Buying Land as a Couple, Trust, or LLC: Legal Structures Compared

Every week someone asks us whether they should buy as individuals, with their partner, through a trust, or inside a company. The honest answer: it depends — on who you are, how many of you there are, and what the land is for. This article lays the legal structures side by side so you can walk into a notario's office knowing what each one is, what it costs, and when it actually earns its keep.

Key facts

The fideicomiso is the standard way foreigners hold coastal land — the bank holds the title as trustee, you direct everything as beneficiary.
Couples can hold jointly under either property regime — but sociedad conyugal and separación de bienes treat a future divorce very differently.
An LLC or S.A. de C.V. adds real cost and paperwork — constitution, annual filings, accounting, banking — for benefits most single-lot buyers never use.
The notario works for the transaction, not for you — for advice on structure, hire your own lawyer.
For most buyers the simple route is best: individuals, joint if you're a couple, inside a fideicomiso.

The options

The structures, briefly

Five ways to hold land come up on this coast. Knowing what they are is half the battle:

As an individual. Direct title in your own name. On the Oaxaca coast this only applies outside the restricted zone — everything within 50 kilometers of the shore falls under Mexico's coastal rules, so for the lots we list, direct individual title is rarely available.
As a couple. Two names on the deed or, on the coast, two names as beneficiaries of the same fideicomiso. How the property behaves in a divorce depends on the property regime you married under.
Through a fideicomiso. The bank trust that lets foreigners hold restricted-zone land. It is not one option among many — it is the default path for coastal property.
Through a Mexican corporation. An sociedad anónima de capital variable — the S.A. de C.V. — holds the title; you hold shares in the company.
Through a foreign LLC holding a fideicomiso. Your home-country company becomes the beneficiary of the trust. Legitimate, layered, and the most expensive to run.

If the land you want is within sight of the Pacific, the practical question is not "individual or trust" — the restricted zone answers that — but who the people behind the trust are, and whether a company should stand between you and the property. For what foreigners can and can't buy, see Can Foreigners Buy Land in Mexico?, and for how the title types fit together, Escritura vs Acta de Posesión vs Ejido.

The couple

Buying as a couple: two names, one decision

Buying together is straightforward on the paperwork: both names go on the purchase, and on the coast both of you become beneficiaries of the same fideicomiso. The notario records your marital status as part of the deed, and that is where the property regime enters the picture. In Mexico, how a marriage divides property is set by the regime you chose when you married — and it shapes what happens to the lot on a future divorce.

Sociedad conyugal — community property — means everything acquired during the marriage belongs to both of you equally, regardless of whose name is on the title. Buy under this regime and the lot is half yours and half your partner's from day one. Both signatures are normally required to sell, and in a divorce the property is divided as community assets. It is the simpler regime for a couple buying one home together, and it is the default in much of Mexico if you didn't choose otherwise.

Separación de bienes — separate property — keeps what each of you buys and earns in your own name. If the deed names only one of you, the lot belongs to that person alone, and a divorce leaves it with them. That is clean and protective if you are buying with inherited money or pre-marriage assets, but it requires intention: you must have chosen this regime at marriage, or agreed it in a prenuptial agreement (capitulaciones matrimoniales) signed before a notario.

What this means practically: decide which regime applies before you sign anything, and tell your notario. If you are married under sociedad conyugal and buy with separate funds, or married under separación de bienes and want the lot to belong to both of you, the deed can be written to reflect your intent — but only if you say so. Unmarried couples buying together should name both people on the title with clear percentages, so the ownership is documented rather than assumed. If you are married or about to be, an hour with a Mexican family lawyer is cheap insurance; the regime is decided at marriage and hard to change later.

The trust

The fideicomiso as the coastal default

Inside the restricted zone, foreigners hold land through a fideicomiso — a bank trust approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the SRE). The bank holds the title as trustee; you are the beneficiary, with the right to build, rent, sell, and pass the property on. The bank follows your written instructions and charges a fee for administering the trust. It is not a loophole; it is the mechanism the law itself provides, and it has carried foreign ownership on Mexico's coasts for generations.

For a couple, the trust takes both names: you become co-beneficiaries, and the trust deed records your rights. Succession is where the fideicomiso shines. The trust does not die with you — your heirs become the beneficiaries, and the trust deed can name successive beneficiaries, which means you can arrange for the surviving partner to take over without a long probate fight. Add a Mexican will (testamento) at the notario and your heirs skip most of the cross-border paperwork that otherwise slows everything down.

How the whole process works — the bank, the SRE permit, the costs, the renewal question — is covered in The Fideicomiso Process Explained. The short version for structure purposes: it costs roughly $500–1,000 USD to set up and about $300–700 USD a year to maintain, it is renewable in 50-year increments, and it is the simplest legal container for one coastal lot held by one or two people. For the full buying picture around it, read Buying Land in Oaxaca: The Complete Guide.

The company

The company route: when the structure earns its keep

Some buyers hold coastal land through a company — either a Mexican S.A. de C.V. or a foreign LLC that sits as the beneficiary of a fideicomiso. There are legitimate reasons. A company offers privacy: the public land records show a corporate entity, not your name. It creates a liability shield, which matters if you are developing the land, running rentals at scale, or carrying activities that could attract lawsuits. And it solves the "too many owners" problem cleanly: a group of friends or family members can hold shares instead of crowding a deed with six names.

Be honest about the cost, because it is real. Forming an S.A. de C.V. means a constitution before a notario, an SRE permit for foreign shareholders, a Mexican tax ID (RFC), a corporate bank account, and then the ongoing work: annual filings, accounting, tax returns, and the fees that come with each. A reasonable planning range is roughly $1,500–3,000+ USD to set up and $1,000–2,500+ USD a year to keep compliant, depending on the accountant and the activity. A foreign LLC holding a fideicomiso adds a second layer of compliance — formation and annual reports in your home country, cross-border tax filings, and bank due diligence that asks pointed questions about source of funds. Banks are cautious with corporate beneficiaries; expect more paperwork at every step.

None of this is wrong. It is simply overhead, and it only makes sense when the structure solves a problem you actually have. One lot for weekend and retirement use, owned by one or two people, does not need a company. A four-family group buying two lots with plans to build and rent — that is where the corporate route starts to earn its keep. The mistake to avoid is adopting a structure because it sounds sophisticated, then paying for it every year.

The comparison

The structures, side by side

The table is deliberately honest about ranges — fees vary by bank, notary, and state — so treat the numbers as planning figures, not quotes.

Structure	Who holds title	Typical cost & complexity	Privacy	Succession
Individual (outside restricted zone)	You, directly	Low — deed and registration only	Your name on the public record	Direct; via your will
Couple, joint (with fideicomiso on the coast)	Both names as co-beneficiaries	Low — same as a single fideicomiso; regime check at signing	Both names on the trust record	Strong — succession clauses can name the survivor
Fideicomiso (single beneficiary)	Bank as trustee; you as beneficiary	Moderate — ~$500–1,000 USD setup, ~$300–700 USD/yr	Partial — your name appears on the trust, not the land register	Strong — heirs become beneficiaries; add a Mexican will
S.A. de C.V.	The corporation; you hold shares	High — ~$1,500–3,000+ USD setup, ~$1,000–2,500+ USD/yr with filings and accounting	High — shareholders can stay out of the land records	Via shares; can be complex across borders
Foreign LLC + fideicomiso	Bank as trustee; your LLC as beneficiary	Highest — entity plus trust plus cross-border filings	Highest — two layers between you and the record	Layered — needs careful estate planning in both countries

Caveats worth repeating: banks quote in pesos, so dollar figures move with the exchange rate. Notary fees follow the state's published schedule and form part of your closing. And a company only protects you if it is actually maintained — a corporation with lapsed filings is a liability, not a shield. For the closing costs that apply to any of these routes, see our walkthrough of the notary appointment.

The advice

What the notario and a lawyer will tell you

Ask a good notario which structure most foreign buyers use for a single coastal lot, and the answer comes fast: individuals, joint if there are two of you, inside a fideicomiso. Ask a Mexican real-estate lawyer the same question and you get the same answer, with one addition — most of the elaborate structures they see were adopted for reasons that never materialized, and they cost money every year regardless.

Understand the notario's role. The notario is a licensed lawyer appointed by the state, and their job is to make sure the transaction is valid and properly recorded — they work for the transaction, not for you personally. They will not stop you from choosing a structure that is legal but unnecessary, and they are not the right person to ask whether a company is a good idea for your situation. That advice comes from your own lawyer, ideally one who works in Mexican real estate and answers to you alone. If you are weighing a company or a complex ownership arrangement, spend the money on that lawyer before you spend it on the structure. For how to find one, see how to choose a Mexican real-estate lawyer.

A structure only earns its keep when it solves a problem you actually have.

When do structures earn their keep? When there are several owners who need clean shareholding. When you are developing or renting at a scale where liability matters. When privacy is a genuine concern, not a vague one. When your estate planning at home already runs through entities. In those cases a company or a layered trust is worth its cost. In the others — the large majority on this coast — it is simply a bill.

The bottom line

A plain framework, from simplest to most elaborate:

One lot, one or two of you, personal use. Buy as individuals — joint if you're a couple — inside a fideicomiso. This is the default for a reason.
Married, or about to be. Confirm your property regime before you sign, and put your intent in the deed. A family lawyer for an hour is cheaper than a divorce dispute over a lot.
Friends or family buying together. Decide between a clear co-ownership agreement and a company. If there are more than two or three of you, the S.A. de C.V. often simplifies everything — at a price.
Business use, rentals at scale, development. The company route earns its keep here. Budget for the setup, the annual filings, and the accounting, and keep them current.
Privacy or liability concerns. Talk to a lawyer about whether a structure genuinely solves them, then weigh the annual cost against the benefit.

One last reminder: this article is information, not legal or tax advice. Mexican property law, family law, and tax rules interact in ways that depend on your specific situation and your home country. Confirm your structure with a Mexican lawyer and with your own advisor before you commit — then buy with the simple, calm confidence that the right structure is the one you understand.