How to Sell Land Owned by a Trust or LLC

A currently acting trustee normally signs for land held in the trust. Florida law lets a trustee exercise powers granted by the trust and, unless the trust limits them, powers over trust property that an unmarried competent owner has over individually owned property.^[1] That rule does not make every person connected to the trust a signer. A beneficiary, settlor, former trustee, or family member should not sign only because that person benefits from the trust or understands the owner's wishes. The trust terms, amendments, resignations, deaths, and successor provisions identify who is serving and what that trustee may do.^[2]

More than one trustee does not automatically answer how many must sign. Florida's certification-of-trust law requires the certification to state cotrustees' authority and whether all or fewer than all must act.^[2] It also requires disclosure of any powers of direction, the current trust directors, the trustee powers subject to direction, and whether the directors authorized or directed the proposed transaction.^[2] Give the title company the records early. If trustees disagree, a successor appointment is disputed, or the trust limits a sale, get a Florida attorney involved before signing a contract.^[1]

The useful starting package is the recorded deed, the signed trust and amendments, and any resignation, death certificate, acceptance, or appointment that explains the current trustee. Florida also permits a trustee to give a certification of trust instead of handing a nonbeneficiary the complete trust. The certification can identify the trust, settlor, acting trustee, trustee powers, revocable status, cotrustee signing rule, and the way title is held. It must also state that no revocation or change makes its representations incorrect.^[2] This can prove authority without disclosing the trust's distribution terms.

A certification is not a shortcut for an incomplete history. The recipient may require excerpts from the original trust and amendments that name the trustee or grant the power needed for the pending transaction.^[2] The title company may also need proof that a prior trustee died, resigned, or became unable to serve, plus an acceptance by the successor. Send complete, legible documents rather than a signature page or an unsigned summary. If the deed names a trust differently from the trust papers, or no document clearly establishes the current trustee, a Florida real-estate or trust attorney should identify the cure.

First determine whether the Florida LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. Florida treats an LLC as member-managed unless its operating agreement or articles say it is manager-managed in the manner the statute recognizes.^[3] In a member-managed company, management is vested in the members. In a manager-managed company, company matters are decided by the manager or managers. A person listed as a member therefore is not automatically the right signer for a manager-managed LLC, and a manager's title should be matched to the governing records before closing.^[4]

Florida's agency rule says a member of a member-managed LLC or a manager of a manager-managed LLC may sign an instrument affecting company real estate unless a certified statement of authority recorded in the real-estate records limits that authority. The statute also protects a value-giver without knowledge of a lack of authority in the circumstances it describes.^[4] That protection is not a reason to ignore an operating agreement, a known dispute, or required internal approval. The title company may ask for a written member or manager consent authorizing the sale and naming the person who will sign.^[3]

Give the title company the deed into the LLC, current articles and amendments, operating agreement and amendments, current member and manager information, and the company's written approval of the sale. Florida law requires an LLC to keep a current list of members and managers, its effective written operating agreement and amendments, and filed organizational documents among its company records.^[5] A public filing can help confirm the entity name and people shown in state records, but the complete authority answer may also depend on private company records and later votes.^[6]

Check for a filed or recorded statement of authority as well. Florida permits such a statement to grant or limit the authority of a position or named person to transfer company real estate. A certified copy granting real-property authority can have conclusive effect for a value-giver who relies without contrary knowledge when it is recorded in the county real-estate records, subject to statutory limits.^[6] A later cancellation, denial, dissolution filing, or recorded restriction can change the result. Let the closing title company search the county and state records instead of relying on an old resolution or a person's business card.^[5]

Do not assume that a dissolved LLC's land automatically belongs to its members. Florida law says dissolution does not transfer title to the LLC's assets.^[8] A dissolved LLC continues for winding up, and during that process it may transfer title to company real estate and dispose of property that will not be distributed in kind.^[11] The deed remains in the company's name until an authorized conveyance or another legally valid transfer changes title. The title company and Florida counsel should decide whether the proposed sale is part of winding up or needs a different status cure.^[7]

A Florida LLC that was administratively dissolved may apply for reinstatement at any time after the effective date of dissolution. When reinstatement becomes effective, it relates back to the dissolution date and lets the company resume its activities as if the administrative dissolution had not occurred, while preserving specified third-party rights.^[7] Reinstatement is one possible cure, not an automatic requirement or a guarantee of insurable title. Old names, missing managers, deceased members, company obligations, or competing ownership claims can require additional work.^[8][11]

An authorized signer usually does not need to travel to Florida. Florida allows an acknowledgment for a real-property instrument to be taken outside Florida but within the United States by specified officials, including a notary public of another state who meets the statute's certificate requirements.^[9] The title company can send a deed and related papers for a mail-away closing and provide exact signing, witnessing, notarization, and return instructions. Follow that package exactly; a correct signature in the wrong capacity or a defective acknowledgment can delay recording.^[10]

Approved remote online notarization may also work. A Florida online notary physically located in Florida may perform a compliant online notarization even when the signer or witnesses are elsewhere. The process requires live audio-video communication and statutory identity checks, and an out-of-state signer must confirm consent to a Florida notarial act.^[10] Availability still depends on the document, signer location, title company, underwriter, and technology, so obtain the closing instructions before choosing a signing method.^[9]

Send the authority package when the closing file opens, not after the deed is prepared. The title company can verify vesting, search recorded limits, identify the signature block, and state what proof its underwriter requires. Parcel Buyers buys vacant lots and land in Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado. It checks title, access, and utilities before offering; purchases use an independent, licensed title company and typically close about ten days after a signed purchase agreement, depending on title. An authority gap can extend that timeline.

This page provides general information, not legal or tax advice. Ask a Florida attorney to review the file when title, successor-trustee status, company ownership, internal approval, a court order, or signing rights are unclear. Ask a CPA about basis, gain, entity reporting, trust reporting, or distributions tied to your facts. A title company can set closing requirements and prepare the insured transaction, but it does not replace your own lawyer in a dispute or your CPA on tax treatment.