Asset Protection Planning

Throughout your life, you work hard to earn money, buy property, and build upon your legacy. Asset Protection Planning allows you to create legal documents that focus on asset protection so that you can safeguard what you’ve worked so hard to accrue. Unfortunately, several problems can occur upon your passing, and it’s easy for someone or something to threaten your assets. When estate planning, it’s vital to recognize what assets are, how you can protect them from judgments, and how our firm can help you every step of the way.

Assets can include

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Real estate property, such as homes, land, etc.

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Cars or trucks

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Stocks and bonds

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Bank accounts and cash

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Retirement plans and pension plans

Upon your passing, without the proper legal documents in place, a court will be the deciding factor with what happens to your assets. You want to ensure that you are doing everything you can to protect your assets from judgments and decisions made after your death and against your wishes. Our team at The Law Office of Nicole Israel, PLLC is here to explain your options and guide you through the process of Asset Protection Planning.

How to Protect Your Assets
from Judgments

Before you learn the ways to protect your assets, it helps to understand the ways in which you can lose your assets. Asset Protection Planning is for people who hold assets and understand the risks and what can threaten them. However, judgments against you or assets you own can cause you to lose everything you have worked so hard for. Many people lose assets because of debts owed and challenges to the will’s validity.

One of the most beneficial ways that you can protect your assets is by developing an asset protection trust. An asset protection trust not only safeguards your assets from judgments, but also for creditors and more.

An asset protection trust has three main parties: the beneficiary, a trustee, and a settlor. The settlor is designated to make ongoing contributions into the asset protection trust while the trustee is liable for distributing and managing assets. The beneficiary is the person who receives the assets from the trust. To ensure that the trust is legal and designed to protect the assets within it, make sure you speak with a lawyer who has significant experience in estate planning and creation.

Asset Protection Tips

While creating a trust can help with asset protection, there are a few other things you can do to help. Here are some tips that you can utilize throughout estate planning to protect your assets:

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Make sure you never fraudulently transfer any money or property. Never defraud creditors after a judgment has been made against you.

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Ensure you have the right insurance and that your coverage is designed to protect assets that you’ve worked hard for throughout your lifetime.

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Consider gifting your assets to children and other loved ones. Gifts to a trust or to family LLCs transfers ownership and limits liability exposure.

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Utilize your asset protection trust and ensure the trustee follows the outline to ensure assets are distributed as they should be.

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Consider joint ownership if you and your spouse share the asset or property. In many cases, jointly owned property can be protected.

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Understand your exempt assets and the best ways to utilize them in estate planning. Consider utilizing your assets in life insurance or annuities that have protection under law.

As part of the probate process, your assets may be sold in order to pay back creditors and other debts you owe at the time of your death. Utilizing the resources available to you can help you avoid this process completely, protect your assets, and see to it that your last wishes are followed.

Asset Protection PLANNING Lawyer

If you are unsure of how you can protect your assets on your own, it always helps to get a lawyer on your side who can explain your options. A lawyer is well aware that your assets are part of your legacy. You’ve worked hard to earn the things you own, and you shouldn’t risk losing them or someone other than your beneficiaries having them when you pass. Our team will be there to help you with the personalized solutions you need.

Our asset protection attorney at The Law Office of Nicole Israel, PLLC is here to help you every step of the way. We work hard to protect your assets because we genuinely care about you, your future, and your family. We will walk you through all options to protect your assets and create the legal documents necessary to safeguard your estate. Get our team on your side from day one, and we’ll be the trusted advisors you need moving forward.

Call us today to discuss your options for asset protection with our dedicated team.