Signing a contract to sell your home does not end the homestead status of your home. This issue was addressed in In re Estate of Skuro, 467 So.2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
In In re Estate of Skuro, Randolph Skuro executed a contract to sell his home, but died before the sale could be completed. The property was Mr. Skuro’s homestead. The personal representative of Mr. Skuro’s estate tried to argue that the homestead status of the property was destroyed when Mr. Skuro executed the contract to sell the property. The court disagreed and held that the homestead status remained intact despite Mr. Skuro signing a contract to sell his property.
The court cited two Florida cases standing for the proposition that “[o]nce homestead status has been acquired, it continues until the homestead is abandoned or alienated in the manner provided by law.” M.O. Logue Sod Service, Inc. v. Logue, 422 So.2d at 72; Marsh v. Hartley, 109 So.2d 34, 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959). Signing a contract to sell real property does not constitute abandonment or alienation of the homestead. Thus, signing a contract to sell homesteaded real property does not end its homestead status.