Selling property held in a trust
The title record shows a trustee as owner; the closing must establish that this trustee, today, has power to sell. Florida practice typically runs on a certification of trust — a concise attorney-prepared summary proving existence, trustee identity, and powers without exposing the full private document. Complications arrive on schedule: the original trustee died or resigned, successor trustees must prove their chain, co-trustees must both sign, or the trust terms require consents.
Our examiners read trust requirements under attorney supervision, and when documents need drafting — certifications, successor-trustee affidavits, or fixes to a trust that never got the property properly deeded in — the law firm can prepare them under separate engagement. Trusts are the firm's home turf.
Buying in trust — coordinate before the contract
Taking title in your revocable trust (or a land trust) is routine when planned: the contract, the lender's requirements, the vesting language, and the policy all have to agree. Lenders vary widely on trust vesting; underwriters have their own certification requirements. Tell us the plan at file opening and the closing simply lands that way — retrofitting it in the final week is where surprises live.
The classic failure: the unfunded trust
A beautifully drafted trust does nothing for a property that was never deeded into it. We see it constantly: the plan says trust, the record says individuals, and the sale (or the estate) faces exactly the probate the trust was built to avoid. The title exam catches it; the law firm can cure it while the owner is alive with a simple deed — or navigate the harder posthumous version if that is where things stand.