We live in the state of IL and my grandparents are going to buy a home for my family. They are currently residents of Florida. The plan is t...

Question

We live in the state of IL and my grandparents are going to buy a home for my family. They are currently residents of Florida. The plan is that when we are able to, in the next 5-7 years, we will purchase the home from them. However, they are in the middle of a personal lawsuit. My questions are:

1-How can they protect the house from being taken in the lawsuit if they lose?

2-Would a trust protect the home?

3-Would a judge take a home with only 10% equity or less?

4-Would financing the home with a Florida bank protect them?

Answer

My suggestion would be to avoid Florida companies and have them immediately resell the home to you on an installment basis. Using a land trust initially may also be helpful. This is very cursory advice and an attorney should review things more specifically. No matter how you look at it, your grandparents are going to have an asset, whether it is limited equity in real estate with rental income or contract payments due them from you. The questions include whether they would discover it easily and whether it would be worth trying to collect from it. Another thought, although I am not very familiar, would be to use an IRA for ownership.

Answer

I would consult with a Florida attorney. There are at a minimum three areas of concern that jump out at me, and likely more more:

1. My understanding of Florida homestead is that they can not exempt it from judgments since it will not be their personal residence. Putting it into a trust makes no difference.

2. Any transaction that attempts to put you in title to the house (installment sale or otherwise) using their money as part of the purchase price could be considered a "fraudulent conveyance" and undone by the courts. Putting the house into a trust could be considered evidence of the intent to hide it.

3. If either of your grandparents wind up needing public assistance within the 5 years after any kind of transfer that amounts to a gift, the State could come in and undo it too.

Hope this is enough to motivate you to see a real estate/estate planning attorney.