Land Trust Benefits

Do more to protect yourself and your real estate with a Land Trust. By creating a land trust, you can protect your ownership in real estate, avoid probate, protect your privacy, and simplify selling, transferring and borrowing against your property.

What is a Land Trust?

A land trust is simply a legal method used to enhance the process of owning, selling or transferring real estate. When you establish a land trust the recorded title to the real estate is held by the trustee on your behalf, while all the rights and benefits of ownership are enjoyed by the beneficiary (you, the property owner). You retain complete control over the real estate. The simple change in title, however, provides many benefits to you as the beneficiary that would not be available if you held the real estate in your own name.

Benefits of a Land Trust

The benefits of creating a land trust include:

Elimination of Probate Expenses and Delays
With the use of a land trust, you can arrange for your real property to be distributed automatically to your heirs without the complication and costs of probate. It can also expedite the sale of the property so your heirs are not burdened with prolonged payments for real estate taxes, utilities, insurance, and if applicable, mortgage payments.

Protection of Privacy
Under a land trust, the identity of the real owner (trust beneficiary) is not a matter of public record and generally cannot be disclosed to the public unless requested by a governmental agency or court order in certain circumstances. Your real estate holdings remain confidential.

Ease of Multiple Ownership
Even though the beneficiary of the land trust retains the right to manage and control the trust, the legal title to the property is held by the trustee. The trustee signs any documents related to any real estate transactions, eliminating the need for multiple owners to sign every document.

Ease in Selling and Transferring Property
A land trust provides a convenient means of mortgaging and selling the trust property because it is not necessary to obtain deeds from all the beneficiaries and their spouses. It alleviates the need to obtain the release and waiver of homestead rights of a spouse's interest in the trust property.

Prevention of Partition Suits
A land trust enables you to avoid partition suits because a co-beneficiary cannot force the sale or division of the property held in a land trust.

Assignable Interest and Use as Collateral
Your beneficial interest is assignable in whole or in part to third parties and may be used as collateral for a loan.

Simple Disposition of Partial Interests
A land trust simplifies the problems of disposing of a partial interest in a property since the beneficial interest can be transferred by assignment. Therefore, it is not necessary to tender a deed with all the associated legal requirements. The assignment alone transfers the interest. This is especially important when real estate is held by a number of persons, such as a group of heirs. When property is owned by multiple parties, each beneficiary owns his or her share of the trust and each share may be disproportionate to the others.

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