Who this lane is for
- Trustees selling South Florida property held in a revocable living trust or land trust
- Successor trustees — the parent who created the trust has passed, and the succession chain now has to be proven of record
- Listing agents taking a trust listing who want the one document that prevents most trust-sale delays requested on day one
- Trustees who live out of state or abroad — certifications travel by secure delivery, and signings happen by RON or coordinated mail-away
How the lane runs
- Step 1 — Request the certification of trust the day the lane opens: Florida's certification-of-trust statute lets a concise attorney-prepared certificate stand in for the private trust document — it's the single document that prevents 90% of trust-sale delays
- Step 2 — Establish the proof points the closing must show: the trust exists and hasn't been revoked or restated out from under the deed; the signer is the current trustee (including the successor chain); the power of sale is shown; all required co-trustees are signing; and the trust's name on the deed matches reality
- Step 3 — Assemble succession paper early: death certificates, resignations, and acceptance documents for successor trustees — gathered at opening, not discovered at the table
- Step 4 — Route drafting to counsel: when something's missing — a certification to prepare, a successor-trustee affidavit, or the classic unfunded trust where the property was never deeded in — that is legal work the law firm drafts under separate engagement (trusts are the firm's home turf), or any attorney you choose
- Step 5 — Paper the money correctly: proceeds are disbursed to the trust, not to beneficiaries directly, unless the trustee properly directs otherwise — and structures that change the tax analysis (irrevocable trusts, foreign settlors, post-death sales) get flagged for your tax professional
Start here
Run the Probate & Trust Estimator for the net sheet and the curative-risk checklist, or order title and flag the trust in your order so the certification request goes out with the file opening.
Trustee-duty questions — consents, contentious beneficiaries, court instruction — are legal advice territory: the law firm can counsel the trustee under a separate engagement, at fees the firm determines.