Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

Land Trusts

I was sued in superior court last year. The plaintiff was awarded a judgment against me. We were supposed to pay him, but didn't. His lawyer filed a fi fa and I guess a judgment was placed against my home. I know we will have to pay off to get clear title if we sell. My question - Can we put our home in a land trust in which we are the trustee and beneficiaries to protect out property now or should we have done it before the judgment was rendered?

Thank you.


Asked on 1/13/06, 1:37 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Charles W. Field Charles W. Field, Attorney at Law

Re: Land Trusts

At this point, you can't transfer title to anyone, including a trust, to avoid the consequences of the Fi Fa. However, if the Fi Fa was not recorded in the General Execution Docket in the superior court clerk's office (and I doubt that this was not done) then you are good to go with transferring title.

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Answered on 1/16/06, 4:40 pm
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Re: Land Trusts

Transferring property for little or no consideration in exchange, in order to avoid debts, is called a fraudulent conveyance. That is the case whether or not the Fi Fa was properly recorded. In fact, even if no Fi Fa was issued, and you you tried to tranfer your house to a trust to avoid the judgment, it would be attacked as a fraudulent transfer.

In short, the law does not allow you to run up debts or get judgments against you, then transfer property to shield it from creditors.

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Answered on 1/16/06, 5:17 pm


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