor holds the entire life estate and every power alone. Spouses holding community property fall under a different regime, since community property survivorship arises under Estates Code Chapter 112 rather than Section 111.001, and different instruments recite that vesting.
No enabling statute, and what that means
Unlike the transfer on death deed, which the legislature codified in Estates Code Chapter 114 in 2015, the lady bird deed rests on Texas common law and long title practice. Chapter 114 itself steps aside: its nonexclusivity provision preserves every other lawful method of transferring real property. The absence of a statute cuts both ways, and the guide describes both edges: no statutory form or formality constrains the deed, and no Texas appellate decision has construed one, so title companies review these deeds case by case.
Probate, Medicaid recovery, and the recording counter
Property that passes under a lady bird deed passes outside probate, and the Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program presents its claim only against the probate estate under the state's administrative rules, which is the reason this deed appears so often in long-term-care planning. The completed deed is recorded with the county clerk of the county where the property is located; the first page carries the confidentiality notice Property Code Section 11.008 requires, and, effective December 4, 2025, a person presenting a document for recording in person shows photo identification at the counter.
The download includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF, with conditional joining-spouse signature blocks for the homestead situations Family Code Section 5.001 reaches, a completed example built on a realistic Williamson County fact pattern, and a plain-language guide that walks through every numbered section, the signing and notarization details, and the recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.
Important: Your property must be located in Lavaca County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.
This Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) meets all recording requirements specific to Lavaca County.
Our Promise
The documents you receive here are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable Lavaca County recording format requirements. If there is a rejection caused by our formatting, we will correct the issue or refund your payment. This guarantee applies to document formatting only and does not extend to information entered by the user, the selection of the form, or the legal effect of the completed document.
Save Time and Money
Get your Lavaca County Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed (Joint Owners with Right of Survivorship) form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.
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July 22nd, 2020
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April 25th, 2022
The Mineral Deed transfer form was pretty good. Could have used more info in the guide about where to find legal property descriptions and source of title. Also more space on the pdf for entering return addresses - there was room for only one; I needed three. I will be sending the form to the County Courthouse soon. I hope it works.
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June 24th, 2020
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February 24th, 2021
The boxes do not allow you to add the entire information. The after recording return to box would not let me add a zipcode.
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February 10th, 2019
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April 28th, 2023
I purchased the Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant document and found the whole package of documents to be useful and practical. Successfully recorded!!! While the fillable PDF files are good enough, I personally prefer a Word document as it is easier to modify font or spacing.
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January 20th, 2026
The fill-in pdf produced a messy document and several of the fields too small to accommodate the text. A tailorable MS Word document would have been far better. I would not recommend using this product.
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June 15th, 2022
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