Doing a Deed Yourself Without Consulting an Attorney May Cost more in the Long Run

In our Florida real estate practice, we see lot of do-it-yourself documents used by people trying to save money.  When it comes to valuable real estate, you should consult a licensed Florida real estate attorney when you prepare recording documents, especially deeds.  There is specific granting language that is required for a deed to validly transfer ownership of real property and while there may be many on-line forms, some of which may even be free, knowing how to complete them properly and more importantly how to have them executed properly takes knowledge and experience.  Knowing what specific interest, the grantor is passing to the grantee is also vital.  The most common mistake we see are on the witness requirements for the deed.  The deed requires two witnesses to the grantor’s signature to be valid.  Further, the witnesses may not be related to the grantor by blood or marriage.  This is also true of the notary public who is required to fill out and complete an acknowledgement of the grantor’s execution.  A common mistake we see when there are two grantors is for the same witness to sign twice, one for each grantor.  Another common problem is where the notary public will complete the acknowledgement, and sign it, but then not provide their notary seal to the acknowledgement.  Florida documentary stamp taxes are required on all deeds recorded in the state.  The mechanics of how much is to be collected can be a complicated process and depends on many different facts.