Fund News

The Fund’s Underwriting department receives many inquiries from Fund Members seeking assistance with clearing trust requirements. Trusts can be complicated and often contain unrecorded terms and conditions that affect ownership of the real property interests held in trust. The purpose of this article is to introduce Fund Members to The Fund’s updated commitment clauses dealing with trusts and to explain why they are required and how the requirements can be cleared. With a little practice, Fund Members and their staff members can gain confidence in dealing with trusts.

There are three categories of deeds involving trusts that a Fund Member will regularly encounter — the Sec. 689.07, F.S., “as Trustee” deed; a land trust formed under the Florida Land Trust Act, Sec. 689.071, F.S.; and an express trust, either revocable or irrevocable, made pursuant to the Florida Trust Code, Ch. 736, F.S. The revocable inter-vivos trust, an express trust often used for estate planning purposes and to avoid probate, is by far the most common trust encountered by real estate practitioners.

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05/03/2021

Most people are familiar with decanting wine but do not know that a trust can also be decanted. According to Merriam-Webster.com, the term “decant” is defined as, “to pour out, transfer, or unload as if by pouring.” That is essentially what decanting a trust is. When a trust is decanted, the authorized trustee uses their authority to invade the trust principal to appoint all or some of the assets of the original trust to another trust. The authority of a trustee to decant a trust has been recognized in Florida since 1940. (Phipps v. Palm Beach Trust Co., 196 So. 299 (Fla. 1940)). The power to invade principal in trust or “decant” was later codified in Sec. 736.04117, F.S.

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04/01/2021

Fee simple absolute title is usually described as “the full bundle of sticks.” Often, in a commercial transaction, the seller does not have the full bundle of sticks to convey. Typically, at least one tenant has the stick of possession via a lease. A purchaser or lender typically requires estoppel letters from every tenant and the landlord in order to determine the status of their rights and obligations under existing leases.

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03/01/2021

This article covers both Florida and federal cases involving homestead, Florida’s “legal chameleon,” for 2020. This article provides a brief overview of the homestead provisions of the Florida Constitution and a discussion of the relevant case law from 2020.  Read the article.

02/01/2021

By Michael Rothman, Esq., The Fund’s Legal Education Manager 

Every real estate professional involved in a transaction with an out-of-town seller can relate to the dread of opening a FedEx envelope supposedly containing the fully executed deed, only to find that the seller signed in the wrong place, there are no witnesses, and the notary’s commission expired last month. Or, of the seller traveling abroad who missed her appointment at the local embassy, only to be told that the next available appointment won’t be for three weeks. Thankfully, with the advent of RON, the stressful days of “mailaway closings” may soon be a thing of the past.

12/05/2019

Listen as Melissa Jay Murphy talks with TitleTap's Dean Collura about how attorney title agents can market more effectively and easily.

07/26/2019

Meaningful content is key when leveraging online marketing.  To add to your content stack we are going to share three topic ideas to use on social media to help drive direct consumer business to your title insurance practice.  A lot of marketing in the title industry has been historically focused on real estate agents and lenders – and rightfully so.

06/19/2018

It’s 2018 and the big question is what are you doing to help market your title insurance practice in a meaningful way? 

If you are still thinking about that answer, we’d like to share seven tips to help you jump start your plan or enhance the one you have!

05/23/2018

If you are beginning to develop an online presence or exploring ways to freshen things up, your website is a great place to start.  Your website is one channel that most of your customers will likely tune in to and will serve as a landing spot for any other online marketing you may do through social media, email, video, etc.    

So where is a good place to start? 

In collaboration with TitleTap, we have compiled a short list of tips below to get things moving in the right direction.

04/18/2018

Title Insurance Through Lawyers (TITL) is your voice in the political arena of Tallahassee, and this election season all 160 legislative seats between the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives will be on the ballot! This typically only happens once every 10 years, so now is the perfect opportunity for TITL to make a difference by educating and building strong relationships with Florida’s legislators, and we can’t do it without you!

04/15/2016