You work hard for your money; you save what you don’t need to live on and invest it so the principal, capital gains, dividends and interest will be available when you retire.  But are you also protecting your assets from potential frivolous lawsuits?  

The beauty of the U.S. legal system is that it allows everyday Americans an opportunity to seek justice. The ugly truth is that the legal system is routinely abused.  If there is money to be won, there is no shortage of lawyers willing to take frivolous cases on a contingency basis. This turns the thousands of ordinary people working to build financial security for themselves and their families into targets of predatory lawyers and lawsuit-obsessed citizens. 

One lawsuit could destroy everything. Even if you’re innocent, you could rack up a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars to defend a suit in the U.S. alone. Hundreds of millions of dollars is spent fighting frivolous lawsuits every year.

The good news: Asset Protection provides a legal ethical way to safeguard your wealth. With a proper plan, your assets can be protected to the point where a creditor can’t recover assets as a matter of law, and won’t as a matter of practicality.

How it works:

• Asset Protection plans should start off very simple and relatively inexpensive. It’s always better to do less and follow the structure than to attempt to do everything and do it poorly.
• Inventory your wealth, considering all your valuables, including liquid assets, properties, businesses, etc.  (Don’t be surprised when doing this that you have far more unprotected assets than you realized!)
• Select your most important asset and design the plan to protect it first and foremost. You can always add to the plan.  Start small and add firewalls and lawyers and your understanding and assets grow.
• A carefully crafted strategy of titling your savings, property business and other assets can shield you from lawsuits and provide you and your family with peace of mind before trouble ever strikes.

An Asset Protection plan doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get sued. It also doesn’t mean that you won’t lose should you face a lawsuit. What it does mean is that rather than lose everything in a wealth-threatening lawsuit, you can settle for pennies on the dollar. In this way, Asset Protection is a safety net – a legal, ethical way to protect your vulnerable assets and create impediments for your lawsuit-obsessed adversaries.

Protecting yourself will take time, effort and money; but protecting your assets is your best possible investment.  For more information regarding Asset Protection, Estate Planning, and Business Succession Planning follow our blog at: https://www.assetprotectionattorneys.com/Asset_Protection_Blog.aspx. You can also email us at info@assetprotectionattorneys.com or 561-953-1050.