Protecting Your Assets May be Your Most Important Decision

March 4th, 2010 | Posted in Uncategorized

A lot of people consider asset protection something people do when their net worth exceeds millions of dollars. They may think of Swiss bank accounts and tax havens and assume because they are working or middle class, protection is unnecessary. This is untrue! If you have any assets, it is important to have them protected. Homeowners need to make an effort to protect the equity in their home, especially if their state does not provide home exemptions. Cars and other personal property should also be considered and, you need to make sure these assets are safe. Again, massive wealth does not dictate protection. An engagement ring is a jewelry investment and your inheritance is an asset. Furthermore, you may have investments in savings or stocks and bonds, all of which may be at risk should you be found liable in a court settlement or attacked by creditors. In many instances, a Cincinnati bankruptcy lawyer can help you establish strong protection plan. Cincinnati bankruptcy lawyers often have knowledge about how creditors behave and what will be at risk should you not protect your assets. Speak with one about you options for protection and your risk without it.

While some believe offshore investing is illegal, others understand it is a great method of protection. There are numerous ways in which to utilize offshore options for protection. While creditors will have little problem discovering your offshore accounts, any ruling in a U.S. court concerning these assets will not hold up. The assets are covered under the laws and regulations of the host country.

The only way the creditors would have a chance to access these assets is if they traveled to that country, try the case there, and received a comparable settlement to what they were seeking in the United States. It is unlikely this will occur because it is time consuming and expensive.

Your other option, often known as the poor man’s asset protection, is to transfer your assets to someone else. This is risky, even when you are transferring to a trust family member. Should the relationship go astray, your assets go with it. Your enemy has legal ownership of your assets. There is also a risk of the creditors proving that it was a fraudulent transfer.

This means the court sees you transferred these assets for the sole purpose of avoiding paying your debt. While this is not illegal, the court can simply ignore or undo the transfer and you are back where you began. To avoid this accusation, make decisions about your asset protection long before a protection plan is put to use.

Connor Sullivan recently worked with a Cincinnati bankruptcy lawyer while conducting research for a new article. He was very impressed with the client relations conducted by the Cincinnati bankruptcy lawyers while he spent time reviewing their work. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.