ERRONEOUS LAND TRUST ADVICE HOW TO SPOT IT CLINT COONS
Erroneous Land Trust Advice – How to Spot It
By Clint Coons
H ave you been told land trusts are not valid in your state? If not then it is only a matter of time until you run into a professional who will make this representation. Not surprisingly, ninety percent of the time it is a local attorney making the statement. Why the erroneous advice? Because the attorney is not familiar with the basic principles of trust law. Most attorneys operate in a legal world where statutes control their view of the law i. e., if you are not familiar with a particular body of law and you cannot find a statute to support your idea, then the safest assumption when dealing with a client is to tell them it will not work. In other words, if an attorney is not up on it then it is safer to be down on it, unless the client is willing to pay to have him thoroughly research the law. Attorneys are averse to venturing into uncharted waters for fear of liability.
The following states have adopted some form of land trust statute: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Virginia. Every other state recognizes the use of trusts via case law, i. e., the common law but with some