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