When a parent’s home was deeded into a trust, the trustee signs the sale, not the family as a group. Here is who that is at each stage and what to gather for the title company.
The short version: If the recorded deed puts the home in a trust, the acting trustee sells it. Florida law gives trustees the power to sell unless the trust or the Trust Code limits it, subject to the trustee’s fiduciary duties. It also lets them show a title company a short certification of trust instead of the whole document. A grantor-trustee who can act signs; if the grantor can no longer serve or has died, a remaining co-trustee or the named successor trustee steps in. After a death, the trustee generally owes the qualified beneficiaries certain notices within 60 days (s. 736.0813), and Florida’s homestead limits can override the trust if a spouse or minor child survives. Mo Mufti is a REALTOR®, not an attorney; a Florida attorney and the title company make the legal calls.
Grantor living and ableThe trustee signs; duties run to the grantor.
Grantor can’t manage itThe named successor trustee may step in.
Grantor has diedThe remaining or successor trustee usually sells and notifies beneficiaries.
First, confirm the house is actually in the trust
A trust controls only what was moved into it. The Florida Bar’s consumer pamphlet on revocable trusts calls this “funding,” says a funded deed will refer to the trust or to the owner as trustee, and warns that assets not properly transferred may be subject to probate. Pull the most recent recorded deed from the county’s official records.
If the deed runs to the trustee, the trustee is the seller. Give the title company the recorded deed itself: Florida has separate rules for a deed that only adds “trustee” after a name without identifying the trust (s. 689.07).
If the latest deed is still in your parent’s own name, the trust alone doesn’t move the house. While your parent is living, see the power of attorney guide. After a death, the Bar notes, people who didn’t fully fund their trusts often need both a probate and a trust administration; see the estate-property guide.
Who has the power to sell
Except as the trust or the Trust Code limits it, a Florida trustee may act without a court order, using the trust’s powers plus all the powers an unmarried competent owner has over their own property (s. 736.0815). The Code’s specific powers include selling at a public or private sale, making repairs, insuring the property, paying taxes and expenses, and hiring attorneys, accountants, and agents paid reasonably from trust assets (s. 736.0816(2), (9), (12), (15), (20)). All of it is subject to the trustee’s fiduciary duties.
A person other than a beneficiary who deals with a trustee in good faith and for value, without knowing the trustee is exceeding or improperly using its powers, is protected from liability as if the trustee had properly exercised the power (s. 736.1016(1)). Together with the trustee’s power to sell (ss. 736.0815, 736.0816(2)), that protection is one reason a title company can usually close with the trustee’s signature rather than every beneficiary’s. The title company makes the final call. With two or more trustees, check the trust first; where it is silent, co-trustees who can’t agree may act by majority, and remaining co-trustees may act when one seat is vacant (ss. 736.0105(1), 736.0703).
Three stages, and who signs at each
The grantor is living and able
Unless a trust expressly says it is irrevocable, Florida generally lets the grantor revoke or amend it (s. 736.0602(1)). While it is revocable, the trustee’s duties are owed only to the grantor, and the trustee may follow the grantor’s directions even where they differ from the trust’s terms (s. 736.0603). If your parent is the sole trustee and able to act, your parent typically signs as trustee. If your parent is married and the home is their Florida homestead, the title company will usually also require the spouse to sign (Fla. Const. art. X, s. 4(c)). A Florida attorney should confirm. If there are co-trustees, the trust and the certification of trust say whether one or all must sign.
The grantor is living but can’t manage the sale
The Bar notes the trustee can keep managing trust assets if the grantor becomes incapacitated, which may avoid a court guardianship of property. If your parent was the only trustee, an adjudication of incapacity or a resignation creates a vacancy, filled first by the successor the trust names; the trust may also say how a successor is designated and accepts (ss. 736.0704, 736.0701). A power of attorney doesn’t make the agent a trustee. For powers of attorney signed on or after October 1, 2011, an agent generally can change a trust only if the principal signed or initialed next to that specific authority and the trust explicitly allows changes by the settlor’s agent (s. 709.2202(1)(b), (7); s. 736.0602(5)). Have a Florida attorney review the documents.
The grantor has died
The Bar explains that the trustee has immediate authority over trust assets at death, with no court appointment needed, and that, unlike a probate personal representative, a trustee doesn’t have to live in Florida or be related to the grantor. If no co-trustee remains, the vacancy is filled first by the successor the trust names (s. 736.0704(2), (3)(a)). If you are out of state, see the remote-sale plan.
Duties to beneficiaries after a death, at a high level
While a trust is revocable, the duty to inform and account runs only to the grantor. Once it becomes irrevocable, it runs to the qualified beneficiaries, in short, living beneficiaries who can receive distributions now or are next in line (ss. 736.0813(4), 736.0103). Among other things, the trustee must:
Within 60 days after accepting, give them notice of the acceptance, the trustee’s full name and address, and that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege (s. 90.5021) applies to the trustee and the trustee’s attorney.
Within 60 days after learning the trust became irrevocable, tell them it exists, who the grantor was, that they may request a copy and accountings, and that the same fiduciary lawyer-client privilege applies to the trustee and the trustee’s attorney (s. 736.0813(1)(a)–(b)).
Provide a copy of the trust and relevant information about assets and administration on reasonable request, and an accounting at least annually unless waived in writing (s. 736.0813(1)(c)–(e), (2)).
Separately, when a grantor dies who could still revoke the trust at death, the trustee must file a notice of trust with the court of the county of the grantor’s domicile and the court having jurisdiction of the grantor’s estate (s. 736.05055(1)).
Why proceeds may sit in the trust for a while. A revocable trust is liable for estate expenses and claims the probate estate can’t pay (s. 733.707(3)), and Florida generally bars claims 2 years after death (s. 733.710). The Bar notes a trustee may be reluctant to distribute until satisfied that all claims are paid, and some families open a probate to use its shorter claims process. Timing is the attorney’s call.
If the home was the grantor’s Florida homestead
A trust doesn’t get around Florida’s homestead limits. Under s. 732.4015, homestead isn’t subject to devise (a gift at death) if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child, except to the spouse when there is no minor child. The statute treats a revocable trust’s grantor as the home’s owner and the trust’s gift of it as a devise. If the limits apply, the home may pass under Florida’s homestead rules rather than the trust, which can change who must sign the deed. Have a Florida probate attorney confirm before listing; the homestead inheritance guide explains who takes.
Florida Probate Rule 5.405 lets an interested person ask the probate court whether property held by such a trustee was protected homestead. The verified petition must state, among other things, the date of death, the county of domicile, any surviving spouse and any waiver, the descendants and any minor children, a legal description, whether the property was the decedent’s domicile, and how it was titled at death, so gather those facts early.
If it is an irrevocable trust
The trustee signs under the trust’s terms. The 60-day notice runs from when the trustee learns the trust was created, and the trustee generally must give each qualified beneficiary an accounting at least annually and on termination or a change of trustee, unless that beneficiary waives accountings in writing (s. 736.0813(1)(b), (d), (2)). Medicaid and planning questions belong with a Florida elder-law attorney.
What to gather for the title company
The title company handling the closing sets the final list. Start with these.
The recorded deed into the trust, and any later deeds.The exact wording shows who holds title.
A certification of trust signed by a trustee.Under s. 736.1017 it covers the trust’s existence and date, the grantor, the current trustee and address, the trustee’s powers, any trust directors, revocability, whether co-trustees must all sign, and how title is held, and states the trust hasn’t been changed in a way that makes it wrong. It doesn’t need to reveal who inherits what.
Trust excerpts, if asked.The recipient may require the parts naming the trustee and giving the power to sell (s. 736.1017(5)). Someone who relies on a certification without knowing it is wrong is protected (s. 736.1017(6)).
Proof the current trustee is in place.A certified death certificate if the grantor or a prior trustee has died, or the papers the trust requires for an incapacity change, plus the successor’s acceptance.
Homestead facts.The same facts Rule 5.405 asks for.
Mo Mufti is a Florida REALTOR® with LPT Realty, LLC. He doesn’t interpret trusts, decide homestead questions, or advise on notices, distributions, or taxes. Working with the trustee, attorney, and title company, he can pull the recorded deed, price and prepare the home, handle showings and vendors, and give the trustee a net sheet and written updates to share with beneficiaries. If you don’t have an attorney yet, The Florida Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service can connect you with one.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions families ask
Do all the beneficiaries have to sign to sell a house held in a Florida trust?
The trustee signs as the seller, and Florida protects from liability a buyer who isn’t a beneficiary and who deals with the trustee in good faith and for value, without knowing of any misuse of the trustee’s powers. The trust can require more, and if a spouse or minor child survives a grantor whose homestead it was, the home may pass outside the trust. A Florida attorney should confirm.
What is a certification of trust?
A short statement signed by a trustee under Florida Statutes s. 736.1017 confirming the trust exists, who the trustee is, the trustee’s powers, and how title is held, without revealing who inherits what. The title company may still ask for excerpts.
Does a house in a trust have to go through probate?
Usually not, if the deed put it in the trust; the Florida Bar explains that trust assets avoid probate and the trustee can act at death without a court appointment. A house still in the grantor’s name may need probate, and homestead questions can go to probate court under Rule 5.405.
My parent is living but can’t manage the sale. Who signs?
Usually the successor trustee named in the trust, once the trust’s steps for changing trustees are followed or a court has found your parent incapacitated. A power of attorney agent is not automatically the trustee. Have a Florida attorney confirm before anyone signs a listing agreement.
When can the beneficiaries receive the sale proceeds?
That is the trustee’s decision with the attorney. A revocable trust can be liable for estate expenses and claims, and Florida generally bars claims 2 years after death, so trustees may wait until claims are paid.
When you’re ready, start with the address.
There’s no rush on Mo’s side. Share where the home is, who the trustee is, and what the attorney or title company has confirmed so far, and he’ll outline the real estate steps.
Mo Mufti, REALTOR® · LPT Realty, LLC · 352-298-8602 (call or text)
Official sources and references
Checked October 12, 2026. Statutes are the 2026 Florida Statutes, and the Florida Constitution is the current text, both on the Florida Legislature’s Online Sunshine site. The trust document, the recorded deed, and your attorney’s review control.
Important: General real estate information only—not legal, tax, title, Medicaid, or financial advice. Mo Mufti is a Florida REALTOR® (license SL3600299) with LPT Realty, LLC, not an attorney or CPA. Ask a Florida trust, probate, or elder-law attorney about trustee authority, beneficiary duties, and homestead, and a CPA about taxes.