Florida Land Trust

What is a Florida Land Trust?

The Florida Land Trust is a solution for holding title to real or personal property that is created by the Florida Land Trust Statute 689.071. This statue outlines the following:

1. Trustee Duties
2. Legal formalities for creating a valid land trust
3. Appointing Successor Trustees
4. Issues regarding power of direction.

The Florida land trust if often misunderstood by individuals and lawyers and most believe it provides great asset protection to the beneficiary. While this is true, often the bigger issue is that the beneficiary can create a liability that attaches to the property in the Florida Land Trust. We have created a unique solution that provides asset protection for the beneficiary as well as from the beneficiary. A Florida Land Trust can be a great way to buy, hold, own, finance, and sell real estate.

There are many benefits to using a Florida Land Trust to own real estate. The two most common benefits of using a Florida Land Trust to own property are to maintain the privacy of the owner and for asset protection. Most people set up Florida Land Trusts incorrectly when it comes to asset protection and while they may protect their personal assets from the real estate, they forget about the bigger issue of protecting the real estate from their personal liabilities which are often a far bigger risk.

Who can Create of Florida Land Trust?

The Florida Land trust can be created by a single person, a group, partnership, limited partnership (LP), limited liability limited partnership (LLLP), revocable trust, living trust, or irrevocable trust, Florida Asset protection trust, limited liability company, (LLC) or corporation (Inc.). The person who creates the Florida Land Trust is referred to as the Grantor. Often the person or entity who creates the land trust also is the beneficiary of the land trust. This is often not the case when you are looking for asset protection. In the case where asset protection is desired, the beneficiary is often a Florida Asset Protection Trust.

What Documents are Required to Create of Florida Land Trust?

The Florida Land Trust is comprised of a Land Trust Agreement, a Land Trust deed, and in many cases a beneficiary agreement or Florida Asset Protection Trust. While a Florida Land Trust can hold multiple pieces of real estate, we often recommend placing each property in a separate land trust. It is possible to use the same Florida Asset Protection Trust as the beneficiary of multiple land trusts.

How Does a Land Trust work in Florida

A Florida land trust separates legal title and equitable ownership of a parcel of land. The land trust beneficiary is the individual who establishes the land trust and who contributes or borrows money to acquire the property. The land trust beneficiary is the economic owner of the property. The beneficiary is entitled to income and gain from the property investment, and the beneficiary bears the risk of economic loss from bad investment. The land trust names a trustee. The trustee holds legal title to the property in a fiduciary capacity. The trustee is responsible under the trust agreement to follow the direction of the land trust beneficiary. The beneficiary makes all investment-related decisions and instructs the trustee to implement these decisions on behalf of the trust. The trustee hold legal title as a fiduciary. The land trust agreement says that the trustee does what the beneficiary tells them to do with respect to the trust property.

Who Owns The Florida Land Trust?

The Florida Land Trust is owned by the Beneficiaries who are defined in the Florida Land Trust Agreement. All of the rights and obligations below to the beneficiary and retain the power to manage the trust unless these powers are delegated to the trustee. The Beneficiary does not appear in the public records, only the name of the Trustee appears. By using a separate Trustee, one can keep the beneficiary’s name out of the public records.

Who Owns the Real or Personal Property Inside the Land Trust?

The property held by the Florida Land Trust is actually owned by the Trustee of the trust. The Trustee has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiary and must act in their interest and when the beneficiary is different than the trustee, the beneficiary retains the right to remove and replace the trustee. The only name that shows up in the public records is the Trustee of the Florida Land Trust.

The Beneficiary, the owners of the Trust, will not show up in any public records or database and will not be discoverable unless disclosed by the beneficiary, someone else, or a court order. (Unless you place your homestead in the land trust, then the person receiving the homestead tax reduction will also be listed in the public records.)

To learn more about a low-cost solution for privacy and asset protection for your real estate, contact our Florida Land Trust Lawyers at the Law Office of David M. Goldman