Asset protection planning is creating and implementing a plan using various tried and true tools to protect your hard earned assets. Assets include your home, a rental you have to supplement your income, the building your business operates out of, the equipment your business owns, or anything else of value. Asset protection is very important because, as you may already know, the United States is commonly known as the most litigious country in the world (this means that people here sue each other more than anywhere else). You have all heard of many stories of frivolous lawsuits where the person suing actually won. There are also many cases where the lawsuit was legitimate, but the person being sued lost everything—including their home.

What can you do to protect yourself and your assets? Because asset protection (sometimes referred to as creditor-debtor law) is extremely complex area of the law, your asset protection plan should be specifically tailored to your circumstances. If you come across someone trying to sell you a “one-size-fits-all” or “guaranteed to protect your assets” solution to asset protection—be very cautious before implementing that plan. When choosing an attorney to assist you with protecting your assets be sure that the attorney is primarily an estate planning attorney with experience in asset protection. This is very important because there are several steps that the law requires when using specific asset protection tools that many “asset protection” attorneys are ignorant of.

Here at Spaulding Law, we use a defense-in-depth strategy that is specifically tailored for your assets and liability risks. Defense-in-depth means using multiple tools so that when someone sues you, they have to cross multiple hurdles in order to get to your assets. Each “hurdle” by itself is a very formidable tool, but when taken together, it is very difficult for the person that sued you to overcome. Asset protection planning is not just setting up a limited liability company (in any jurisdiction) nor is it just an asset protection trust. It is a combination of different tools designed to overwhelm any attack on your assets. Is it bullet proof? No, however, it will be as bullet proof as we can legally make it, and someone will have to overcome many different obstacles. If you choose us for your asset protection needs you will have the peace of mind that you are looking for. The peace of mind that knowing that your house, business, and other assets are protected from creditors.

Part 2 will be coming soon.

This information is made available by Spaulding Law for educational purposes only and not to provide legal advice. By using this website, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and Spaulding Law, unless you have entered into a separate representation agreement. This information should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.