Apostille for a recorded Florida property deed

When a Florida deed is recorded, the county records office scans it into the Official Records and stamps it with a book and page or instrument number. The original usually goes back to the owner or the title company. That returned original is not what you apostille. What the Florida Department of State can authenticate is a certified copy issued by the county official who keeps the Official Records, because the apostille confirms that official's signature and seal.

In most Florida counties, that official is the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. In a few counties the recording function sits with a separate Comptroller or a county records office. Whoever certifies your copy, send us a photo before you ship so we can confirm the certification is one the Florida Department of State will accept.

• Proof of assets for residency or visas. Some residency programs and consulates accept property ownership as part of a financial file.
• Estates and inheritance. When a Florida owner dies with heirs or an estate abroad, a foreign court or notary may need proof of what the person owned in Florida.
• Divorce and property division handled by a foreign court.
• Bank and lending files, where a foreign lender wants evidence of property held in the U.S.

Whatever the reason, the foreign authority wants to know the copy came from the official record, not from someone's filing cabinet. The certification and the apostille together answer that.

People often call us about "apostilling a deed" when they are actually selling or buying property outside the U.S. In that case you are not apostilling a Florida record. You are signing a document, often a power of attorney naming someone abroad to sign at the closing, in front of a Florida notary, and then apostilling the notary's signature.

That is a notarized document, and it follows different rules. See power of attorney apostille and notarized document apostille. If you are abroad, our online notarization lets you sign before a Florida online notary by video.

Search the county's Official Records online by owner name or address to find the deed's book and page or instrument number. Free search copies are watermarked and uncertified, so they will not work. Then order a certified copy from the same office:

• In person or by mail from the records or recording department, which issues a copy with a stamped certification and seal.
• Electronically, where the county offers it. For example, the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller sells electronic certified copies of Official Records, including deeds, through its E-Certify service for $8 per document. Each one carries an electronic stamp and seal, a unique code and a QR code for verification.

Our operating rule for clerk-issued records is that we accept the clerk's original wet-ink certification or the clerk's official online certification. If you buy an electronic certified copy, print it exactly as delivered, including the cover page with the verification code, and do not alter it.

Order the copy from the county where the property is located. If the deed was later re-recorded or corrected, order the version the foreign authority actually needs, usually the most recent vesting deed. You can find every county clerk through the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers directory.

Before you ship, confirm:

Price: $220 for one document, $380 for two, and $160 each for three or more. That covers the Florida Department of State fee, the request form, and FedEx both ways inside the U.S. Shipping the finished documents to an address outside the U.S. is a flat $100 per order. Turnaround is 5–7 business days, and we file every order in person in Tallahassee.

• The returned original deed. It has a recording stamp, but no certification of a copy by the records custodian.
• A notarized photocopy. Recorded deeds are public records available from an official source, so a Florida notary cannot attest a copy of one.
• A free online printout with a watermark or "not a certified copy" notice.
• A title report or property appraiser printout. Useful for you, but not the recorded instrument.
• Missing pages, especially the exhibit with the legal description.

Each receiving authority decides what it accepts, so confirm with them first. Typical situations we see:

• Spain and Italy: estate and inheritance matters handled by a notary or court, and asset proof in residency files.
• Brazil, Colombia and Argentina: estate proceedings for families with property in both countries.
• Israel and Germany: inheritance and family-law cases involving a Florida home.

Foreign authorities often require a translation as well. Ask whether it must be done by a translator recognized in that country. Our certified translation page explains the options.

If the country where you will use the deed is a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, the Florida Department of State attaches an apostille and you are done on the U.S. side. You can check any country on the official HCCH status table.

If the country is not a party (the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt are examples), Florida issues a certificate of authentication instead. We handle that Florida step at the same price and in the same 5–7 business days. Let's be straight with you about what comes after: non-Hague countries then require a U.S. Department of State authentication and legalization by that country's embassy or consulate. We do not handle or arrange those two steps, and we do not refer you to anyone for them. Your receiving authority or the embassy's checklist sets that sequence. Details are on our non-Hague authentication page.