One fundamental difference between offshore and domestic asset protection planning is the court systems. This might actually be the root cause for why so many people seek out asset protection planning in the first place. The US court system is built for and serves to allow plaintiff attorneys (contingency fee attorneys) to take hard-earned money away from others. The ever-growing flow of frivolous lawsuits in the US, led to the creation of offshore laws and courts that provide more protections to the successful people targeted by these baseless lawsuits.
[Read more…] about One fundamental difference between offshore and domesticWhy is there a holding company in my trust?
A holding company is a common asset to have within an asset protection trust. The holding company can be beneficial for a number of reasons as we discuss in the video.
[Read more…] about Why is there a holding company in my trust?Should I have an offshore or domestic asset protection plan?
Another common question we get around here. To go offshore? Or stay entirely domestic? Offshore can be more expensive and require multiple IRS disclosures. Domestic planning has a track record of being ineffective and losing in court. The good news is you don’t have to choose all of one or the other. You can pick and choose the best of each to make a strong, effective asset protection plan.
[Read more…] about Should I have an offshore or domestic asset protection plan?Curb your frivolous lawsuit
Stupid lawsuits have made an appearance in pop culture! We were excited to watch Curb last night and see Larry suffering from the threat of a frivolous lawsuit.
[Read more…] about Curb your frivolous lawsuitHow long does it take to set up an asset protection trust?
Setting up an asset protection trust involves a couple of steps. The first is creating the trust itself. That takes on average 2-3 weeks. Clients in a rush have created their trust within 3 days. The next step is “funding” the trust. That means putting your assets inside of the trust. How long this takes will depend on the number and type of assets you have. If you decide to open any offshore accounts, please budget 2 months for the bank to finalize everything.
[Read more…] about How long does it take to set up an asset protection trust?Real Estate Privacy
While visiting a Cook Islands trustee office, I demonstrated to their team how I could easily look up US real estate ownership information online. They were blown away that our personal information is listed online for anyone to see. Why should someone have a right to know what home you own and where you live?
We speak with many people who want to remove their names from their real estate holdings for increased privacy and asset protection. It’s not hard to do. The catch is that for real estate you already own in your name, you can’t erase the record of ownership. There will still be a trace of when you owned the property. For true privacy in real estate, it works best if you never take ownership in your personal name.
[Read more…] about Real Estate Privacy