“How do I sell my real estate in a trust?”

It’s a question we get here at least once a week.

So I thought I’d talk about it here.

And, thankfully, it’s actually a pretty easy process.

In fact, selling property in a trust is pretty much EXACTLY like selling a property in your individual name.

There are only two minor differences that I’m going to talk about right now.

The first difference from a normal transaction is your role in the process.

When you are buying and selling real estate in your own name, you are acting on behalf of you.

When you are buying and selling real estate in your trust, you are acting on behalf of the trust, as the Trustee.

What this means is, all paperwork you sign is going to refer to you as the Trustee of your trust.

The second difference is where the proceeds go when the sale closes.

Normally the money from the sale just goes into your bank account.

But when you’re selling from your trust, the proceeds will be paid out to the trust.

This requires a bank account with the trust as an owner.

The way to do this is pretty straightforward – you just pick the account you want the proceeds to go into and add your trust on as a joint account holder.

The funds get paid out into your “trust account” and you can do whatever you want with them.

That’s it.

Easy peasy.

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Christopher Small
CMS Law Firm LLC

PS – don’t keep this estate planning stuff to yourself – you know it’s important and we LOVE referrals!