How should I set up a land trust in California? Should I work with a lawyer? Do you have any recommendations? Or I should take a course? If so, do you have any recommendations?
Attorney · Spanish Fork, UT · Member since 2025 · 77 posts · 97 votes
1y
Hi Gin,
First, It's important to note that as a technical legal matter, "land trust" are not statutorily recognized in most states, including in CA. Now this does not mean that you cannot setup a trust specifically designed to hold real estate in CA and call it a land trust based on its purposes, you're just not going to get special protections or treatment of the trust as a "land trust" (e.g. in FL land trusts, by statute, provide asset protections).
That said there can still be benefits of using a land trust in a state like CA depending on what you're setting the land trust up for and how it's set up. For example, the land trust can help you achieve anonymity in your ownership of the property.
I would certainly recommend working with an attorney whenever setting up or using tools like land trusts to ensure that it's actually working as intended and causing other negative and unanticipated consequences.
Note: This information is for
educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal,
tax, or financial advice. No attorney-client, fiduciary, or professional
relationship is established through this communication.
Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1y
I don't mean to be rude, but that's like asking "I want to remove my appendix...do I need a doctor". BP is great for sharing ideas and making connections, but it shouldn't be real estate's answer to "Web MD". The first 2 people in this world you pay are the IRS and your attorney. I keep seeing posts where people ask super complex questions because they don't want to engage an experienced professional. "I am thinking about putting in a septic tank myself." "How do I save money and install my own HVAC." "I've never done it before, but I want to GC my own apartment building and use unlicensed people to save money." Don't. Pay the attorney. If you think a pro is expensive, try hiring an amateur. While I'm on the rant, you mentioned paying for a course. Before you take any course or hire a pro, at least due some due diligence to ensure they are qualified and know what they are talking about. Do they have some sort of license? Check Linked In for their background. Don't take a real estate or lending course from anyone that hasn't been through a real estate crash or says "I was Uber driving last week, then I discovered the secret of performing emergency tracheotomies with ball point pens...and for $10K in 3 hours at the Holidome in Memphis, you can learn too!" Pay the lawyer. Thank you for endulging my rant. Good luck to you.