Asset Protection Planning

A lifetime of work goes into building wealth. Without planning, a lawsuit, a business failure, a medical emergency or a divorce can put much of it at risk. Asset protection planning puts lawful safeguards in place in advance, so that what you have built is better protected against claims that may arise in the future.

What asset protection is, and what it is not

A good plan is tailored to the person. A business owner, a physician concerned about malpractice claims, a young family and someone approaching retirement all have different exposures. Asset protection is also forward looking: it is designed to protect against future claims, not to avoid debts or judgments that already exist. Transfers made to defeat existing creditors can be reversed by a court.

Tools Jason uses

• Domestic asset protection trusts, available in a number of states, which can shield assets from future creditors while allowing you to remain a beneficiary
• Qualified personal residence trusts, which move a home into a trust while you keep the right to live there for a term of years
• Entity structures such as limited liability companies and family limited partnerships to hold investment and business assets
• Protected accounts and exemptions, including retirement accounts and homestead protections that vary by state
• Trusts for beneficiaries that protect an inheritance from the beneficiary’s own creditors or a divorcing spouse

Protecting premarital and separate assets

Assets brought into a marriage, or received by gift or inheritance, can be exposed in a divorce. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and carefully structured trusts can protect them. Read more about matrimonial asset protection.