Land Trusts in Florida

A Florida land trust is a revocable trust in which real property is held by a trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary. The beneficiary retains all rights to the property, including the right to occupy, use, and direct the trustee to sell or mortgage it. The key feature is that public records show the trust as the property owner, not the beneficiary's name.

A land trust provides privacy, which itself has protective value: plaintiffs who cannot see what you own are less likely to target you. However, a land trust alone is generally not a complete creditor protection strategy. We typically combine a land trust with an LLC structure to achieve both privacy and a stronger layer of creditor protection.

Yes. Lenders can and do make loans secured by property held in land trusts. We can help you structure the trust in a way that satisfies lender requirements while maintaining the privacy and protection benefits.

An LLC provides liability protection and keeps your name off the operating entity, but the ownership of the LLC itself may still be traceable. A land trust provides a different layer of privacy at the property title level. They work well together: the land trust holds title, and an LLC holds the beneficial interest in the trust.

Yes, in most cases. Because the property is titled in the trust rather than in your name, it does not need to go through probate when you pass away. The beneficial interest transfers according to the trust terms. This is one of the reasons investors use land trusts for long-term real estate holdings.