Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Use of Realty Trusts by developers

1) Yes, the realty trust offers some additional

protection. There are some aspects of tort and some

creditor protection where the extra 'layer' would be

useful.

It also provides anonymity for the "true" owners

of property in public records, and allows for

changes of ownership (percentage shifts or entirely

new ownership) without the expense and 'publicity'

of showing the changes in the public records.

2) There are "forms" that lawyers use, yes, but not ones

meant for lay people. We not only go to law school to

learn the intricacies of property law, transfers, deeds,

etc., we usually attend continuing legal education courses

on title-holding entities before we start adapting boilerplate

forms for realty trusts since many of the choices for

adaptation have potentially major consequences. Furthermore,

there are different forms for each of the several vastly

different kinds of title-holding entities Mass. has. Lastly,

along with the forms for the entity itself (e.g., Trust),

there are forms for changing beneficial ownership, for making

representations about trustee authority, etc.

Attorneys can set up all of these things for you

cheaply enough that you should consider hiring one

and frankly you'd be ill-advised to assume you can

competently edit standard boiler-plate forms for your

own use. I charge as little as $1,000.00 including

deed and recording at the registry for setting up

such a trust for a developer or an occasional home-owner.

(I'm in Newton, just outside of Boston. If you're not

near me, I can probably help you find an inexpensive

real estate attorney nearer to you.)

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.

Newton, MA

02459-2509

[email protected]

or [email protected]

Telephone 617 527-0050.

Good luck. Write to me directly if you have another question.

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.