The applicant must furnish this office with a copy of the trust agreement. Florida law specifies those situations under which the resident may obtain homestead exemption. The Florida Constitution requires that the homestead claimant have legal title or beneficial title in equity to the property.

A Property Trust is where the joint ownership (joint tenancy) is severed to (usually) equal shares to preserve assets from such situations as the survivor remarrying, providing for children or other beneficiaries from a previous marriage or to limit residential care costs.

The property is available for the exclusive use of the buyer/beneficiary who has all of the benefits of a direct owner, including the ability to lease, build, remodel, make repairs, or transfer his/her rights to the property to a third party or a pre-appointed heir.

Your Living Trust can hold a variety of property, including bank accounts, life insurance, copyrights, stocks and bonds, personal items, and real estate you now hold either individually or jointly with someone else. You designate as your Beneficiaries, those you want to receive this property when you die. Your property will be listed on a Schedule, which is included with the Living Trust.

If you die without a will or trust, the state determines who will be your ultimate heirs. This distribution plan can be found in the intestacy statute of each state. The applicable state can be either the location of your legal residence (for personal property), or the state in which your assets are located (for real estate).

A trust may own all types of property, real or personal, anything that has value. This means there is no limit as to what a trust may own, it is only limited by what is conveyed to it, and what it purchases.

The trust documents must be reviewed and approved. A living or revocable trust will usually be accepted. However, an irrevocable trust may not be acceptable. The key is to have the trust documents reviewed at the outset.

Yes. If you have an individual trust you can transfer property without getting anyone's consent. If you have a shared trust, you should get your co-trustee's consent when transferring jointly-owned property.

You have a lot of options. A Trust can hold securities, such as common stock and mutual funds. You can also place certain real estate and other types of property into a Trust. Your attorney or other advisor can guide you in selecting property that is appropriate in your situation.

Making a living trust work for you does require some important paperwork. For example, if you want to leave your house through the trust, you must sign a new deed, showing that you now own the house as trustee of your living trust. And in a few states, you may need to use special language in your trust document to avoid problems in your state's income tax laws. This paperwork can be tedious, but the hassles are fewer these days because living trusts have become quite common.

Yes, your children can remain on the title if they are age 62 or older and live in the property. Otherwise, they will need to be taken off title prior to closing. You should speak with an attorney on how best to structure a will or trust to leave your assets to your heirs.

Not necessarily. Property and accounts that you own jointly with rights of survivorship do not get transferred into your Trust. Likewise, any account or policy that lets you name a beneficiary to inherit the proceeds upon your death do not get transferred into your Trust. Property owned jointly with rights of survivorship and accounts and policies that have a named beneficiary pass to the joint owner and/or beneficiary automatically upon your death and outside of probate.

Absolutely not! You keep full control over your property. You can do everything you did before - buy and sell property, make changes, even cancel your trust at any time (remember, it's revocable). Nothing changes but the names of the assets.

The ownership of property is split when it is placed in trust: the trustee is the legal owner; the beneficiary is the beneficial owner. However, for STAR purposes, the trust beneficiary is treated as the owner. Thus, if senior citizens create a trust and convey their home to their children as trustees, and the seniors remain in the home as the beneficiaries of the trust, then, for STAR purposes, the owners of the home are the seniors, not their children.

No, the only way a foreigner can own property in Mexico without a bank trust is to become a Mexican citizen or to have a corporation.

Absolutely. While you are alive and mentally competent, you have total control over your property. You can buy, sell, improve, spend, change investments, or give away property just as you would without a trust. The trust can be modified in any way you desire or it can be completely revoked. Upon your death, the trust becomes irrevocable so that no one can change your testamentary wishes.