Buying property from a trust?

[Brian Cam]

Hey BP Family,

I am hoping that someone can help me answer this question.  Is it possible to buy a property from a Irrevocable/revocable trust?  I see properties all the time that are held in these trusts, and I pass them by. 

Can I buy from them?  And if yes, who should I speak to? Who has the power to sell?

Thanks everyone!

[Jeremy Pace]

@Peter Mckernan 

@Brian Cam

The person who you will most likely deal with is the Trustee.  That is the person who is named in the public trust documentation.  The beneficiary of the trust is not listed on the public documents.  The point of using a land trust in real estate is for the beneficiary to remain unknown/anonymous for as long as possible.

You can ask the trustee for verification that they are in fact authorized to sell the property held in trust (it's not always the case that they are, you should check).  Title insurance should also reveal if the trustee has this ability.

To clarify, if a trust names someone who is deceased as a beneficiary, the trust would then name someone else, or would name their estate (the reasons behind forming trusts in the first place would seem to indicate that it would be another person, since their are tax benefits and probate avoidance).  This will be of little concern to you, the buyer.

One last note, the trustee has no legal obligation to reveal to anyone who the beneficiary of a trust is.  This kind of revelation requires legal action.  So if a trustee does tell you who the beneficiary is, I would inform the beneficiary, and then not buy the property.