Asset Protection

One important factor of estate planning is to consider is asset protection. Asset protection planning helps you reduce risk of loss of assets from lawsuits, including divorce, landlord/tenant, car accident, slip & fall, bankruptcy, business failure, malpractice, and the like. We’ll help you to analyze risk, options, and peace of mind to get the best level of asset protection in place for you and your family.

One of the most important things to understand about asset protection planning is that not much good can come from trying to protect your assets reactively when you are surprised by situations like a lawsuit or divorce. The best way to take full advantage of estate planning in regard to asset protection is to prepare proactively long before these things ever come to pass — and hopefully many of them won’t. There are two main types of asset protection:

Asset protection for yourself: This must be done in advance of any proceedings that might threaten your assets, such as lawsuits, divorce, or judgement.
Asset protection for your heirs: This involves setting up discretionary lifetime trusts rather than outright inheritance, staggered distributions, mandatory income trusts, or other less protective forms of inheritance.

Common Asset Protection strategies include:

  • Setting up a business entity such as an LLC to own rental real estate or a business
  • Including lifetime trusts for your spouse and children in your revocable living trust to protect from divorce and lawsuits
  • Creating Irrevocable Trusts to protect assets
  • Purchasing long-term care insurance and/or Medicaid/nursing home planning
  • Using domestic asset protection, spousal, children’s, grandchildren’s, or life insurance trusts
  • Implementing offshore planning

These are just a few ways we can optimize your estate plan to keep your assets protected, but every plan should be tailored to an individual’s exact circumstances. Give us a call today to discuss your estate plan’s asset protection strategies.

Let Us Help You.

Do you have questions about protecting your home and family or your long-term care? Let us guide you to the solutions you need.