What Is a Florida Land Trust?

Section 689.071(2) defines a land trust as an express written agreement or arrangement in which title to real property is vested in a trustee by a recorded instrument that gives the trustee the powers described in section 689.073(1). Those powers include the authority to protect, conserve, sell, lease, encumber, manage, and dispose of the property.

The trustee's duties are narrow. They are generally limited to dealing with the property as directed by the beneficiaries or the holder of the power of direction, selling or disposing of the property when the trust ends, and performing delegated ministerial and administrative functions.

Under section 689.071(3), the recorded instrument vests both legal and equitable title in the trustee. Section 689.073(2) provides that people dealing with the trustee are not required to inquire into the beneficiaries or into unrecorded agreements.

The trust agreement can declare the beneficiaries' interests to be personal property. If it does not, section 689.071(6) treats those interests as real property. Under section 689.071(8), beneficiaries are generally not liable for a debt of the land trust solely because they are beneficiaries. A land trust is different from a revocable living trust, and the duties of a Florida trustee under chapter 736 can differ.