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[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Forum Board ] [ FAQ ] Being your own trustee... Posted by Ward-CA- on December 24, 2003 at 3:51 PM In Reply to: THT posted by gcastro on December 23, 2003 at 9:42 PM : Ward, I know that it is okey for me to be the trustee of the trust that I use to flip property...but is it legal? In other words, if worst came to worst, would the title holding trust hold in court if I am the trustee as well as the beneficiary? ===================== Gonzalo, Yes, it's legal for the same person to be both the Trustee and the Beneficiary of a trust at the same time. In fact, with the Living Trust that's the case more than 99% of the time! So, what I think you're asking is will holding title to real property in the name of a trust do a decent job of asset protection if you're both the trustee and the beneficiary? The answer is no, for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of these trusts are intervivos trusts and thus revocable upon the whim of the trustor. Revocable trusts don't protect your assets from seizure by your creditors. Since such a trust allows you to reverse the transfer of property into and out of the trust at will, you really haven't given up ownership of the property. So if it's still yours it can be seized by your creditors. Secondly, if you choose to be the trustee of your title holding trust (THT), your name will show up in the recorder's public records as being associated with a particular property. Good-bye anonymity, hello notoriety. If that's not the outcome you want then you'll have to appoint someone else to be your trustee. If no one wants to be your trustee just give me a call and I'll help you out. Hope this helps. Follow Ups: Post a Followup: Name : E-Mail : Subject : Comments: : : Ward, I know that it is okey for me to be the trustee of the trust that I use to flip property...but is it legal? In other words, if worst came to worst, would the title holding trust hold in court if I am the trustee as well as the beneficiary? : ===================== : Gonzalo, : Yes, it's legal for the same person to be both the Trustee and the Beneficiary of a trust at the same time. In fact, with the Living Trust that's the case more than 99% of the time! : So, what I think you're asking is will holding title to real property in the name of a trust do a decent job of asset protection if you're both the trustee and the beneficiary? : The answer is no, for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of these trusts are intervivos trusts and thus revocable upon the whim of the trustor. : Revocable trusts don't protect your assets from seizure by your creditors. Since such a trust allows you to reverse the transfer of property into and out of the trust at will, you really haven't given up ownership of the property. So if it's still yours it can be seized by your creditors. : Secondly, if you choose to be the trustee of your title holding trust (THT), your name will show up in the recorder's public records as being associated with a particular property. Good-bye anonymity, hello notoriety. : If that's not the outcome you want then you'll have to appoint someone else to be your trustee. If no one wants to be your trustee just give me a call and I'll help you out. : Hope this helps. Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Forum Board ] [ FAQ ] WWWAdmin 2.0a © 1997 Matt Wright and DBasics Software Company, All Rights Reserved

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