A land trust can be an effective tool for managing not only your privacy, but avoiding probate. They are simple and have no required upkeep. Unfortunately, many confuse land trusts, which are revocable, with irrevocable asset protection trusts. They do not provide asset protection directly, but can make it harder for people to pursue you by being private and out of state.
How does it work?
A land trust is essentially a private agreement, whereby one party, the trustee, agrees to hold title to property for the benefit of another party or parties, the beneficiary(ies). ... Plus he or she has no function other than to do as the trust deed instructs. Land trusts are most often revocable.
How does a land trust protect you?
First: it allows for privately owning property to avoid needing family, friends and creditors from knowing what you own and trying to pursue you.
Second: Those who own property in their personal name, with all the negative implications that implies, can move property into an LLC to enjoy liability protection and potentially lower taxes.
E.g., if you own 10 properties in your name, and fear being sued, you may transfer property to a land trust, with a beneficiary being the LLC. This allows you to avoid the due on sale clause, while also having the property moved out of your name for liability protections.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Land Trusts
Compare and contrast the pros and cons of land trust
Pros: privacy, avoiding due on sale clause, liability protection if the beneficiary is an LLC
Cons: Cost and expense to start (at minimum a few hundred dollars)
Different Types of Land Trusts
Title Holding Trust
allows the property owner to anonymously maintain all rights over the property and direct the actions of the land trust. These trusts are also commonly called 'Illinois land trusts'
Conservation Land Trust
requires that the property owner give up some rights over land use and development.
Why do you put land in a trust
Land trusts can provide asset protection benefits by providing you with privacy. They also avoid the due on sale clause, or accelerating a mortgage, while allowing a beneficiary to be an LLC for limited liability protection.
Benefits of Having a Virtual Office
One of the core benefits of using a virtual office is that virtual office services are significantly cheaper than paying traditional office rent. Virtual offices also have reduced overhead since they don’t require cleaning, decorating, or any other services on top of your lease agreement.
Virtual offices come with all the same benefits as having a professional business address, despite being cheaper. They are an address you can use with your bank, or to list as your business address on your website, business cards, and advertisements.
Large virtual office services can also come with other perks, like bookkeeping and accounting services, mail sorting, and accepting phone calls.
Mail sorting can also save you a significant amount of time, we’ll remove the junk mail for you so that you don’t have to deal with it.
Virtual offices also tend to have shorter lease agreements than a traditional office, so it’s easier to upgrade or change your office arrangements when the time comes. No need to wait on an extended lease to expire before you can upgrade your office arrangement.
The last benefit of virtual offices is one of the biggest. With improved infrastructure online and better meeting software, it's more possible than ever to have a diverse team from different locations, all telecommuting and working virtually. Maintaining a virtual office can help your business keep a physical presence through your virtual office address and mail services, while also taking advantage of a broad pool of talent that allows you to work with exactly the professionals you need to help your business grow.
Benefits of Having a Virtual Office
Virtual offices are used by a wide variety of businesses of all sizes. They are a great solution to spread out virtual workforces for large corporations, and often more convenient and affordable for smaller businesses and solopreneurs. Plus, using a virtual office space makes it that much easier to work from home, which can have its own benefits for everyone in your organization.
Virtual offices can even be a solution for businesses that already have a traditional office, but who need an address in other locations as well.
In sort, virtual offices can be a good solution for almost any business, and a wide variety of businesses use them!
AUTHOR
Jonathan Feniak, Esq., MBA
Jonathan is admitted to practice law in Colorado and Wyoming. In this position, he helps business owners at nearly every level and in nearly every industry with asset protection, estate planning, and business formation. Beyond business owners, Jonathan also helps activists of all political persuasions to legally protect themselves.
