Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: Living Trust and home buying
Dear all, I am new to this community, nice to meet everyone.
I plan to buy a house and would like to have the title of the house listed under my living trust and I will be the trustee of my own living trust.
Does anyone know how this works?
Does having the title of my house listed under my living trust prevent someone else from getting a money judgement against me and execute against my property if I get into a lawsuit?
(I have a friend who was sued by someone against her house for a lot of money in some lawsuit she was involved, and her house was under her own name, so I was wondering if I have the title of my house listed under my living trust, does this prevent someone else from getting a money judgement against me and execute against my property if I get into a lawsuit?)
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:33 pm Post subject: RE: does living trust protect from judgment?
Hi May,
Welcome to forums.
As much as I know, the living trust in general helps one avoid probate but it does not protect anyone from lawsuit or judgment. I mean if your creditor files a lawsuit against you for money, you may have to revoke the trust and pay off the creditor.
James has given you sound info. Living trust is very popular these days as it helps you to avoid very expensive probate process but it does not protect you from any judgment.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
If I plan to buy a house and would like to have the title of the house listed under my living trust just for the purpose of avoiding probate, and I will be the trustee of my own living trust. How does this work? Should I set up a living trust first before I buy the house or should I buy the house first and then later on transfer the title of my house to my living trust?
Another question hope someone could help, since a living trust could not protect me from lawsuit or money judgment against my personal property, are there any other ways for asset protection if there is a lawsuit against me for an unexpected reason, i.e., car accident lawsuit like my friend? Does anyone know if Family Limited Partnership and / or Limited Liability Company are good ways to protect my home and other assets?
I think you should buy the house first and then add it to the living trust. Take help to add it to the living trust.
Transferring to LLC will protect you from " lawsuit or money judgment" but is it a mortgaged property? Then you should not transfer the property to the LLC as LLC is altogether a different entity and the lender may file a suit against you under due on sale clause.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
Yes, I will be taking mortgage for buying this house.
Quote:
Then you should not transfer the property to the LLC as LLC is altogether a different entity and the lender may file a suit against you under due on sale clause.
Do you mind to explain this a little bit more since I am a little confused?
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject: RE: buy home and protect with other assets
Hi May,
Do you already have a living trust? If so, then yes, you first buy the property and then transfer the title to the trust.
One way of protecting assets can be transferring property and assets to an LLC. So, if you don't list the home in a trust because it doesn't protect you from lawsuits etc, you can consider setting up an LLC to transfer the house and other assets to the LLC. Now, considering what Larry says:
Quote:
Then you should not transfer the property to the LLC as LLC is altogether a different entity and the lender may file a suit against you under due on sale clause.
Perhaps he means to say that upon transfer of title to your property, the lender may call the loan due as per the conditions stated in the Due on Sale Clause , if any associated with your mortgage.
If there is no mortgage on that property, you can transfer the property to LLC to protect yourself from "lawsuit or money judgment".
But if it is a mortgaged property then it is better not to transfer to LLC because after transferring the property to LLC the property will not remain on your name and that is why the lender may call the loan due on sell and the lender may demand repayment of the outstanding balance your mortgage.
Hope it is clear to you now.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
Since I will have a mortgaged property, and transferring the mortgaged propery to LLC is not a good idea because of the due on sale clause, is there another form of entity that I could transfer my mortgaged property to in order to protect my property and assets from "lawsuit or money judgment"?
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: RE: refinance and then transfer property to LLC
Hi May,
There are chances that you may transfer property to LLC but the lender is likely to ask for a refinance. This is because they don't prefer to remove the due-on-sale clause from the loan doc. By the way, does your loan at all have a due-on-sale clause?
If I set up a LLC first and then use the LLC to purchase a home, is there any difference than using my own name to purchase a home?
Say if I use a LLC to purchase a home, will I still be able to get the same interest rate and term for mortgage just like if I use my own name to purchase a home and get a mortgage?
Also, if I use a LLC to purchase a home, how about mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance, and/or other home related insurance issues, will it be the same as if I use my own name to purchase a home and get those insurances?
Another concern is that if I would like to purchase a home using a pre-setup LLC, do I need to consult specialized agents who can do so or any real estate agent/broker can do so?
As I have said before LLC is altogether a different entity. So you may have to pay a bit higher interest rates. You should have to do mortgage insurance, homeowners and others even if you set up a LLC.
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:17 am Post subject: RE: llc to purchase home?
Hi May,
I don't think you can use an LLC to purchase your home. rather you buy a home and then transfer it to your LLC - that's the usual practice. You may crosscheck with a real estate attorney.
jameshogg
