3 Things You Didn’t Know About Homestead Property

Homeowners can benefit more on a homestead property in Florida, although it can be quite complicated. The tax exemptions associated with a homestead are reasonable, but the distribution of the property can be complicated.

It’s important to know specific details about why a homestead property is unique as there are also particular requirements before a property can be considered homestead. In Florida, a property can classify as homestead when they satisfy these requirements:

1. A property owner is a Natural person
2. The property was made or intended to be the permanent residence of the owner and their family
3. The property is subject to specified size and contiguity requirements.

A lot of people have misconceptions about the homestead, so here are five things that may clear out some misconceptions about the homestead.

How To Plan Your Estate For Homestead Properties

The key to planning your estates for homestead properties is the type of ownership. Completion of these forms of ownership occurs either when the property is purchased or after. The ownership evidences itself through the language used for the deed. Homestead properties can be owned by tenancy by the entirety or by joint tenancy. When you structure the ownership of the homestead, you can determine how it will pass to the surviving spouse and vested remainders to the decedent’s descendants.

When the homestead’s ownership is tenancy by the entirety, the homestead would have automatically vested 100% of the interest in the wife. Tenancy by the entirety means that the husband and the wife had the same interest in the property

When the homestead’s ownership is joint tenancy, the process changes with the rights of survivorship. Joint tenancy means that each party owns the same percentage. If one owner dies, the rate of ownership of the deceased distributes to the surviving owners

If the ownership of the homestead property is in joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety, the property will pass according to that ownership rather than the other rules of descent by intestacy.

Waiving Homestead Rights

The spouse has the option to waive his or her homestead rights if they choose to of their own volition. In some cases, such as when the surviving adult children utilize the property, the spouse may wish to leave the property to them.

How Does The Probate Process Deal With Probate?

Suppose the husband owns the property by the entirety, the husband passes away, and the wife and adult children from a previous marriage survived the passing. The most basic option for the surviving spouse is life estate for the property and vested remainders for the adult children from another marriage. This does not guarantee full control of the property for the surviving spouse, however, because the descendants have a future interest in the property. Hence the property cannot be rented out or sold without the descendant’s consent. In terms of expenses related to the ownership of the homestead property, that will be divided between the surviving spouse and descendants as both have an interest in the property.

If you have any questions about how to handle a probate situation regarding homestead property in Florida or want to know more about how you can incorporate it into your estate plan, get in touch with Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. today to learn more about our services. Call us now at (305) 921-0440 or send us an email to [email protected] for a consultation.