Trustee Of A Florida Land Trust
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These are original documents we\'ve been developing over the past year to educate Realtors, US Investors, Foreign Investors, distressed home owners and Retiring Baby Boomers
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Trustee Of A Florida Land Trust
- 1. Yourself or Your Spouse? Your Attorney or Family? A Limited Liability Company? Dedicated Trustee Service Corporation?
- 4. Your Limited Liability Company
Editor's Notes
- Is it advisable to name a spouse or children as the Land Trustee? When a transaction involves the purchase of a residential property by a Land Trust and the beneficiaries are the husband, wife or children, there are legal reasons not to name the spouse. Under Florida law personal ownership of property by a married couple is governed by a legal status known as ‘tenancy of the entireties’ and because of it Florida Law treats a married couple as one. A Land Trust holding a residential property changes the way that Florida Law looks at the ownership of the property. Should one spouse be named the Trustee while both spouses are named beneficiaries a marginal and questionable condition of law would probably become an issue in a divorce circumstance. Since the purpose of the Land Trust is to create a stability of ownership and ease of transfer the Trustee for a Land Trust might be best used if there was a significant degree of separation in the power of the Trustee from the marriage and the children…
- Who should you appoint as your Property’s Trustee? Should the Trustee be your Attorney, Accountant, Realtor or Lifelong friend? There is an old addage from William Shakespeare that could be considered an answer to this question. It reads, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.” The land trust is a contract that is intended to protect a property asset. When a person is chosen to serve as the Trustee there needs to be safeguards in place to protect the beneficiaries from any negative change in relationship between the beneficiary and the trustee. Emotion and life events can distress the relationship and harm the ability to transfer the deed. The design of the Land Trust law allows for a sort of mediator, called a Director, who can exercise a control factor over those personal and life event issues that arise from the naming of a person as a Trustee. However we recommend for simplicity, stability longevity of the Land Trust that a professional Trust Service or a legal entity be used as Trustee.
- What are the benefits of an LLC as a Trustee of a Land Trust? There are several features inherent in an LLC that make its use a Land Trust beneficial to both the home owner and the investor. First, an LLC, once formed, never dies. Second, an LLC is in itself an asset protection instrument in that it adds another level of privacy for the beneficiaries. Third, an LLC has an ability to come under the management of a Personal Property Trust that can serve to protect the Land Trust from legal action. Foreign Nationals can form a Florida LLC and through it’s legal structure create property land trusts in Florida. There are certain negatives in the LLC as Trustee scenario as well. They should be understood and weighed by the homeowner and investor. The formation of an LLC is an added time and expense issue. A Florida llC requires state and attorney fees to be created. An annual report and annual fee must also be paid to the state to maintain active status.
- Celtic Wind Investment recommends and uses the Land Trust Service Corporation . It was formed for the expressed purpose of providing Land Trust Owners with professional Trustee services. The fee schedule is attached. The LTSC provides more than twenty legal benefits to the beneficiaries and is managed by attorney and published author Mark Warda. Attorney Warda was trained as a Lawyer in the state of Illinois which is the original “Land Trust State” in the United States. Illinois is also the only state where Law schools actually teach Land Trust Law. Mr Warda lectures to attorneys, accountants, Realtors and investors on the legal features and benefits of the land trust and serves on the Trust advisory committee for the Florida Legislature. The LTSC is situated at 28 West Park Ave Lake Wales Florida. Its street address becomes the mailing address for all correspondence particular to a Land Trust. The LTSC function is dynamic for the Land Trust beneficiary because it is experienced at handling the timeline issues that arise in the life of the land trust. Those issues include changing or adding beneficiaries, forwarding local code and government notices that may require action by the benficiaries, and signing over the deed to complete a sales or tax trade transaction. The experience and additional asset protection services are also available along with a periodic newsletter for Land Trust beneficiaries.