There are many benefits to holding your property in a land trust. There is a privacy benefit to holding the property in a land trust because the owner of the property can remain anonymous.
It’s important to note that ownership of property is part of the public record, so your individual name in most cases is on the tax bill and the deed. Anonymity is particularly relevant for certain civil legal liability, tax liability, and certain debt collection.
As it relates to estate planning, the land trust allows you to control how your property is distributed after you are deceased. A land trusts allows your property to avoid probate. Probate is the judicial process of proving a will in a court of law, so that the document is accepted as a valid last testament of the deceased, and also in intestacy estates where the estate must be settled according to the state’s laws of intestacy. The probate process is public. Additionally, probate can
be lengthy, expensive, and time consuming to disperse your estate. If you have questions about estate planning, please contact our office.
If you have any questions about a land trust, one of our attorneys can be available for a free consultation to discuss more details on your specific real estate requirements.