Putting Your Rental LLCs Into a Georgia Trust

Your rental sits two layers down. The property belongs to the LLC, and the LLC belongs to you. So the thing that moves into your trust is the LLC, not the house. You assign the membership interest. You do not deed the rental itself.

By Melissa Breyer, Esq. 6 min read

Find Out Where You Stand

Your rental sits two layers down, so the thing that moves into your trust is the LLC, not the house. Most Georgia investors we meet have the pieces. They have a trust. They have an LLC for each rental. What they do not have is the paper that joins the two.

That gap is easy to miss because nothing looks wrong. Rent still comes in. The LLC still owns the house. But the LLC interest is still in your own name, and that is the part that goes to probate.

If you own four rentals in four LLCs, this is four separate jobs, not one.

Your Rentals Sit Two Layers Down

There are two layers here, and only one of them moves. The bottom layer is the property, and the LLC owns it. The top layer is your stake in the LLC. That top layer is what goes into the trust. You sign an assignment of membership interest, and the trust becomes the owner of your stake. The deed to the rental does not change at all.

People get this backwards and deed the rental straight into the trust. That undoes the reason the LLC was there. The house leaves the LLC, and the wall between that property and your other ones goes with it.

The assignment document itself works the same way for any Georgia LLC. How to transfer an LLC into a trust in Georgia walks through what that document says and how it gets signed.

One LLC Means One Assignment

There is no group form for this. Each LLC is its own company, so each one needs its own assignment. Four LLCs means four assignments and four operating agreement updates. The one you skip is the one that goes to probate, and your family will not find out until they try to sell that house.

A Property in Your Own Name Needs a Deed

Many portfolios are mixed. Some houses sit in an LLC and some are still in your own name. The ones in your own name do not move by assignment. They need a new deed. O.C.G.A. § 53-12-25(a) says a transfer in trust requires legal title to pass to the trustee. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-5-30 you sign the deed, an officer such as a notary attests it, and one more witness attests it. O.C.G.A. § 44-2-1 sends it to the clerk of superior court in the county where the land sits.

Georgia charges no transfer tax on a deed to a trustee when nothing of value changes hands. That rule is O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a)(9). The recording fee still applies. It is a flat $25 per deed under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77(f)(1)(A)(i).

The full order for moving assets in is set out in how to fund a trust in Georgia.

Your Mortgage Is a Separate Question

Federal law lists the transfers a lender cannot call a loan over. The list names a transfer to your spouse or children. It also names a transfer into your own trust, where you stay a beneficiary. It does not name a move into an LLC. So if you already moved a mortgaged rental into an LLC, that step was never on the protected list.

This is worth a call to the lender before you move anything else. Ask what your loan says about a change of owner. Most investors never ask, and the answer is cheap to get.

Update Every Operating Agreement

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-502 says your LLC stake can be handed over unless your own documents block it. Read the operating agreement first. Then note what the assignment does and does not do. It moves the money side of the stake. Voting is separate, and under O.C.G.A. § 14-11-503 the other members normally all have to agree before the trust votes.

For a one member LLC there is nobody else to ask. Even then the operating agreement should name the trust as the member and say the trustee can act. A bank or a title company will read it when the LLC sells a house.

Check That Each One Landed

Georgia does not put your trust on any public filing for the LLC, so there is nothing to look up online. The proof is your own paperwork. For each LLC you should hold a signed assignment and an amended operating agreement naming the trust. Go through them one company at a time. A folder with three of four is the same as three of four.

If you want someone to check what a trust already owns, a trust package review at The Hive Law is $1,050, flat fee. Melissa Breyer reads the documents and tells you which assets made it in.

Funding is one piece of a Georgia plan. See the estate planning guide for how the will and the trust fit together.

Your first call is free, about 15 minutes, and happens by phone with Shawn. If you move forward, your next step is the Design Meeting with Melissa, which is credited toward your plan.

$0 State Filing Fee for the Assignment The assignment itself costs nothing to file with the state.
9 to 18 Months Probate Timeline If the LLC Interest Is Never Assigned That is how long your family waits if the LLC stake never moved into the trust.
One Per LLC What Each Company Needs Each company needs its own signed assignment. Four rentals in four LLCs means four of them.

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Melissa Breyer

Melissa Breyer

Georgia Estate Planning Attorney

Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Each LLC needs its own assignment. There is no group form that covers several companies at once. Four rentals in four LLCs means four assignments and four operating agreement updates. The one you skip stays in your own name, and that one goes to probate.

Deeding the rental into the trust is usually the wrong move when an LLC already owns it. The deed would pull the house out of the LLC. That removes the wall between this property and the rest of your portfolio. Assigning the LLC stake keeps the wall up and still avoids probate.

Federal law lists the transfers a lender cannot call a loan over. A move into an LLC is not on that list. A transfer into your own trust is on it, as long as you stay a beneficiary. Ask your lender what your loan says before you move anything.

An LLC stake left in your own name goes through Georgia probate when you die. The LLC keeps owning the house, so the property is fine. The problem is that nobody has authority to act as the member. No one can sign a lease, hire a manager, or sell.

Tenants and property managers do not need to be told. The LLC still owns the house and is still the landlord on the lease. Leases, vendor contracts, and management agreements all stay in place. What changes is who owns the LLC, not who owns the house.

Georgia does not put your trust on any public filing for the LLC. The proof lives in your own records. For each company, keep a signed assignment. Also keep an operating agreement that names the trust as the member.

A mixed portfolio takes two different steps. The LLC stakes move by assignment. The houses in your own name move by a new deed, signed and witnessed and filed with the county. Both have to happen, and it is common to finish one and forget the other.

Assigning the LLC to a revocable trust does not change your taxes. The IRS still ignores a one member LLC owned by your own trust. Your Social Security number stays on the return. You report rent the same way.

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