Florida Homestead Law Explained

Joseph M. Percopo (Tax LL.M. 2010, Florida) has recently published his article entitled The Impact of Co-ownership on Florida Homestead, Fla. Bar J., May 2012, at 32. Here is an abstract of his article:

As the Florida Supreme Court noted in Snyder v. Davis, 699 So. 2d 999, 1001-02 (Fla. 1997), there are three kinds of homesteads with one purpose: preserving the family home for its owner and heirs. The first kind provides homestead with an exemption from taxes. The second protects homestead from forced sale by creditors. The third delineates the restrictions a homestead owner faces when attempting to alienate or devise homestead property.

Home ownership is not limited to a single person or family. Instead, homes may be owned in a variety of different forms, and in a down economy where banks have stricter lending policies, co-ownership of property becomes even more common. Consequently, how does co-ownership of property impact the three kinds of homestead? This article examines the affects of owning property as tenants by the entirety, tenants in common, joint tenants with right of survivorship, and with life estates.