The Five Ways to Hold Rental Property in Georgia
Georgia rental property investors have five options for how they title and own their properties. The right choice depends on what you are trying to protect against — and most investors are trying to protect against more than one thing at once.
The five structures are: personal name, joint tenancy, beneficiary deed, LLC without a trust, and LLC paired with a revocable living trust. Each is covered below with its specific benefits and failure points.
For a full overview of how these structures connect to your broader estate plan, see Estate Planning for Real Estate Investors.
Holding Rental Property in Your Personal Name
Holding rental property in your personal name means a tenant lawsuit against the property is also a lawsuit against you personally — your bank accounts, other properties, and personal assets are all reachable.
When you die, personally titled property goes through Georgia probate. Probate takes 9–18 months and costs an average of $27,300 in attorney fees for a contested estate. Your family cannot sell, refinance, or manage the property while the case is open.
Personal name ownership provides no liability protection, no probate avoidance, and no incapacity coverage. It is the default — and for most investors, it is a mistake. See Risks of Owning Rental Properties in Your Personal Name in Georgia for the full breakdown.
Joint Tenancy for Georgia Rental Property
Joint tenancy avoids probate on the first death — the surviving co-owner inherits automatically. But it fails on the second death, when the surviving owner dies with no joint tenant to inherit, and the property goes through probate anyway.
Joint tenancy also cannot be combined with an LLC, leaves incapacity unaddressed, and exposes non-spouse transfers to gift tax reporting. For a detailed comparison, see Joint Tenancy vs. Trust for Georgia Rental Property.
Beneficiary Deed for Georgia Rental Property
A beneficiary deed transfers rental property at death without probate. It is free to record and easy to set up. But it has five problems that most investors do not see until it is too late.
Beneficiary deeds do not cover incapacity, do not work with an LLC structure, expose the property to Medicaid estate recovery, eliminate the step-up in basis for heirs, and become void if the beneficiary predeceases you. For the full list, see Problems With Beneficiary Deeds for Georgia Rental Properties.
LLC Without a Trust
An LLC protects your rental property from personal liability while you are alive. A judgment against a tenant cannot reach your personal assets. A judgment against you personally cannot (in most cases) reach property inside a properly structured LLC.
But an LLC does nothing for what happens when you die. LLC membership interest passes through your estate — either by will or by intestate succession — which means probate. Your family cannot access or manage the LLC during that process.
The LLC also does not cover incapacity. If you become unable to manage the LLC, someone must petition a Georgia court for conservatorship — a process that takes 3–6 months and costs $3,000–$8,000. For the complete list of failure points, see Problems With Using an LLC Without a Trust for Georgia Rental Properties.
LLC + Revocable Living Trust — The Best Way to Hold Rental Property in Georgia
The correct structure for Georgia rental property investors is the LLC paired with a revocable living trust. The LLC owns the property and provides liability protection. The trust owns the LLC membership interest and provides everything the LLC cannot: probate avoidance, incapacity management, and private distribution to your beneficiaries.
This two-step structure works as follows: you transfer title to the LLC (liability protection layer). You then transfer your membership interest in the LLC to the trust (estate planning layer). The trust names a successor trustee who manages both the trust and the LLC if you die or become incapacitated — without court involvement.
The result: a tenant lawsuit cannot reach you personally. Your estate does not go through probate. Your family can manage or sell the property immediately after your death. And the entire plan stays out of the public court record.
For investors with multiple properties, see One LLC vs. Separate LLC Per Rental Property in Georgia to determine the right LLC structure for your portfolio size.
How to Set Up the LLC + Trust Structure in Georgia
1
Form the LLC and transfer property into it
File Articles of Organization with the Georgia Secretary of State under O.C.G.A. § 14-11-204. Prepare and record a deed transferring the property from your name into the LLC. Update your property insurance to name the LLC as the insured.
2
Create the revocable living trust
The trust names you as trustee, names a successor trustee to take over at death or incapacity, and names your beneficiaries. It becomes the governing document for all assets inside it — including your LLC membership interest.
3
Transfer LLC membership interest to the trust
An assignment of membership interest document transfers your ownership of the LLC from your personal name to the trust. The LLC operating agreement must also be updated to reflect the trust as the member. Both steps are required — the assignment alone is not enough.
4
Update insurance, leases, and bank accounts
Notify your insurance carrier of the trust ownership. Update lease agreements to reflect the LLC as landlord (if not already done). Open a dedicated LLC bank account if you have not already — commingling personal and rental funds can pierce the LLC liability shield.
Choosing the Right Structure for Your Portfolio
If you own one rental property and cannot afford the full LLC + trust setup right now, a revocable living trust alone is better than nothing — it avoids probate and covers incapacity even without the LLC liability layer.
If you own two or more rental properties, the LLC + trust structure is not optional — it is the minimum adequate plan. Each property that sits in your personal name, in joint tenancy, or in an LLC without a trust is one lawsuit or one death away from a serious problem.
For current pricing on setting up this structure in Georgia, see How Much Does Estate Planning Cost for Real Estate Investors in Georgia.
