Asset protection planning is all about keeping what is rightfully yours. You have worked too hard for someone to snatch it away at a moment’s notice.
In a society where litigation is as prevalent as TikTok videos, it makes prudent financial sense to protect your assets from creditors, as well as divorce and lawsuit settlements. Protecting your assets is a legal right that allows you to transfer your wealth to loved ones.
Learning how to protect your assets requires the legal expertise of an estate planning lawyer who has compiled an impressive record of helping clients keep all of their hard-earned assets.
Asset protection is a broad legal term that covers a wide variety of financial arrangements. The arrangements keep assets protected from creditors, judgments, and settlements. Asset protection planning is devising the right strategy for your unique financial circumstances.
An experienced estate planning attorney has the knowledge to help you achieve full asset protection. With many types of strategies to protect assets, an estate planning lawyer knows which one matches your financial interests. Many disciplines of law come into play when discussing asset protection planning, which includes trusts, family law, corporate law, and personal injury law.
There are several outcomes for clients who want asset protection. One of the most common is moving your assets out of the reach of anyone who tries to take them from you. This outcome is especially relevant for protecting assets from creditors and lawsuit settlements. Although you might get sued, your assets cannot be touched if they are legally protected.
Another common outcome of asset protection planning is to ensure your assets go to the proper beneficiaries. For example, you can establish a spendthrift trust to limit how a beneficiary utilizes some of your assets. A beneficiary with a terrible record of financial management might require legal stipulations to ensure the integrity of transferred assets.
You can avoid financial trouble for many years, but one day, Murphy’s Law finds you and your assets. “What can go wrong, will go wrong” happens when you receive an unexpected summons to appear in court to answer a complaint that concerns a financial matter. If you had not protected your assets before the plaintiff filed the complaint, you could expect the assets to be exposed if a judgment or a settlement goes in the plaintiff’s favor.
The short answer to the question, “When do I need asset protection planning?” is the sooner you develop a strategy, the less likely your assets will find their way into someone else’s hands. Even if you have not amassed assets worth a substantial amount of money, you should consider setting up a trust to protect your assets. As your wealth grows, you already have a legally sound financial structure to protect your growing financial assets.
Selecting the right lawyer for asset protection planning comes down to expertise and experience. You want to hire a family law attorney who has years of experience helping clients protect their assets by following state statutes. A family law lawyer who handles a wide variety of cases might not be a good fit. You want an attorney who specializes in asset protection planning.
Schedule a free consultation with an asset protection lawyer at the Cloud Peak Law Group to discover why now is the best time to protect your assets from creditors, judgments, and lawsuit settlements.