Homesteading your Florida property can provide you property tax benefits and state protection from creditors. It is one of the most powerful tools you can use to protect your property from creditors and a reason many wealthy retirees call Florida home.
If you live in Florida and own a home as your primary residence, you should consider making it your homestead. But what happens if you own a Florida property with someone else that does not live in the property? What if the property is your primary residence, but not theirs? Can you still homestead the property? The answer is yes, but you can only homestead your share of the property.
As an example, let’s say you own a Florida property with your brother 50/50 and you are both on the deed. You live in the Florida property as your primary residence. However, your brother does not live in the Florida property, and he has a separate homestead. Your brother cannot make the Florida property his homestead. Since you only own 50% of the Florida property, only 50% of the property can be homesteaded and your brother’s 50% share cannot be homesteaded.