Palm Beach Title Company

The island of Palm Beach owes its name to a shipwreck. In 1878 a vessel called the Providencia ran aground off the coast carrying a cargo of coconuts, the story goes, and the coconuts took root, and the palms that grew from them gave the place its name. From that accidental beginning came one of the wealthiest and most exclusive communities in the United States. Henry Flagler turned the barrier island into a winter resort in the 1890s, building the grand hotels and, later, his marble home Whitehall; the town incorporated in 1911; and the architect Addison Mizner gave it the Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial look that still says Palm Beach to the rest of the world.

This is, above all, an estate market, and a closing here operates at a level that leaves no room for loose ends. The landmark mansions along the ocean and the lake, Mar-a-Lago among them, change hands at prices that run into the tens and sometimes hundreds of millions, and a great many of those transactions are all-cash and are taken in the name of a trust or a limited liability company. Documenting that ownership correctly is fundamental work, not a formality: confirming that the trust or company is in good standing, that the individual signing is genuinely empowered to bind it, and that the entity holding title is exactly the entity that intended to. So is confirming the chain of title and raising anything out of place, an old lien, an easement, a boundary question along the water, as an exception in the title commitment, to be cleared before closing and stood behind by the owner's and lender's policies we issue through Commonwealth Land Title and First American.

Palm Beach adds another layer that rewards attention. Many of its homes carry historic and landmark significance, and that designation shapes what an owner may do with a property, which is the kind of thing a buyer wants understood from the outset. Between the dollar amounts, the entity ownership, and the preservation overlays, a Palm Beach purchase is among the more demanding closings in the state, and it is exactly the kind that benefits from being handled quietly and precisely. Before closing we walk through the title commitment so every exception you are taking title subject to is understood in advance, and the movement of funds is handled securely, with wiring instructions confirmed by voice. The owner's policy we issue at the end protects that ownership for as long as the property is held, against defects that predate the closing, which on an estate of this value is no small assurance.

That blend of high stakes and discretion is what a boutique, counsel-led firm exists to handle. Union Title Services has been closing Florida transactions since 1985, family-owned and led through the affiliated Law Offices of Thomas G. Sherman, P.A. Being counsel-led is the heart of it on an island like this: an attorney is part of your file when a question of entity authority, a trust's terms, or a landmark restriction comes up, not a referral you have to go find.

Call our office and you reach the people actually working your file, with the lawyer in the same office rather than a far-off headquarters, and with the discretion an estate sale deserves. Florida sets title insurance premiums by law, so the rate is the same at every agency; on a transaction like this, what you are really choosing is who handles it and whether you can reach them. We are based in Coral Gables and we close throughout Florida, and a Palm Beach contract receives the care its stakes demand. When a Palm Beach closing is ahead of you, we would welcome a quiet conversation about it, ideally before the contract is signed. Reach us at (305) 444-4508.