What Florida homestead protects: tax exemption, creditor protection and inheritance rules

The word “homestead” in Florida covers three rules that come from different parts of the Constitution and apply in different ways: the property tax exemption and assessment cap (Art. VII, §§ 4 and 6), protection from forced sale by creditors (Art. X, § 4(a)-(b)), and limits on devise and descent at the owner's death (Art. X, § 4(c); §§ 732.401 and 732.4015, Fla. Stat. (2026)). A home can have one without another. The property appraiser decides the tax exemption; a probate court decides who takes the home at death.

Last checked: October 17, 2026. General information with official sources, not legal advice for a particular property.

The property tax exemption

A person who holds legal or beneficial title to real property on January 1 and in good faith makes it a permanent residence (or the permanent residence of someone legally or naturally dependent on the owner) is entitled to an exemption from all taxation of up to $25,000 of assessed value (§ 196.031(1)(a)). An additional exemption of up to $25,000 applies to assessed value above $50,000 for levies other than school district levies, and that $25,000 is adjusted each January 1 for inflation when the Consumer Price Index change is positive (§ 196.031(1)(b); Art. VII, § 6(a)).

• Apply by March 1. File the Original Application for Homestead and Related Tax Exemptions (Form DR-501) with the county property appraiser by March 1 of the tax year. Failure to apply by March 1 waives the exemption for that year except as the late-filing provisions allow (§ 196.011(1)(a), (8) and (9)); the property appraiser makes the determination (DOR PT-113).
• Loss of eligibility. The exemption ends if the home is rented, is no longer the permanent home or the owner is no longer a permanent Florida resident (DOR PT-113). Renting all or substantially all of a homestead is an abandonment of homestead for tax purposes, and an abandonment after January 1 does not affect that year's exemption unless the home is rented for more than 30 days per calendar year for two consecutive years (§ 196.061(1)).
• One exemption per family unit. Not more than one exemption is allowed any individual or family unit or with respect to any residential unit (Art. VII, § 6(b)).
• Widow and widower exemption. A bona fide Florida resident who is a widow or widower is entitled to a $5,000 exemption (§ 196.202(1)).

Assessment limitation and portability

Once a home has received the exemption and been assessed at just value, its assessment for each later year cannot increase by more than the lower of 3 percent of the prior year's assessment or the percent change in the Consumer Price Index, and cannot exceed just value (Art. VII, § 4(d)(1)-(2); § 193.155). A change of ownership resets the assessment to just value as of January 1 of the following year (§ 193.155(3)(a)).

Portability. A person who establishes a new homestead as of January 1, and who received a homestead exemption as of January 1 of any of the three years immediately preceding, may carry over the accumulated difference between just value and assessed value, up to $500,000 (Art. VII, § 4(d)(8)). The Department of Revenue states that the new homestead must be established within three years of January 1 of the year the old homestead was abandoned (not three years after the sale), and that the Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference (Form DR-501T) is filed with the homestead application (Form DR-501) by March 1 (DOR PT-112).

Property tax when the owner dies

A transfer of title is a “change of ownership” that ends the assessment cap unless an exception applies (§ 193.155(3)(a)). Table 3 lists the exceptions that matter at death.

Protection from forced sale

Art. X, § 4(a) of the Constitution exempts from forced sale under process of any court, and from any lien from a judgment, decree or execution, a homestead owned by a natural person, with the exceptions below. The limit is land area, not value: for a homestead outside a municipality, up to 160 acres of contiguous land and improvements; inside a municipality, up to one-half acre of contiguous land, with the exemption limited to the residence of the owner or the owner's family (Art. X, § 4(a)(1)).

Who inherits the home

Art. X, § 4(c) provides that the homestead is not subject to devise if the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, except it may be devised to the spouse if there is no minor child. A minor is a person under 18 (§ 731.201). § 732.4015 applies the same rule and treats the grantor of a revocable trust as the owner of homestead the trust holds, with a disposition by the trust counting as a devise. If the homestead is not devised as the law allows, it descends like other intestate property, except that a decedent survived by a spouse and descendants leaves the spouse a life estate with a vested remainder to the descendants (§ 732.401(1)).

• Four fact patterns. (1) A widow's late husband had adult children from a first marriage and a will leaving the house to them: the will cannot pass the homestead because a spouse survived and there is no minor child, so the widow takes a life estate with remainder to his descendants, or elects a one-half interest within 6 months. (2) A parent with a minor child and a will leaving the house to a sibling: the devise fails as to homestead, and the house descends by statute. (3) An unmarried owner with only adult children and a will: the will controls. (4) A married couple who hold title as tenants by the entirety: the survivor takes by title, and the house is not protected homestead under the Code.
• The spouse's election. The election of an undivided one-half interest as tenant in common must be made within 6 months after the decedent's death and during the spouse's lifetime, is irrevocable once made, and is made by recording a notice of election, containing the legal description of the homestead, in the official records of the county where the property lies (§ 732.401(2)(b), (d) and (e)). The statute prescribes the form, which includes a jurat (sworn to or affirmed before a notary). Expenses between life tenant and remaindermen follow ch. 738 unless the election is made (§ 732.401(3)).
• Elective share. Protected homestead is part of the elective estate on which the surviving spouse's 30 percent elective share is computed (§ 732.2035(2); § 732.2065).

Court procedure: petition to determine homestead status

An interested person may petition the probate court to determine the protected homestead status of real property owned by the decedent, or owned by the trustee of a trust of which the deceased settlor was treated as owner under § 732.4015 (Fla. Prob. R. 5.405(a), Oct. 15, 2026 ed.). The verified petition states the petitioner's interest, the date of death, the county of domicile, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, whether a spouse survived and whether the spouse waived homestead rights and how, the names of descendants and any minor children by name and year of birth, a legal description, whether the property was the decedent's domicile (or, if not, whether it was in a municipality and was a family member's domicile), and how title was held (Rule 5.405(b)). It is served by formal notice (Rule 5.405(c)). The order describes the property, says whether it was protected homestead, and names each person entitled and each person's interest (Rule 5.405(d)).

If the personal representative spends money to preserve protected homestead pending that determination, the repayment lien and its procedure are in § 733.608(3)-(4) and Fla. Prob. R. 5.402 and 5.403. The inventory lists real property that appears to be protected homestead and designates it (Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(a)). A summary administration petition describes protected homestead separately from other assets (Fla. Prob. R. 5.530(a)(8)). The county pages list each clerk's probate division.

Homestead held in a trust or transferred in life

For descent and devise, a revocable trust does not remove homestead from the rules in Table 5: the grantor is treated as the owner and a disposition by trust is a devise (§ 732.4015(2)). A transfer in which the owner keeps no power to revoke or revest is not a devise and the interest does not descend under § 732.401 (§ 732.4017(1)-(3)). For tax and creditor purposes, The Florida Bar's trust pamphlet states that most counties have special requirements to keep the tax exemption for trust-held homestead and that homestead may lose its creditor exemption when a revocable trust holds title, with the bankruptcy law on that point unsettled (The Revocable Trust in Florida, updated December 2018). See will vs. trust and the Lady Bird deed guide.

Common homestead mistakes

• Missing the March 1 application date. Failure to apply by March 1 waives the exemption for that year, except for the late-filing provisions of § 196.011(8) and (9) (§ 196.011(1)(a)).
• Renting the home. Renting all or substantially all of a homestead is an abandonment for tax purposes; the 30-day, two-consecutive-year rule in § 196.061(1) governs when an abandonment after January 1 affects the exemption (§ 196.061).
• Claiming two exemptions. The Constitution allows one exemption per individual or family unit or residential unit (Art. VII, § 6(b)).
• Holding the home in a company. The creditor exemption applies to property owned by a natural person (Art. X, § 4(a)).
• Devising homestead to someone other than the spouse when a spouse or minor child survives. The devise fails and the statute controls (Art. X, § 4(c); § 732.4015(1)).
• Filing the portability form late. Form DR-501T is filed with the homestead application by March 1, and the new homestead must be established within three years of January 1 of the year the old homestead was abandoned (DOR PT-112).