Ladybird Deeds Made Clear

Want a simple way to keep full control of your home today and pass it to your heirs instantly when you’re gone? We dig into the nuts and bolts of the Ladybird deed—formally called an enhanced life estate deed—and explain why it’s a powerful, court-tested tool in North Carolina and beyond. You’ll hear how it avoids probate, preserves eligibility for long-term care Medicaid, and protects against certain estate creditors, all while letting you sell, refinance, rent, or change beneficiaries without anyone else’s permission.

We start by cutting through the Google noise and clarifying the legal status: yes, enhanced life estate deeds are valid in North Carolina when drafted with the right language. Then we share a real client story that shows the practical benefit: after a parent passed, the heir didn’t face court lines or paperwork tangles—the home was already theirs. From there, we compare Ladybird deeds to traditional life estate deeds, showing how the “enhanced” powers keep decision-making in the owner’s hands and eliminate the need for beneficiary signatures for future sales or mortgages.

We also tackle multi-state naming quirks, why some states don’t list “Ladybird deed” yet still use the same operative clauses, and how these deeds function like a “payable on death” designation for real estate. Along the way, we connect the strategy to larger estate planning goals: shielding the home from Medicaid estate recovery, reducing delays and fees, and coordinating with beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives to build a complete plan. If you want a clear, low-friction path to protect your home and spare your family from probate, this conversation lays out the steps.

Ready to safeguard your home and keep your options open? Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more families find practical elder law guidance.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Hi there.
I'm Jane Deerwester and I'm herewith my colleague Haley Matson.
Hi, Haley.
Hi.
We are here with our Elder Lawreport today, and we're going to
talk about the Ladybird deed.
This is something that reallyit's got like a magic trick
almost from a I always sayformer real estate attorney, but

(00:31):
I really feel like all that realestate experience that I have
before I joined McIntyre ElderLaw has really served me well in
doing all kinds of thingsbecause people really want to
protect their real estate,particularly their primary
residence.
And a ladybird deed, or that'skind of the nickname for it,

(00:51):
also called a um a the enhancedlife estate deed.
Also called an enhanced lifeestate deed.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
Thank you very much.
Welcome.
They're called a bunch of thingsin a couple different name of
it.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06):
Is so important and so powerful to leave property to
your heirs at your death, but toretain all power and control
over your property during yourlifetime.
So it kind of sounds too good tobe true.
And we have a lot of people thatwhen we're out speaking in the
community or even meeting withclients in our office who say

(01:29):
that I read online that youcan't do this in North Carolina.
So I've had multiple clientsshow me their phone or show me a
screenshot saying, but I Googledit and it said ladybird D's are
questionable or they're notvalid in North Carolina.
Well, we're here to tell youthey are real, they are valid.

(01:49):
It's something that's beentested through the courts, and
we do them all the time, andthey work.
Uh, one of the first weeks I washere with McIntyre Elder Law, we
had a client come in who losther mom.
We had done the ladybird deed,and we were, I was grateful and
really saw the power of theladybird deed that we could tell
this woman, you know, she camein asking, what do I do now

(02:11):
about the house?
And we could advise her, there'snothing you have to do.
It's already in your name, it'salready good to go.
And that's not the only thingthat's important.
I'll let Haley talk about a fewother things and a few other uh
realms where we use Ladybirddeeds with our estate plans.

SPEAKER_00 (02:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, first I do want to goback and tackle the, oh, well, I
Googled it and it's not listed.
I will let you know that manystates have the same thing.
So in North Carolina,technically, it's the enhanced
life of estate deed.
The language in it is what makesit comparable to other states
that have the official Ladybirddeed titled.

(02:52):
So, like just recently, I had aclient come in and show us a
deed from Washington, DC, andthey had a no consideration
deed, and the language isexactly the same.
But DC doesn't come up either onthe list of places that have a
ladybird deed.
And so there are plenty ofplaces that have it, but they
just don't show up because maybeit's not technically called a

(03:13):
ladybird deed.
So don't be worried if itdoesn't come up.
You know, you want to go to anattorney who does this all the
time and really knows whatthey're talking about so that
they can use those tools to helpyou.
And I mean, the reason why labordeed or the enhanced life estate
deed is so awesome is because itreally helps you avoid probate.
It's a payable on death for yourhouse that still allows you to

(03:35):
sell the house or rent it out orwhatever you want while you
retain ownership of it.
And it also keeps your housesafe from Medicaid asset
recovery because it does, it ispayable on death, so it's not a
probate asset.
So not only just for likeMedicaid estate recovery, but
also from other creditors.
So, you know, you get in asituation where right before you

(03:56):
pass away, if you're in a lot ofmedical debt and that might come
back to your estate, you don'thave to worry about your house
being sold because that's notgoing to happen because it
doesn't go through probate.
So it's a really, really greatvehicle.

SPEAKER_01 (04:08):
It is, and it's great, as you were saying,
Haley, for asset planning,particularly for qualification
for long-term care Medicaidbenefits.
It doesn't count as a presenttransfer of property because
you're not transferring anythingnow, it's only transferred as of
the date of your death.
So it doesn't hit that three tofive year look back period.

(04:32):
Another reason why it's a greatplanning tool.
And just quickly, I want topoint out the differences
between a ladybird deed or anenhanced life estate deed and a
traditional life estate deed.
Because we have a lot of peoplewho might have a traditional
life estate.
And what that is, is where youhave a deed where you are

(04:54):
transferring a present interestin the property, a remainder
interest, where you're saying,I'm gonna transfer this property
to my loved ones, but I'm gonnaretain a life estate.
And if you don't have the magicwords, the magic language of an
enhanced life estate, thenanytime you want to do something
with the property, you've got toget your family members, the

(05:17):
beneficiaries, to sign off.
If you want to mortgage it, sellit, anything you want to do,
they are considered you have apresent remainder interest in
the property.
So that you've got to get theirsignatures and their spouse's
signatures.
The Ladybird deed doesn'trequire that.
You get to change things andagain, maintain full power and

(05:38):
control.
And it's just such an incredibleuh estate planning vehicle.
It's something, as a real estateattorney, I never used, I never
recommended.
Uh I probably I say I never sawthem, but I bet I did and maybe
didn't realize what I wasseeing.
But it's not something your realestate attorney is going to
recommend.
This is really something that anelder law or a state planning

(06:01):
attorney is going to recommend.
And it really is just such aone-and-done powerful document
that is something you shoulddefinitely consider and ask
about when you come in.
Uh, we offer free consultationsat all three of our offices.
I'm in Hendersonville, Haley'sin Charlotte, and we also have
another office in Shelby.

(06:23):
So we invite you to come in toone of our three offices.
And if you're on the outskirtsof those areas, but still in the
state of North Carolina, you cancall us or set up a virtual
meeting.
Uh, that's why we're here tohelp you protect your assets,
plan for your estate, plan forlong-term care.
And ladybird deeds are, again,just an incredible way to

(06:46):
protect your real property.
But just know that doesn'tprotect everything, right?
That's only for your realproperty.
So, for everything else, we'regoing to talk about other ways
that we can protect yourproperty and try to avoid
probate.
Yep.
Well, thank you, Haley, forjoining me for another
invigorating uh elder lawreport.

(07:06):
And thank you all for joiningus.
We look forward to seeing you inone of our offices or online
very soon.
And thanks again.
Cheers.