How to Create a Land Trust

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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Land trusts are useful entities for people wishing to hide their ownership of land, for those who wish for a parcel of land to be used only for a certain purpose or for large companies wishing to hide their intentions of buying up large tracts of land. Whatever your reason, setting up a land trust is relatively simple. Here's how.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Decide on the board of directors, these people are called the trustees. They are they people who are entrusted with making sure that the land is used in the manner the creator of the trust lays out in the mission statement.
Step 2

Create a mission statement. This is a document that lays out the purpose of the trust and the specific uses that the creator of the trust intends for the land.
Step 3

Apply to the IRS for non-profit status, while the trust may benefit people financially and even pay the trustees, the entity itself may not keep the money it earns.
Step 4

File a creation of trust writ with your local land or assayer's office. This will make the trust official.

Tips & Warnings

Property sale prices may be kept confidential in a land trust.
Property taxes are often lower if the purchase price is kept private.
IRS liens against a person are not liens on any property they have held in trust.
Lands held in trust are not subject to inheritance tax, so you can pass on real-estate to your heirs free and clear by placing it in a trust.

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