Does anybody have a contact for the German representative (a lady I believe) of the Plane Fun Inc Trust of Snelville, Ga? The current owner of the plane I am buying has supposedly being trying for weeks to get a Bill of Sale out of them....he just informed me he has no response...
I have tried contacting the actual Trustee in the US but all I get is an answer phone and I don't have their email address
There must be a procedure for the trustor (the beneficial owner) to terminate a trust if the trustee has vanished.
I recall reading something about this.
The FAA should have the details as this does come up from time to time. You apply to them and they strike out the trustee.
Obviously they don't make it too easy; they need a decent proof of the trustee's bankrupcy or similar.
The trustee has normally bought the plane for something like $1 and this needs to be refunded to somebody, but what if he wants the market value?
Pre-signed bills of sale have been declared by the FAA as illegal (unsuprisingly).
Between posts the owner just clarified that he spoke to the (German) woman two days ago and she said she was "taking care of it...." whatever that means.....maybe it's just me but I get incredibly frustrated at having to rely on people with whom I have no direct contact or influence!
Anthony we had a similar experience with the Meridian - trust companies will not have anything to do with the purchaser. And their version of expediting things is not the way the rest of the world works.
Although Avcorp who I use have been great on both occasions. The secret seems to be avoiding those solely based in the US.
It's certainly true that a trust has little incentive to co-operate with the sale of the aircraft.
The main incentive they do have is that they get to throw away the remainder of the year's fee and can charge a fresh annual fee to the new owner.
The other incentive they have is that dragging their heels is going to give them a very bad name.
I have been with Southern Aircraft since 2005 and have always found their service superb. I have not yet sold the aircraft (not going to!) but did transfer it from a limited company to myself which was the same thing, and it was done instantly.
The death of the trustee can cause a big problem!
Yes, they don't have the fee incentive in this case....I am using a different trust (IAS) who have been very responsive so far...and I'm sure if I could communicate directly with the seller's trust I could accelerate things but a) I don't have their contact details (in Europe) and b) it really isn't my place to do so.....yet!
This might be a little off topic. But for an asset as valuable as an airplane I would never transfer legal ownership to some trust in the US. You can never know in what kind of financial trouble this trust might get or what a mad trust manager could do. In my conservative opinion it amounts to lend somebody you barely know 1 million USD with only his word that we will pay it back any time you ask for it. Or imagine a one time tax on airplanes like the one in Italy. This is not likely in the US at the moment but you would be in a rather bad position anything similar happened.
A trust is a somewhat more robust structure than that. While I use a standalone single aircraft ownership company, I don't believe that there is meaningful risk in the pooled US trusts. The trick in my view is to choose one that is large, well established and with a good reputation for customer service.
It's a nontrivial topic, and trust documents vary, but in general terms the trustee is not able to completely screw the beneficial owner (trustor, in US-speak) and prevent him enjoying the asset.
The biggest danger is in "passive non-cooperation" e.g. the trustee is dead. That immediately invalidates the CofR, invalidates the insurance, etc. And you can't sell the plane...
This is why you would not want to use a trust run by somebody who is nonresponsive, or perhaps doesn't like you, or there is some business scenario where he might decide he doesn't like you. He could just drag his feet on any transaction, or prevent you selling the plane, and there is nothing you can do about it.
And if you are not a US citizen or Green card holder, you cannot have the plane back. Well, you can have it back but you can't fly it. You need to find another trustee to take it over.
That is one reason why the more expensive hardware is normally held in individual trusts which are 75% US lawyers and 25% you. If one of the lawyers drops dead, they just bury him and stick another one in his place.
I am using Vintage Aeroplane Collection Inc, The annual fee is ca €500 with no Mississippi sales tax or VAT as this is an export transaction. Bank a/c in the UK. Quite smooth over the years. same trust structure like SAC
