General Asset Protection Information
Asset protection has become a must do for middle income Americans, as well as the rich. Frivolous lawsuits are threatening business owners, and they should be taken seriously. Government regulators, the IRS, and half the entitlement Joes are waiting to take away everything they have. You won’t find many lawyers that do asset protection planning for their clients, because the lawyer is going to make a ton more money cleaning up the mess after you are attacked than they would preventing the mess. We all face disasters, such as death, divorce, lawsuits, taxes, catastrophic illness or accidents, and identity theft. When one of these disasters strike, it is a major asset protection problem. A little asset protection planning today can mean a huge difference in your financial security when the disaster or attack occurs.
All asset protection centers around ownership of property. If you don’t own it, they can’t get it when they attack you. Asset protection plans somehow break up ownership of assets, so that you don’t own all of "your" assets. The object is to give up ownership and not give up control, so that you can still enjoy the benefits of the asset.
Pretty much every home on my block is occupied by a doctor or other type of professional. Looking at the county records, you can’t tell who my neighbors are, because they don’t "own" the house they live in. They simply don’t "own" the house they live in. The most common person to move an asset to is your spouse. If the spouse directly or indirectly owns the house, it will be protected when the business has a problem or the professional is sued for malpractice. Actually, don’t have your spouse own the house in his or her name directly, have the house "owned" by a living trust, so that you can avoid probate if he or she dies.There are only a few "legal tools" that an attorney can use to move ownership of assets in an asset protection plan. Please note that living trusts are not good asset protection tools. However, assets can be held by various individuals in different living trusts, thus providing some asset protection by limiting exposure to the single individual who "owns" the living trust. Corporations are good asset protection shields. Yes, a corporation is used to structure businesses, but a corporation can also be sued in a family’s asset protection plan. Limited partnerships are another good asset protection device. When a limited partnership is use as part of a family’s asset protection shield, it id termed an FLP or "Family Limited Partnership". The most flexible tool an attorney has for asset protection is undoubtedly a limited liability company (LLC).
A living trust will form the core of your asset protection plan, and it will "own" the other assets, i.e., the corporation, FLP, and LLC. This will allow you to avoid probate, get more assets out to your heirs without and estate tax, and manage the assets after you die.
Order my new book, Guaranteed Millionaire, and learn how to structure your asset protection plan with the living trust at the core. Ask for the FREE 90 minute asset protection DVD, Using the Law to Make Money and Protect Your Assets. The DVD normally sells for $19.99 without the book. It gives you a great tour of the asset protection tools you can use today.