This article discusses how to find an asset protection lawyer or attorney to help you protect your assets and your wealth. Asset protection lawyers work to protect your assets from those who wish to lay claim to them.
There is always an ever-present possibility that a lawsuit that might cause you to lose your hard earned assets and investments. In addition to predatory litigation, creditors may come after key assets which are a vital component of your estate. As such, asset protection is also an important factor when creating an estate plan, allowing you to preserve wealth within your family.
We always tell our clients that the best way to shield your wealth is to use offshore asset protection trusts, to learn more about these structures and how they can work for you, contact us today.
Asset Protection Attorney – TL;DR
Entrepreneurs and investors live in fear of predatory litigation.
A lawsuit not only has the power to damage your business, lawsuits also have a negative impact on families and have the power to destroy lives.
Planning for the worst means choosing to prepare the best. Having a lawyer or attorney who specialises in asset protection can help mitigate the worst impacts while also helping to create structures designed to protect your assets from creditors further down the line.
Having an asset protection trust, especially one in a noted offshore jurisdiction, means you are prepared in advance to weather any storm that might come.
Creating An Asset Protection Plan
Asset protection planning requires foresight. It’s not enough to react to dangers, you need to anticipate them well in advance so you can be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Protecting your assets means being proactive about things like lawsuits because there’s no point trying to employ asset protection when you’re already in legal difficulty.
So the first step is taking stock of all your assets as well as your debts and liabilities, and making a list of any potential risks you might face.
The most common fears entrepreneurs and investors have when it comes to asset protection are lawsuits, creditors and bankruptcy proceedings. Predatory litigation is a growing concern among entrepreneurs and investors, the ever-present fear that, having worked hard to build wealth, someone can come along, attempting to take all your money on flimsy pretexts and win.
So the first item on the agenda is to protect your family and shield your personal assets and differentiate them from those of your business.
An experienced asset protection lawyer, with detailed knowledge of asset protection laws, can help you to further develop your asset protection plan by advising on which strategies you can employ to protect your assets.
Asset Protection Strategies
Protecting your wealth and assets means adopting a range of interconnecting strategies for asset protection.
One way to secure your assets and keep your personal and business assets separate is to use a limited liability company. This type of structure brings more complexity but gives you more control over how you choose to manage your business.
You may even use a series of companies to hold different assets, so a creditor may be able to claim assets of one company but not another. And your own assets will be protected also, so you don’t have to worry about losing your home.
Likewise, if someone tries to sue one of your companies, the company will be liable but you won’t be.
Another benefit is that, since a company can hold assets in its own name, you can protect your assets by keeping them inside a company structure, rather than holding them yourself.
Another popular way to protect your assets is to create an asset protection trust. This type of structure is specifically created to safeguard assets from predatory litigation or from potential creditors – once assets have been added into the trust they become trust property and are, therefore, protected.
We always tell our clients that the best way to protect their assets is to create an asset protection trust in one of the top offshore jurisdictions. But to help you do this you will first need to find the right one for your needs and hire an asset protection attorney.
Hiring An Asset Protection Attorney
The world is full of lawyers and attorneys, but not all of them will necessarily know the best way to protect your assets.
It’s not enough that they just practice law, you need to find an asset protection specialist, moreover, you want to make sure you find the right lawyer and the right firm.
How To Find An Asset Protection Lawyer
To find an asset protection lawyer or attorney it’s not enough just to find someone who understands asset protection law.
You want a lawyer who understands your exact needs, someone who, when given power of attorney, you can trust to have your best interests at heart at all times.
You want a law firm with a client base that includes companies like yours so you can be confident they understand the exact needs of your business.
Asset protection attorneys can also help you create a trust to protect your assets. With trusts, the client’s assets are transferred into the trust. They then become the property of the trust, not the client, making them off-limits for creditors. The attorney then acts as trustee, managing the client’s assets on behalf the trust beneficiaries, those who ultimately receive the benefit of the assets held in the trust.
Where To Find The Best Asset Protection Lawyers
You have a much better chance of finding an asset protection lawyer practising in a known for asset protection jurisdiction.
These are jurisdictions that are known for their robust laws and asset protection trusts.
One thing to be aware of, however, is that offshore asset protection attorneys generally only sell solutions based on where they are based.
So an asset protection lawyer in Belize will only want to sell you solutions in Belize, another in the Cayman Islands will, surprise surprise, only offer solutions based in the Cayman Islands.
These might work for you, or they might not. So unless you’re planning on doing a lot of homework on the pros and cons of various jurisdictions, you’re better off going with a company who can put you in touch with a network of attorneys in multiple jurisdictions, one of the many benefits of becoming a Nomad Capitalist client.
Secure Your Investments
Give yourself, your business and your family the best possible protection now and well into the future with a holistic Nomad Capitalist Action Plan.
We tie together asset protection with legal tax reduction plus a range of other key services such as offshore banking, investment planning and second passports – all specifically tailored to your unique situation and exact needs.
We’ll assist you to find the right jurisdiction to set up an asset protection trust and assist you throughout the process with the aid of our network of global partners.
Contact us today to find out more.
Asset Protection Lawyer FAQ
Asset protection attorneys are attorneys who specialise in protecting client assets, be they individuals or corporate entities. You may also opt to hire an asset protection attorney to help protect both your personal and company assets.
If you contact a large law firm which provides a full range of services you will likely find an experienced asset protection attorney. The greater your attorney’s experience the more money you will be likely to pay, however.
Your attorney should be able to advise on a range of methods and structures, including how to set up an asset protection trust.
An asset protection trust is a type of trust structure set up specifically for the purposes of asset protection.
As settlor, you draft a trust agreement which lays out the details of the trust, how it will operate and who the beneficiaries of the trust will be before transferring the assets into the trust.
Your asset protection attorney can work as the trustee, acting on a fiduciary basis, managing the trust and distributing the assets to the beneficiaries as per the trust agreement.
Once in the trust, those assets are no longer considered your property and, as such, are protected against creditors and litigation.
Yes if you’re doing so proactively, no if you’re trying to do it reactively.
A common misconception about offshore asset protection is that, if you run into trouble, you can just go offshore and set up a trust and lock your assets away like a magic vault. But it doesn’t work that way.
Professional service providers, offshore and onshore equally, have a reputation to protect and regulations which they need to adhere to. If it turns out you are trying to quickly set up a trust to escape from an existing creditor, that would be considered grounds to have the trust dissolved.
Instead, you need to think more proactively, and form the trust now, when you don’t have any issues, that way your assets will be safe from creditors and litigators in the future.
This future-proofing and hedging against risks is the very essence of good asset protection planning. And it’s not as complicated as you might think, we can show you how it’s done just get in touch with us today and you’ll be glad you did tomorrow.
When trying to pick the best asset protection jurisdiction you need to look at their regulatory landscape.
We note that a lot of these jurisdictions are tax havens, or generally referred to as such, and tend to have a legal system based on English Common law.
As such, trusts are enshrined in the legal system of these jurisdictions, moreover, these jurisdictions all are ones which do not recognise foreign judgements. So if you are sued in your home country and lose, that judgement carries no weight whatsoever in your chosen offshore jurisdiction.
This means that anyone looking to gain access to the assets in your offshore trust would need to fight a difficult legal battle in that jurisdiction with prohibitive costs and a low chance of success. And if they lose, some jurisdictions (such as Saint Kitts and Nevis) also force them to pay for your legal fees. In other words, you’re the one in control at all times while they face a near-impossible struggle.
Some of the better jurisdictions include:
The Cayman Islands
The Cook Islands
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Antigua And Barbuda
Belize
British Virgin Islands
