Asset protection planning involves legal actions that protect your assets during a divorce, lawsuit, or from creditors. You take proactive and use lawful methods to deter lawsuits and avoid your assets being seized in a judgment. Asset protection is a type of financial insurance, and it needs to be well thought-out long before it is needed.
Asset protection planning includes estate planning, homestead protection laws, insurance policies, and much more. It should be considered long before you face a lawsuit. Many asset protection plans include multiple jurisdictions that have differing laws. It can be beneficial to consider where the laws are most favorable to their estate. Asset protection planning protects your assets from legal opponents by making it more difficult to obtain your assets. Simply by protecting your assets from public records through private trusts or LLCs, you can reduce your risk of a lawsuit. The methods you need for asset protection depend on where you live, your assets, your goals, and your beneficiaries.
Who Needs Asset Protection Planning?
If you have assets to lose, you should consider protecting them. Obviously, high-net individuals should consider some kind of asset protection planning, but even if you have a modest home and savings, you should think about protecting what you own. If someone were to sue your business, it’s possible that they could come after your home and property.
What Aspects of the Law Should an Asset Planning Lawyer Know?
Asset protection planning needs to take a personalized approach. If you own a business, you will have different needs than someone who doesn’t. Your lawyer should be familiar with business law, family law and estate planning, as well as tax law. A person with international properties needs an asset lawyer familiar with the laws of that country. Your lawyer may also need to be familiar with bankruptcy laws of your state, and debtor law.
Asset protection planning encompasses much more than estate planning. Estate planning is concerned with your estate if you die or become incapacitated, but asset protection planning looks for ways to protect your assets against other risks. Estate planning is usually focused on mitigating taxes at death and handling the way your estate is passed to the next generation. Asset protection planning is a fairly new legal arena that many people are looking into. Contact an estate planning lawyer, like an estate planning lawyer in Memphis, TN, if you are interested in protecting your assets.
Thanks to Patterson Bray for their insight into the areas of law your asset protection lawyer should be knowledgeable in.