In Florida, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own—real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (it’s similar to a will), naming someone to take over as trustee after your death (called a successor trustee). Then—and this is crucial—you must transfer ownership of your property to yourself as the trustee of the trust. Once all that’s done, the property will be controlled by the terms of the trust. At your death, your successor trustee will be able to transfer it to the trust beneficiaries without probate court proceedings.

Joint Ownership

If you own property jointly with someone else, and this ownership includes the “right of survivorship,” then the surviving owner automatically owns the property when the other owner dies. No probate will be necessary to transfer the property, although of course it will take some paperwork to show that title to the property is held solely by the surviving owner.

In Florida, two forms of joint ownership are available:

• Joint tenancy. Property owned in joint tenancy automatically passes to the surviving owners when one owner dies. No probate is necessary. Joint tenancy often works well when couples (married or not) acquire real estate, vehicles, bank accounts or other valuable property together. In Florida, each owner, called a joint tenant, must own an equal share.
• Tenancy by entirety. This form of joint ownership is like joint tenancy but is allowed only for married couples in Florida.

Payable-on-Death Designations for Bank Accounts

Transfer-on-Death Registration for Securities

Florida lets you register stocks and bonds in transfer-on-death (TOD) form. People commonly hold brokerage accounts this way. If you register an account in TOD (also called beneficiary) form, the beneficiary you name will inherit the account automatically at your death. No probate court proceedings will be necessary; the beneficiary will deal directly with the brokerage company to transfer the account.

Transfer-on-Death Deeds for Real Estate

Florida does not allow real estate to be transferred with transfer-on-death deeds. There is a type of deed available in Florida known as an enhanced life estate deed, or “Lady Bird” deed, that functions like a transfer-on-death deed. This type of deed is not common. For more information, read one of our Blogs at: What is a Lady Bird Deed?

Transfer-on-Death Registration for Vehicles

Florida does not allow transfer-on- death registration of vehicles.

Simplified Probate Procedures

Even if you don’t do any planning to avoid probate, your estate may qualify for Florida’s simplified “small estate” probate procedures. Contacting a Probate Attorney is your best course of action to point you in the right direction for a solution that best fits your personalized needs.

Read more related articles at:

How to Avoid Probate in Florida

Florida Courts Probate

Also, read one of our previous Blogs at:

Why You Might Want to Avoid Probate and How to Do It

Click here to check out our On Demand Video about Estate Planning.