Introduction to Land Trusts for Real Estate Investors

An introduction into the basic tenants of trusts, their underlying philosophical basis as well as their legal formalities. Focuses on how an Illinois type land trust can provide a protective and secure environment for one’s assets.

These times may well be remembered more for its hazards than for its opportunities. Investors and estate builders who in the past have survived rampant inflation followed by deflation, recession, recovery and resumption of inflation met yet succumb to the greatest wealth dissipation device known to man – LITIGATION. In many instances, regardless of the merits of a particular case, the results are a foregone conclusion: the litigants will be broke and the attorneys enriched.

Asset protection has always been important as an estate grows. Where in more sane times the investor’s principal concern was the selection of a particular financial vehicle or advisor/manager, that changed in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Today, the prudent estate builder will look first to safety – and particularly, protection against those who envy his or her success – rather than maximization of yields per se.

Table of Contents:

It’s What You Keep That Counts
Illinois type Land Trusts
What is a Land Trust?
Who May Form a Trust?
Third Party Directors
Individual Trustees
Trustee Duties
Transferring the Property
Liability
Protection
Rental Contracts
Estate Planning
Tax Basis
Land Trust Mechanics
Beneficial Interests as Personalty
Trust Privacy
Tax Reporting
Avoiding Corporate Taxation
Legal Aspects
Loan Liability
Spousal Rights
Liens
Co-Venturing Property Purchases
Mortgage and Due-On-Sale Tactics
Estate Freezing
Downside Risks
Out-Flanking Zoning Regulations
Legal Basis for Florida Land Trusts
Caveat Emptor: A Word in Parting