Asset protection planning is the structuring of your estate
in order to protect your accumulated wealth from future
lawsuits and creditor claims. The goal is to preserve your
hard-earned assets for your and your family’s use so that
you don’t one day find that you have been financially
destroyed by an unforeseen lawsuit. This type of planning
can encompass multiple techniques including the design of:
- Offshore Asset Protection Trusts in countries that offer
more favorable protection than is available in the
litigation-prone United States Domestic
- Asset Protection Trusts which are drafted under the laws
of states with more favorable laws, similar to using a
Delaware corporation to take advantage of Delaware’s more
favorable laws
- More protective entities, such as limited partnerships,
limited liability companies and trusts
- Use of existing tools, such as insurance, corporations,
trusts and exemptions, to secure maximum creditor protection
- Intra-family transfers, when desirable
Asset protection planning involves a balance between
maintaining control and obtaining the highest level of
protection. This is an area in which Bob Gillen has served
as an instructor to numerous accountants and attorneys and
as an advisor to physicians, business owners and successful
clients.