Deed Notarisation in Fort Myers, Florida
Florida requires a deed to be signed by the grantor in the presence of two subscribing witnesses and acknowledged before a notary. Miss the witnesses and the Lee County Clerk will reject the recording — which people usually discover by post, weeks later.
Fastest way
(941) 405-3180Mon–Sat 8am–8pm · Sun 9am–6pm · After-hours by appointment. For anything urgent, call — the phone is answered between appointments and email is the slower path.
Or tell us what you need and we’ll call you back
Same-day reply during working hours. No obligation, and we will tell you on that call if a notary is not the right answer.
The two-witness rule for Florida deeds
Florida Statutes §689.01 requires a conveyance of an interest in land to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The notary acknowledgement is separate and additional.
This is the same trap as the power of attorney, and it catches the same people: someone downloads a generic quit claim deed template written for a state with no witness requirement, signs it in front of a notary at a bank, mails it to the Clerk, and gets it back rejected.
- Grantor signs in front of two subscribing witnesses
- A notary takes the acknowledgement
- The legal description must match the existing record exactly
- Recording is a separate step, done by the Lee County Clerk
What we check before you sign
That the deed has witness lines at all. That the grantor name matches how title is currently held — a name change through marriage, or a middle initial dropped somewhere, creates a chain-of-title problem that is far cheaper to fix before recording. That there is a legal description, not just a street address.
We are not doing a title examination and we are not giving legal advice. We are catching the mechanical defects that get deeds bounced, and we can bring the two witnesses.
Where a deed needs more than a notary
Adding or removing a spouse, transferring into a trust, transferring a homestead property, or anything touching a mortgage — talk to a real estate attorney first. Florida homestead rules in particular can invalidate a transfer that looked perfectly simple, and documentary stamp tax can be triggered in ways people do not expect.
We will tell you when we think you are in that territory. We would rather say it than seal it.
How it works
Four steps, no surprises
- 01
Tell us it is a deed
So we can confirm you have two witnesses, or arrange them.
- 02
We review the execution blocks
Witness lines, notarial wording, grantor name, legal description.
- 03
Signing with witnesses present
Grantor, two witnesses and notary together.
- 04
Ready for recording
You take it to the Lee County Clerk, or your title agent files it.
Questions
About deeds & property transfers
Does a Florida deed need witnesses?
Yes — two subscribing witnesses, in addition to the notary, under Florida Statutes §689.01. This is the most common reason deeds are rejected for recording in Lee County. Generic online templates frequently omit the witness lines entirely.
Can you record the deed for me?
No. We execute it; recording is done through the Lee County Clerk of Court, either by you or by a title agent. We will tell you what the Clerk will want so you only make the trip once.
Can the notary also be a witness?
Best practice is no. Keep the roles separate — we notarise, and two other people witness. We can bring witnesses if you do not have any.
I want to add my son to my house. Is that all I need?
A deed will do it mechanically, but that is exactly the situation where you should talk to a real estate attorney first. Adding a child to a Florida homestead can affect your homestead exemption, trigger documentary stamp tax, expose the property to their creditors and complicate Medicaid planning. We notarise deeds; we will also tell you when the deed is the smaller half of the question.
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Read moreNeed deeds & property transfers in Fort Myers?
Call (941) 405-3180 and tell us what the document is. We will tell you what Florida requires and what it will cost before we leave.
Mon–Sat 8am–8pm · Sun 9am–6pm · After-hours by appointment