The simplest and most cost-effective way to add your spouse to the title of your home is by quitclaim deed.
The most common situation I come across is where an owner of a property was single when the owner purchased the property and is now married and wants to add his or her spouse to title. If the owner’s name is the only name on title and the owner wants to add the owner’s spouse, the owner can use a quitclaim deed to deed the property from the owner to the owner and the owner’s spouse as “husband and wife” or as “a married couple.”
A couple things to know when adding your spouse to title:
Tenancy by the entirety – In the State of Florida, when a married couple is on title together, by default, they own the property as a “tenancy by the entirety.” With a tenancy by the entirety, both spouses own 100% of the property jointly. Therefore, if one spouse dies, the other spouse automatically inherits the full ownership of the property.
Transfer tax – If there is a mortgage on real property in the State of Florida, there will likely be a transfer tax called documentary stamp tax owed on a transfer of the property. However, as of 2024, there is an exception to this tax for adding or removing a spouse from title if the property is your homestead. If you are only adding or removing your spouse from your deed and the property is your homestead, a documentary stamp tax will not be owed even if there is a mortgage on the property. See Florida Statute Section 201.02(7)(b).