Posted by Rob Ricker on August 27, 2003 at 22:33:50:
First, if you don’t record the Land Trust Agreement with the register of Deeds (NEVER record this), no one will know who the beneficiary of the trust is. How are they going to find out who the officers of the corp or LLC are when they don’t even know about the company itself? This is all a mute point if you do things right.
Second, Even if they did know about the corp the officers are not the owners of corp. The SHAREHOLDERS are the owners! Someone would have to assume that all or some of the officers are stockholders (they’d probably be right) but if the corporation’s records are kept correctly, even the owners (shareholders) are not personally responsible for anything.
I have a question regarding a corporation or LLC holding a Trust. I assume some people form a trust and then transfer it under the corporation (or purchase as a corporation). My question…does this not defeat the whole reason you form a trust, to mask ownership? In Florida for instance, if you form a corporation it is very easy for one to look up officers of the LLC or corp and see who owns it’
KGrant,
Nope, your a little off.
That is okay though, this is how we learn.
If you buy a property, using a land trust, the only publicly recorded doc is the deed which conveys title to the trust.
The ownership of the trust, (the beneficial interest holders) is not recorded publicly.
This is a private matter, and the only place the beneficial interest holder of the trust is listed, is in the actual trust document itself, or on an assignment of beneficial interest form.
So, for what you describe, simply buy the house, having it deeded directly to a trust, and make the beneficial interst holder of the trust, your corp. or LLC.
No one will be the wiser.
If the Corp is the beneficial interest, are they also the trustee? If not who? To record in FL they want the trustee’s name first and then the name of the trust on the deed?
Thanks Jim for your response, however my question is this. FOr instance, if I want to look up the officers of a corporation or LLC I can find quickly who the officers of the corporation is, and I would assume this would somewhat possible reveal to someone snooping around, who the owner could possibly be. In other words it could give them a line to follow.