When you have assets, you are in need of an asset protection plan to protect yourself from legal predators. To describe asset protection as a feeling, it is set of legal tools that provide a sort of insurance that will help you sleep well when legal bullets start to fly.
It is ideal to have your assets protected before you’re ever in a place to need the protection from legal predators, but many wait until they feel the pain of battle. There are ways to protect yourself after the horse has gotten out of the barn, but the earlier you act the more likely you get to keep what’s yours.
Asset Protection Secret #1: Own Nothing. Control Everything.
To put yourself in the best position to ward off legal predators, don’t own assets in your name. Own them in legal tools.
Here are some examples of actions you can take to protect your assets:
- Operate your business as a corporation. When someone sues your business there are legal provisions that can protect the lawsuit from taking your personal assets.
- Hold real estate in land trusts. This gives privacy of ownership so people don’t see your name listed on the property in the public records.
- Hold the beneficial ownership in land trusts in an LLC, one per property. This way if there is a lawsuit tied to one property, it does not jump to the others. Plus there are asset protection provisions in LLC law. That is, when someone sues a member, personally, the laws can protect members from losing the LLC and the assets therein.
- Own vehicles in title holding trusts. This gives privacy of ownership so your name is not associated with the vehicles in the public records.
- Record mortgages and liens against real estate and vehicles. This drains equity out of valuables and make them much less attractive to would-be litigants. Just like one bank buys a mortgage from another, there are institutions offshore that can acquire those mortgages and liens and put the cash into a “you can’t touch it” account in your offshore asset protection trust.
- Use an offshore LLC and an offshore account to hold liquid investments. This makes it harder for local attorneys to slap freeze orders on your accounts. Local courts have jurisdiction over local accounts, not foreign ones. Be sure the offshore bank does not have a corresponding local branch.
- Set up an offshore trust. Likewise, local courts don’t have jurisdiction over foreign trustees. So, if you need the trustee to step in to protect you, that trustee is not bound by your local court orders. The trustee can protect your funds with little fear of reprisal from the judge down the street.
Asset Protection Plan
Protecting your assets is an action that is best accompanied by an appropriate plan. Once you establish your asset protection plan take action to establish the legal entities required to fulfill it. Keep in mind that the costs of establishing a proper plan is typically a mere fraction of the value of the assets that are being protected. So, don’t scrimp. You wouldn’t trust your life driving down the highway in an unsafe car. Don’t trust your financial life by trying to scrimp. Establish the right legal tools and build a financial fortress that is meant to withstand the legal storms.
While no specific technique is bullet-proof under all circumstances, with the right planning, a bullet-stopping level of protection and peace of mind can be accomplished for most situations. More assets means more blood in the water to draw more legal sharks looking for an easy meal. So, greater wealth requires more advanced and sophisticated techniques.
Make sure that whomever you consult with can explain the recommended strategies in a way that you understand them. You will be much more satisfied with a plan that you truly grasp. So make sure you hire an expert who can give you illustrations, literature and/or videos that gives you the comfort level that you need. You do not need to know every last speck of information about your plan known to mankind. You don’t need to know the amperage tolerances of every circuit in your TV in order to turn it on. You just need to know how to work it. So, get comfortable but don’t fall in the trap of paralysis by analysis. Know what you need to know, then take action.
Ward off Legal Predators
Even in the easiest situation the methods you pick for asset protection against legal predators must be well researched. Before you begin the procedure, be sure to complete a thorough evaluation of your assets to make certain that you have identified each asset you wish to protect.
In brief, asset protection can be the easiest and least expensive manner in which to safeguard your assets when faced with a lawsuit. Asset planning protection is the procedure of shielding your belongings from legal predators. As with any other planning, asset protection is a lot more effective when implemented in advance. Furthermore, it is a necessity in this day and age of the money for nothing” mentality to get yourself protected.
Whether or not you need asset protection from legal predators depends on whether you have any assets to take. Asset protection is the approach to take to arm yourself against a possible disaster that may strike nearly any individual or company in the world in order to help ward off legal predators.
Start Preparing
If you don’t have this type of protection, but own assets, then it’s time to start preparing. Find out what you need to do. Then establish the local and international corporations, LLCs, trusts and friendly encumbrances that you need to establish to guard yourself from the dangerous possibility of legal predators.
In our litigious society nowadays, it is vital to plan ahead to shield your hard earned assets in case you’re sued due to an automobile accident or an irate customer. Specifically, it is rather common that people guard their assets by utilizing some instrument to shield their assets. However, such assets won’t be always guarded against a court judgment, and that’s why you need to know exactly how to protect your assets and what to do to ward off legal predators.
Take Action
First, you need to make sure you get an excellent asset protection specialist who knows which asset to place where. The best method to learn about whether or not you should safeguard your assets and if protecting them is well worth the price is to get the recommendation of an expert who specializes in asset protection, debt protection, estate planning and/or, in some specific instances, has bankruptcy knowledge. Search for qualified, certified and knowledgeable asset protection specialists with expertise inside this field to be sure you get appropriate protection.
There is truly no secure way, locally, to guard your assets against every attack, but if your assets are protected well enough, it can prevent legal predators from grabbing on. This is best security is often provided with international protection tools, including offshore trusts.
Typically, whenever you’re looking to guard your assets, you would first seek advice from an asset protection specialist or accountant to acquire advice. Along with utilizing this advice, the best method to shield your assets and earnings from legal predators is to follow along with the optimal asset protection strategies. So, what are some of these strategies?
Corporation: Protection From Predators
Key number one is to set up a company. Key number two is the way you own your company. Asset protection strategies ought to be put in place whenever your company is small and growing. After you employ a competent asset protection specialist willing to come up with a practical corporate asset protection strategy, start taking action to get your asset protection plan going.
It is necessary to keep in mind that a particular asset protection strategy does not apply to every corporation, individual and family. The assets, objectives and and needs of each are different. Because of this, it is far better to think about a well-structured asset protection strategy ahead of time with a qualified asset protection specialist who can assist you with the process.
Make sure you take the steps necessary to implement your plan. Implementing an all-inclusive asset protection program is an absolute necessity nowadays. Asset protection planning is a rather crucial issue for all people with assets to protect, and the sooner you enact the plan, the better.
A lawful asset protection planning approach utilizes legal approaches to guard your possessions. While most people believe asset protection planning is a perfect way to break free from their tax responsibilities, in reality it is usually tax neutral. The objective is to provide you with lawful protection from legal predators.
LCC & Trust Combination
A limited liability company is another method of safeguarding assets. Protecting assets from legal predators is one of the primary purposes of creating a limited liability company (LLC). After creating an LLC, the assets of that company can be safeguarded under an asset protection trust.
For example, a Nevada Business Trust is a newer kind of company which offers liability protection, privacy and increased control over one’s business. Searching for opportunities like this level of protection in your state, since asset protection varies from state to state, can help you protect your assets with an even more solid strategy.
What Type of Company?
For those who have considerable income from work, for instance, anticipate substantial losses in early years, and don’t anticipate that the company will go public anytime soon, an S corporation may be your very best choice.
As soon as your business starts to turn a normal profit after the relatively large expenses of the very first couple of years, then you can decide if you want to change it to a C corporation. If you want to take it public you, indeed, will want to turn it into a C-corporation. Either way, you’ve got an asset protection structure in place to guard yourself from legal predators stemming from business liability when you operate your business as a corporation.
After forming your company, record keeping will become extremely important. Keeping records will not only help you keep track of your assets, income, and profits, but it will also help you continue to work on your asset protection plan to keep your assets safe from legal predators. Have initial and annual meetings and keep written resolutions for major acquisitions and loans.
Corporations work well to protect assets but are often hard to maintain and, should you not keep proper records, you can lose your individual liability protection. Therefore, it is the best approach to employ strict record keeping practices within your corporation as soon as you start the company in order to continue to safeguard your assets for years to come.
Seeking a Trust
Corporations are also very beneficial for protecting your assets from legal predators because they allow you to form a corporate trust. Many people involved in corporations also take the step of forming an individual trust as well to increase their asset protection potential.
Better long term strategies could include a trust that continues to oversee your tax, legal, investment and asset protection planning objectives after you’re gone, and as a result might provide substantial benefits to your children and grandchildren.
In a nutshell, you need to consider a beneficiary-controlled trust whenever it’s worthwhile to shield beneficiaries from creditors, divorcing spouses and estate taxes. When you make a distinctive needs trust, you may be able to protect every one of your children. A trust not designed for your son or daughter’s needs in mind will most likely render your son or daughter ineligible for essential added benefits.
Leaving a Family Legacy
Should you wish to leave a safe, secure inheritance, look at appointing an unaffiliated Trustee to safeguard your family members. During your everyday living, you and your spouse can deal with the trust. After your are both gone, it acts as a tool to smoothly serve these assets to family members.
When picking trustees, you should select these fiduciaries like you were hiring employees. Though a trustee does not need to oversee each facet of the investment practice personally, they’re the general manager of the practice. So, you need to select an organization you know you can trust.
Along with a trust, there are a couple of other options you could approach to safeguard your assets from legal predators. You can also consider an experienced retirement plan like a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, which is among the best concepts to safeguard assets.
Asset Protection Summary
Protection of personal assets should be every asset owner’s concern. This includes business and personal property. While the protection of assets is an excellent idea, the cost of a plan is often roughly proportional to the value of your assets. However, considering the fact that the price of losing your assets will cost you far more, it’s a near necessity for those of financial means to get educated and take action as soon as possible. The next step is to speak with a consultant.
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