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Property trust for the poors

tea&jam

Master of none
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 27, 2014
93
143
Idaho
See my email exchange with a lawyer below. My question for you guys: in what ways is he right, and related, in what ways am I looking at this wrong?

A little more context: never worked with this lawyer before, he was casually recommended to me by my boss. I'm in my 30s, a poors, never bought property before. Good head on my shoulders, but admittedly not savvy about real estate or finance. Thanks for reading

###

Dave,
Mike gave me your contact, said you might be able to point me in the right direction.
I am buying some land and am considering putting it in a trust. After doing a little reading, these are some thing I think I am looking for:

-Asset protection
-Privacy
-Self-settled
-Irrevocable trust

I'm on a budget, don't know if anything like this can be done for around $2000.
Thanks,
tea&jam


--------

tea&jam

Thanks for your email. Preliminarily, my rate is $375 an hour. And as part of that, I would need to have an exploratory meeting with you to determine your reasoning for an irrevocable trust. You may have a good one, but I will need to tell you the up and downsides of that type of trust, as well. You may also want to be thinking of who may be a good trustee of that trust, because if you are doing it for asset protection, you will need an independent, unrelated trustee.

If it is a one asset trust, I can most likely do it for about $2,000, but cannot guarantee that if there is more work than expected involved.
Let me know if there is a good time next week to meet for you.

Thanks again.
Dave

--------

Thanks Dave,

Is 4:30 too late? Monday or Tuesday are best for me.

So we can have an efficient exploratory meeting, these are some things I would like to cover:

-Exhaust other possibilities to create the privacy and asset protection I am interested in
-Clarify the duties of the trustee, and the yearly maintenance the trust would require
-Clarify how a trust would work if there is a contract for deed or mortgage; can a trust "buy" land?
-Review if Idaho is a "friendly" state for irrevocable asset protection trusts, and if not, list some alternatives
-Look at an example document of an irrevocable trust

I can elaborate on my thoughts some, so we can hopefully stay under an hour.

Given that:
-It's harder and harder to have privacy,
-I do not plan on having a family or getting married,
-I believe our healthcare system is pretty much broken,
-I see a trend with the government becoming more authoritarian,
$2,000 seems like a reasonable amount to have peace of mind and insulate myself from institutions that I do not think have my best interests in mind.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or thoughts,

Thanks,

tea&jam

---------


tea&jam

I am sorry, but based on your input and desires, I do not think I can help you on this. To be honest, I think you are going to be disappointed with the result, because I really think that you are not going to be able to achieve the level of asset protection and privacy you are seeking.

I wish you the best.

Dave
 
Get an opinion from a different lawyer(s). I get that you are trying to do that here, in a roundabout way, but that lawyer may just not feel confident he can help you to the degree you are needing. You didn’t say what type of lawyer he was. Find one that specializes in what you need (again, not sure if that’s the case here). My parents just put their property in a trust for us so I can see if I can dig that up when I have the time to see the language used.
 
Find a new lawyer, ask for consult. Don’t sed the list as you did, it makes you look “unreasonable” to the extent that the attorney pretty much needs to tell you ”that’s not how it works” to pretty much each point. It’s like talking to a doctor when you’ve done all of the internet research and have all kinds of questions and all the wrong context. I’m not saying don’t do internet research or educate yourself as best you can. I’m saying that people don’t much like being on the other side of it. It’s being a PITA client.

to your questions, and I am not a lawyer,

the big issue is irrevocable vs revocable, you get a lot of protection, eg anonymity of beneficiaries and protection from creditors, but you are not in control. trustee selection is critical.

trust and property, a trust can hold pretty much anything. If you donate cash to trust, it can buy property. or, you can donate property. If there are transfer taxes, might be better to donate cash to trust and have it buy property.

if “privacy” is your concern, buying the property in an LLC might satisfy your needs.

suggest you reach out to several attorneys in the state, preferably in the county where the property is. Tell them you are concerned about privacy and ask for a consult. No need to go into details.
 
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See my email exchange with a lawyer below. My question for you guys: in what ways is he right, and related, in what ways am I looking at this wrong?

A little more context: never worked with this lawyer before, he was casually recommended to me by my boss. I'm in my 30s, a poors, never bought property before. Good head on my shoulders, but admittedly not savvy about real estate or finance. Thanks for reading

###

Dave,
Mike gave me your contact, said you might be able to point me in the right direction.
I am buying some land and am considering putting it in a trust. After doing a little reading, these are some thing I think I am looking for:

-Asset protection
-Privacy
-Self-settled
-Irrevocable trust

I'm on a budget, don't know if anything like this can be done for around $2000.
Thanks,
tea&jam


--------

tea&jam

Thanks for your email. Preliminarily, my rate is $375 an hour. And as part of that, I would need to have an exploratory meeting with you to determine your reasoning for an irrevocable trust. You may have a good one, but I will need to tell you the up and downsides of that type of trust, as well. You may also want to be thinking of who may be a good trustee of that trust, because if you are doing it for asset protection, you will need an independent, unrelated trustee.

If it is a one asset trust, I can most likely do it for about $2,000, but cannot guarantee that if there is more work than expected involved.
Let me know if there is a good time next week to meet for you.

Thanks again.
Dave

--------

Thanks Dave,

Is 4:30 too late? Monday or Tuesday are best for me.

So we can have an efficient exploratory meeting, these are some things I would like to cover:

-Exhaust other possibilities to create the privacy and asset protection I am interested in
-Clarify the duties of the trustee, and the yearly maintenance the trust would require
-Clarify how a trust would work if there is a contract for deed or mortgage; can a trust "buy" land?
-Review if Idaho is a "friendly" state for irrevocable asset protection trusts, and if not, list some alternatives
-Look at an example document of an irrevocable trust


I can elaborate on my thoughts some, so we can hopefully stay under an hour.

Given that:
-It's harder and harder to have privacy,
-I do not plan on having a family or getting married,
-I believe our healthcare system is pretty much broken,
-I see a trend with the government becoming more authoritarian,
$2,000 seems like a reasonable amount to have peace of mind and insulate myself from institutions that I do not think have my best interests in mind.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or thoughts,

Thanks,

tea&jam

---------


tea&jam

I am sorry, but based on your input and desires, I do not think I can help you on this. To be honest, I think you are going to be disappointed with the result, because I really think that you are not going to be able to achieve the level of asset protection and privacy you are seeking.

I wish you the best.

Dave
If he turned down money, he's not a lawyer, LOL.

sounds like he shot straight with you, I'd get another opinion, and doo a lot of reading on my own.
 
I turned 60 last year and after years of procrastination finally set up my estate.

Started with a family member that has a legal practice specializing in estate planning. According to him, mine was considered a large estate.

i felt pressure that his firm wanted to be the trustees, a lot of pressure to consult with his hand picked financial advisors, and after a 45 minute visit without them listening to anything I said, I was quoted $9,000 for his fee. Oh, he wanted a decision right now.

Went to another attorney that a friend recommended and it was completely different. She prepared the trust, the wills, healthcare POA,s, financial POA’s for both me and the wife. $1,500 + title and deed transfers.

keep in mind that in most cases the attorney is going to have their secretary just fill in the blanks on some online form with your information. It is not a start from scratch proposition.

I did not include my firearm collection in the trust . There may be benefits of direct willing them.

Also, and this is one of my pet peeves, I have difficulties paying a financial advisor or estate attorney to advise me for early secure retirement when they are still working in their late 60’s and into their 70’s.
 
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Am going through this right now. I'm in CA so things are often a bit more expensive here. With attorney and notary fees and county fees for titles, I'm just under $3k so far.
 
Your second email put you into "tinfoil hat" area for the lawyer. There are much easier victims out there for them to deal with.

I've looked into these topics only lightly, but the irrevocable trust... That person has full control of the assets. You no longer own them. They can kick you out, sell it and keep the money.. you think a divorce can be destructive? I can think of only 1 person I may try that with, but if they went through a divorce, not sure how that ends up. With your second email about completely corrupt government, how would you deal with a trust company that fucks you over in 10 years? You legally signed away all rights to the property.
 
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Privacy is almost impossible.

I get calls all the time from some cell tower folks wanting to rent mom’s land. Despite it being in a trust. And I’m still trying to figure the trust out myself.

the Thing you have to be aware of is the quit claim deed tat will be filed upon death. That’s how people find out about property
 
Am going through this right now. I'm in CA so things are often a bit more expensive here. With attorney and notary fees and county fees for titles, I'm just under $3k so far.
Can you go into any more detail about your process? Thanks in advance

I didn't consider the what-if of the trustee going through a divorce, another thing to read about
 
My response would be as exactly shown below.

tea&jam

Thanks for your email. Preliminarily, my rate is $375 an hour

Well, I for one, am certainly glad you stated your self centered priorities first and got it out of the way.
Oh, BTW, was that a yes, or a no, answer ?
It seems your stance is an emulation of a certain Mayorkas of Homeland security and falls under the guise of an intelligent reply.
Guise being the keyword there.