Can I add someone to my deed without losing my homestead exemption?

Why a deed change can matter

Save Our Homes limits yearly increases in a homestead's assessed value to 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. After a change of ownership, the property is assessed at just value as of January 1 of the following year, and the limit starts over from there (as of 2026).

Section 193.155(3) defines a change of ownership as any sale, foreclosure, or transfer of legal title or beneficial title in equity to any person — unless one of the listed exceptions applies. The Florida Department of Revenue's homestead guide (PT-112) summarizes the same rule.[1][2]

When adding someone is not a change of ownership

The statute treats it as no change of ownership when the same person keeps the homestead exemption after the transfer and the deed lists the owner as both grantor and grantee with one or more other people added as grantees. If any of the added people applies for a homestead exemption on the property, that application is considered a change of ownership.

Transfers between husband and wife are also listed as an exception, including a transfer to a surviving spouse or a transfer due to a dissolution of marriage. So is removing other joint tenants with rights of survivorship from the title when the homestead owner stays as grantor and grantee.[1]

Before you sign a new deed

Adding a co-owner can have consequences beyond property taxes — for example on a mortgage, on who inherits, or on the protections that apply to Florida homestead property. Have a Florida real estate attorney prepare the deed, and call your county property appraiser's exemption office if you're unsure how a change will be treated.[1][2]