Land held in trust

Swampster

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Oct 14, 2000
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938
Location
Huron, TN, USA
If you moved your farm into a trust arrangement, would you no longer qualify for landowner exemption? From a legal structure, you would technically no longer be the land owner even though you were the beneficiary of the trust. I've considered moving my farm into a trust for liability risk management, but never thought about this side of it.
 

TAFKAP

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Nov 6, 2009
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15,997
Location
Memphis
If you're hunting with no license, wearing no orange, citing the landowner exemption, you're supposed to carry a written declaration to clarify your position if asked. "My name is XXXXXXX, and I'm the registered owner of this here property, thereby exempting me from a license and orange requirements".


If I had wrapped up my land into a trust and was no longer the titled landowner, my statement would read "This land is registered to the XXXX Trust, of which i'm a legal trustee. As such, I'm exempting myself from the licensing and orange requirements"


But then again, if I've had the means and foresight to wrap up my land holdings into a legal trust, I think I'm buying a $170 license for the year. Still cheaper than the ticket, or the lawyer you pay to fight the ticket, or the (minimal) risk of having the GW confiscate your stuff
 

Steverino

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Joined
Jul 1, 2013
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4,276
Location
Giles Co
It might depend on the Revocable or Irrevocable type of Trust. The Irrevocable Trust surrenders control of the trust to a third party hence providing a firewall to places like nursing homes taking your property. The Revocable gives the trustees control over the properties and money and allows changes to be made at will without consulting a third party. Its primary purpose is to keep the estate out of probate. I would think the one with the active third party would be a problem for the landowner more so than the Revocable Trust.

''In Tennessee, state wildlife laws require hunters and trappers to obtain permission from landowners to hunt or trap on private property. In fact, it is advisable to get written permission to hunt and is required to trap. With the passage of TCA 70-4-106 in 1990, a "Hunting By Written Permission" law went into effect. Simply, the law states that if private land has been properly posted by the owner with signs that include his or her name and address plus the wording "HUNTING BY WRITTEN PERMISSION ONLY," a hunter or trapper must carry the owner's written permission. (Downloadable Form). If a hunter or trapper is found without that written permission, that hunter or trapper is subject to prosecution.""

Since the landowner is the trustee ie controller administrator of the revocable trust, for him or her to grant permission to the trustee is rather redundant as you are granting yourself written permission. Following this - the Irrevocable Trust would require the former landowner to get written permission from the third party administrator.

I'm not a lawyer and you may want to check this out - but I do have a legal revocable trust on my assets including land properties. This is my opinion on how that all might play out based on what I know.
 

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