Mortgages & Trusts
There sure are a lot of ways to try and cover the ownership of your a$$ets, but I do have a couple of nagging questions: 1) if you are mortgaging the property, how hard would it be to figure out who owns the property?
Let's say you purchase properties and put them in land trusts, then assigned the beneficial interest to your LLC or FLP. So you think your identity is protected.
If in public record for the Register of Deeds the very next document has your name signed on the mortgage, how hard will it be to figure out who ultimately owns the property?
2) Can someone illuminate on the statement that the trustee must be an attorney or bank? Is this true? I'd never heard this before today...even from Bronchick's books and tapes.
Thanks for any insight!
Trustee could legally be any adult of 18 or older, or a bank or trust co.
Lots of advantages in using your lawyer, including his sworn duty to keep your business confidential unless ordered by some court to divulge it; or trust co., and his legal duty to safeguard the assets of the trust, and he knows what to do.
Banks and trust co's too, are frequently used on larger asset trusts, as those are full time administrators and managers of trust assets.
Although I"m personally prejudiced in favor of the lawyer, and have had pretty miserable experiences with some of the morons in various bank trust depts., you should talk to several before deciding who's best for your purposes.
So I'd interview several lawyers and trust co's and see who you like best, their fees and costs, etc.
Not hard for a researcher who knows of the trust, and can see a property is recorded in the trust name to learn your identity...if you're paying the taxes and you're still on the loan.
But if a lawyer is thinking of suing you, from a car wreck, etc., and he doesn't find your name in deed records, he's going to lose interest in obtaining a J against you for more than your liability insurance.
Ask your lawyer about whether your state has adopted the fairly new Uniform Trust Act, as it requires registration and disclosure of the beneficiaries...which some states have discliked enough to NOT enact it.
That's where you want to have your trust own RE, or have your trust beneficiary be your LLC, if your lawyer says that can be done so as to retain YOUR anonymity.