Deerfield Beach Attorney
Attorney for Deerfield Beach Homeowners and Families on the County Line
Deerfield Beach is the northernmost stop on Broward’s coast. The Town of Deerfield elected its first mayor on June 11, 1925, and the old Hillsboro River, now the Hillsboro Canal, still separates the city from Boca Raton and Broward County from Palm Beach County (WLRN, June 20, 2025). Many families here live on both sides of that line, and it decides which property appraiser, recording office, and court handle a matter. Arturo R. Alfonso P.A. takes Broward real estate, family law, and bankruptcy matters in English and Spanish, with 30 years of practice in South Florida. The firm has one office, at 7821 Coral Way in Miami; Deerfield Beach clients can meet there, by phone, or by video. Call (305) 266-9584 or request a free consultation.
Moving Across the Canal: Homestead and Save Our Homes
The exemption is filed where the new home is. Florida’s homestead exemption is not automatic. An owner who holds title on January 1 and makes the home a permanent residence applies to the property appraiser of the county where the home sits, on or before March 1 (Fla. Stat. 196.011). For a Deerfield Beach home that is the Broward County Property Appraiser; for a home across the canal in Boca Raton, it is Palm Beach County’s. An exemption on the old home does not carry over by itself.
The Save Our Homes benefit can move with you. The Save Our Homes cap keeps a homestead’s assessed value below its market value over time. Under Fla. Stat. 193.155(8), an owner who received a homestead exemption as of January 1 of any of the three immediately preceding years can carry part of that difference to a new Florida homestead, up to $500,000. The county line does not stop it: a move from Palm Beach County to Deerfield Beach, or the other way, can qualify. It is not automatic either. The Broward Property Appraiser asks for Form DR-501T, filed with the new homestead application, and the appraiser in the old county confirms the figures from the prior home.
Married couples and divorcing spouses. For portability, a husband and wife who owned and both permanently lived in the prior homestead are each treated as having received the exemption, even if only one of them applied. When spouses who owned the old home together each set up a new homestead, the statute has rules for dividing the benefit between them, so it belongs in the settlement discussion. Our deed preparation and transfers page covers which deeds reset the cap.
Two counties, two recording offices. Deerfield Beach deeds are recorded by Broward County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division rather than the Clerk of Courts. Across the canal, the Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller keeps the Official Records. A title search for a Deerfield Beach home looks in Broward’s records. Documentary stamp tax on a deed is 70 cents per $100 of consideration in both counties (Fla. Stat. 201.02), with no equivalent of the surtax that applies to some Miami-Dade transfers. Florida law does not require an attorney to close a sale; read title company or attorney closing, how we handle residential closings, how a title search and title insurance work, and our real estate law services.
Courts, Divorce, and Bankruptcy for Deerfield Beach Clients
Deerfield Beach cases are heard in Broward’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, not Miami-Dade’s Eleventh, and not Palm Beach County’s Fifteenth. The circuit’s North Regional Courthouse is in the city itself, at 1600 West Hillsboro Boulevard, where the Broward Clerk’s directory lists County Civil North and Marriage North (Room 160) and Traffic North (Room 181). Family cases (Family Division, Room 04130), domestic violence, small claims, evictions, and foreclosures are directed to the Central Courthouse West Building at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, and Attorney Alfonso appears there when a case requires it. Go where your notice directs you. Our Broward County page lists the other county offices.
Which county a lawsuit belongs in is a real question on a county line. Under Fla. Stat. 47.011, a case against a Florida resident is brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located. If the other side, the property, or the events are in Palm Beach County, tell us at the first call and we will tell you where the case belongs and whether it is a matter we take.
In a divorce, a Deerfield Beach couple may own a home on each side of the canal, or plan to sell one and buy another. Each spouse’s next homestead, and how the portability benefit from the marital home is split, can be worked into the agreement. At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before filing (Fla. Stat. 61.021), and the court begins from the premise that marital assets are divided equally unless there is a justification for an unequal split (Fla. Stat. 61.075(1)). See who gets the house and our family law services.
Bankruptcy cases from Deerfield Beach are filed in the Fort Lauderdale Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, 299 East Broward Boulevard. A recent move matters here too. Federal law limits the homestead equity a debtor can protect if it was acquired during the 1,215 days before filing (11 U.S.C. 522(p)), but under 522(p)(2)(B) that limit does not count equity rolled over from a previous principal residence bought before that period, when the old and new homes are in the same state. A Boca Raton owner who sold and bought in Deerfield Beach is moving within Florida, so the closing statements from both sales are worth keeping. Start with Florida bankruptcy exemptions and whether you could lose your house in bankruptcy, then see our bankruptcy law services.
Common Questions
I am moving from Boca Raton to Deerfield Beach. Do I lose my Save Our Homes savings? Not necessarily. Under Fla. Stat. 193.155(8), an owner who had a homestead exemption as of January 1 of any of the three preceding years can carry up to $500,000 of the difference between market value and assessed value to a new Florida homestead, including one in another county. You apply to the Broward County Property Appraiser by March 1, with Form DR-501T attached to the new homestead application.
Where do I file for the homestead exemption on a Deerfield Beach home? With the Broward County Property Appraiser, on or before March 1, for a home you owned and made your permanent residence on January 1 (Fla. Stat. 196.011). An exemption you had on a Palm Beach County home does not transfer by itself.
Contact Us
Whether you are moving to Deerfield Beach from across the canal and want your homestead and portability filings in order, buying or selling a home, dividing a house and its tax benefits in a divorce, or weighing bankruptcy after a recent move, Attorney Alfonso can review your documents in English or Spanish from our Miami office, by phone, or by video. Hablamos español. Call (305) 266-9584 or contact us to schedule a free consultation.
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