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Florida Statute 732.7025, effective July 1, 2018, set forth language to include in a deed for a spouse to waive his or her Florida homestead rights:
Section 732.7025(1) provides the following language: “By executing or joining this deed, I intend to waive homestead rights that would otherwise prevent my spouse from devising the homestead property described in this deed to someone other than me.”
This is not a waiver of other protections. Subsection (2) sets these out: “The waiver language in subsection (1) may not be considered a waiver of the protection against the owner’s creditor claims during the owner’s lifetime and after death. Such language may not be considered a waiver of the restrictions against alienation by mortgage, sale, gift or deed without the joinder of the owner’s spouse.”
Adding this language into a deed may not be as simple as it seems. A couple of important considerations may include a lack of understanding and the attorney’s advice and representation of the “waiving” spouse. The waiving spouse should seek separate representation, and may even consider their own estate planning devices, wills, and possibly a post-nuptial agreement. An experienced estate planning lawyer can guide a waiving spouse as well as a non-waiving spouse on appropriate planning devices for conveying their interests.