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Legal Structures & Asset Protection

Illinois-Style Land Trust (Anonymous RE Ownership)

Property title held by trustee for anonymous beneficiary — public records show only the trust name.

Overview

Land trust structure: trustee (attorney, title company, or LLC) holds legal title on public record; beneficial owner named only in private trust agreement. Public records searches (lawsuit due diligence) show only the land trust name. Available de jure in IL, FL, IN, VA, ND, HI + de facto everywhere via traditional trust drafting. Also useful for subject-to purchases (avoid due-on-sale clause via Garn-St Germain family trust exception). Combine with WY LLC as beneficiary for double anonymity + charging-order protection.

Best fit
RE investors avoiding deed transfer visibilitySubject-to acquirersAnonymous property portfolios
Estimated impact
Anonymity + streamlined transfers + $2–5K/property setup

Click Generate advisory deep dive for mechanics, IRC citations, a step-by-step execution plan, a worked numeric example on your profile, costs, risks, and this-week actions.

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