Asset Protection Planning
Asset protection planning involves figuring out and applying a lawful series of
techniques that protect your assets from claims of future creditors. The
techniques are designed to deter potential creditors from going after you, and
frustrate them if they do, generally by making it difficult or impossible for
future creditors to grab hold of your assets or collect judgments against you.
In cases where significant sums are involved, asset protection planning
often includes setting up a series of trusts, partnerships and/or off-shore
entities to hold legal title to your assets. A future creditor who recognizes
how difficult it would be to collect on any judgment it may win, might decide it
makes little sense to pursue a claim, or be willing to settle for pennies on the
dollar.
There is a very sharp dividing line between "legal" asset
protection planning on the one hand, and actions to defraud creditors, which are
criminal, on the other. For that reason it is essential to have an attorney
guide you through the process.
We urge all visitors to
beware of some operators, sometimes posing as foreign trust companies, that
market packages of services that they claim will protect your assets. Some of
them are criminal enterprises that will steal your assets. Some are fast buck
artists that will leave you with no protection. Some will open you up to serious
criminal charges. Many will do all three - take your money, leave you with no
protection, and set you on the road to prison.
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