Putting Apartments into Trusts

the personal tax benefits will be lost inasmuch as the trust will be the new title holder and beneficiary of all income and expenses. remember with a trust the law requires a "arms length" trustee so that you will not run into conflict of interest issues later on. contat me @ rmaletta@nyc.rr.com for attorneys who can assist you in moving forward.

go see a T&E attorney and don't ask strangers on the internet for legal advice...

I agree with Cpalms but would also add that you should speak to your board or managing agent to make sure they'd allow it anyway.

Thank you for the responses. I appreciate it.

I am doing all the homework that I can prior to going to a legal representation to ensure I know a bit of what they can potentially tell me, I don't really find harm in that.

You didn't mention whether these were co-ops or condos, but be aware that not every co-op will allow this. The ones that will often will require you to sign an occupancy agreement that says something like "John, Jane, and Mary" will be the only occupants of the apartment -- just to make sure you don't run the place like a hotel.

Also, this sounds like it's an estate planning issue, which I'm not that familiar with, so I agree with the poster above that you should consult an estates lawyer. Generally my clients who want to use trusts do so because of privacy issues, which doesn't really work if you already have title to the apartment (tax records will show a transfer between the existing owners -- let's call them "John and Jane Doe" to the trust).

ali r.
DG Neary Realty