You want your home to pass to your kids (or anyone you choose) when you die — without probate — but you want even MORE control than a plain beneficiary deed gives: the power to sell, mortgage, gift or completely revoke, on your own, with no one's consent, right up until death. That's an Enhanced Life Estate Deed — a “Lady Bird” (Ladybird) deed — and this makes the recordable instrument that states it. You convey the property to a remainderman but RESERVE an enhanced life estate: you keep full ownership, use and control for life, and whatever is left at your death passes automatically to the remainderman outside probate. Because you keep the power to revoke and to convey the whole fee during life, the remainder is a mere expectancy — no completed present gift, so no documentary transfer tax is due now, and (in the states that recognize it) it generally does not disqualify you for Medicaid during life. Pick the action: an Enhanced Life Estate Deed reserves your enhanced life estate and conveys the remainder, or a Revocation of Enhanced Life Estate Deed recites and cancels a Lady Bird deed you recorded earlier. Then pick how the remaindermen take: a single remainderman; multiple remaindermen in equal shares as tenants in common; or a primary remainderman with a named alternate who takes only if the primary predeceases you. Name yourself as grantor, name the remainderman (and their relationship), give the property address, legal description and parcel number, and PaperKit assembles the whole non-probate instrument — the recitals, the reservation of the enhanced life estate, the conveyance of the remainder, the retained-powers and right-to-revoke clauses, the vests-on-death / non-probate clause, and — because a lady bird deed makes no completed present transfer — an assertion that NO documentary transfer tax is due now. Like any deed it's a drafter-signs recordable certificate: the GRANTOR executes and e-signs it; the remainderman simply takes on death. Hosted online for the grantor to review & e-sign. Clean recordable PDF. (Lady bird deeds are recognized in only a handful of states — confirm your state's law.)
The big lever — make a new Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed, or revoke a Lady Bird deed you recorded before.
Enhanced Life Estate (Lady Bird) Deed: conveys the property to your remainderman effective at death, without probate, while you reserve an enhanced life estate — full power to sell, mortgage, gift or revoke during life, with no consent from the remainderman.
One remainderman takes the property on your death.
The record owner of the property. Like any deed, this is a recordable certificate the grantor executes — the remainderman takes on death and does not sign. You reserve an enhanced life estate and keep full ownership, use and control (and the power to sell, mortgage or revoke) during your lifetime.
A lady bird deed reserves an enhanced life estate and conveys no completed present interest, so — unlike a fresh conveyance — no documentary transfer tax is due when it's recorded, and it generally does not disqualify you for Medicaid during life. PaperKit recites the exemption; confirm your state recognizes lady bird deeds and your recorder's language.
A real, section-by-section recordable non-probate instrument. The instrument choice drives whether it reserves an enhanced life estate + conveys a remainder or revokes; the structure choice reframes how the remaindermen take. Publish to get a hosted link the grantor can e-execute online.
$9/mo — remove the DRAFT watermark + “Made with PaperKit” badge, unlimited clean-PDF recordable deeds, and Pro across every tool.
An enhanced life estate / lady bird deed is a template for convenience, not legal advice. Lady bird deeds are recognized in only a handful of U.S. states (and by some others by practice), and the required form, wording, witnessing / notarization and revocation rules vary; the deed must generally be signed by the grantor, notarized, and RECORDED during the grantor's lifetime to be effective, and it conveys no completed present interest. Whether a lady bird deed is the right tool (versus a transfer-on-death deed, a living trust, an ordinary life-estate deed, or joint tenancy) depends on your state and circumstances, including Medicaid-planning goals. PaperKit is not a law firm. Review the instrument and consult a qualified attorney.