Land trusts are a real estate-driven planning tool that can streamline ownership, enhance privacy, and simplify transfers of multiple parcels without the administrative overhead of entity maintenance. This session explains how land trusts differ from traditional trust administration, why governing authority is often found in real estate statutes and case law (and not in the state’s general trust code), and how independent trustees can preserve beneficiary anonymity while allowing clients to retain practical control through beneficiary directions. It will also cover common implementation mistakes—especially trustee selection and liability exposure—and how to structure land trust arrangements to avoid title problems, unwanted litigation, and professional responsibility issues.

Learning Objectives

• Distinguish land trusts from traditional personal trusts and identify the primary legal authorities that govern them in most states
• Compare land trusts to limited liability companies and revocable trusts for multiparcel ownership, privacy, and probate-avoidance outcomes
• Apply risk-management best practices for trustee selection and drafting to reduce liability, title issues, and ethics traps