Your assets may be at risk due to personal injury claims arising out of a motor vehicle accident, professional malpractice liability exposure, or personal guarantees or obligations of prior or future business transactions. Every person with significant assets or income, or the potential of obtaining significant assets, is at an increased risk of claims versus persons with limited income and resources. While insurance is your best first line of defense, with our current litigious society and occasionally outrageous jury verdicts, even extraordinary liability insurance limits may be overwhelmed, exposing your real estate, investment accounts, business, or income to risk of creditor attack.
We can assist you in shielding your assets from creditors by arranging your financial matters and property ownership in a manner that minimizes exposure to future creditors. While statutes provide certain protections to existing creditors, properly structured rearrangement of your finances can minimize your risk of being sued by making it difficult for a creditor to discover all of your assets prior to making a decision whether or not to sue you. Even if that creditor should sue, they may find that those assets are unavailable to them if they obtain a judgment against you.
Asset protection works in many ways, but generally involves identifying your areas of risk, and separating your assets from the identifiable risks. For this reason, it is generally recommended to create various “pockets” of assets, so that each asset is shielded from any risk associated with the others. We will of course meet with you and discuss your particular situation and goals to advise you on your options. Following your decisions, we will assist you in implementing your plan of asset protection.