Land Trusts - Private enterprise at its best
Protecting Your Real Estate Interests
September 15, 2004
By Michael Joseph
What is a landtrust and what does it have
to do with asset protection? Yo might use an asset
protection land trust to safeguard such things
as real estate. It is used by limiting exposure to
judgments and liens, partnership and joint venture
uses, and transferability of beneficial interests.
By limiting the trust to judgments and liens you've
cut the possibility of having your assets seized.
People use land trusts as a form of real estate "insurance"
since the possibility of judgments and liens are reduced
that person can invest into that trust and secure
a sizable financial legacy to their family.
What are the benefits to using a land trust? The benefits a numerous
and are as follows; probate avoidance, secrecy of purchase price,
secrecy of sales price, avoids due-on-sale clause, avoids litigation.
Ease of property management, ease of negotiation, ease of changing
beneficiaries, ease of transferability, simplified gifting, limited
liability, Managing multiple owners, etc… As you can see there
are many benefits in becoming a part of a land trust.
And why won't lawyers target me for petty litigations? As a rule
lawyers sue those that can afford to pay and pay big, by using a
land trust you look like someone who has minimal assets. Within
a land trust your wealth is effectively camouflaged from the lawyer
radar as it were.
While a land trust is not fool-proof, it can be made even more
secure by making the manager of the trust a limited liability company
thus giving a another layer of security for all involved with the
land trust. In short, a land trust can help make a rich person look
like a a person from the middle class, thus insulating them from
any superfluous litigations.
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