It's Foolish To Risk Losing Everything

Without an Asset Protection/Estate Plan, you're taking the chance of losing everything you own.  You've worked hard all your life to acquire your piece of the American Dream, no matter how big or small that piece may be.  You've sacrificed to accumulate the investment seed money that you have and are dedicated to increasing your net worth and your securing your family's financial security. 

Without an implemented Asset Protection/Estate Plan Your front door is wide open, so anyone can walk in, take what he or she wants and walk out? 

Wake-Up and Take A Serious Look Around

Become aware that our society is a lawsuit-crazy and financially risky world where you can easily and unexpectedly lose your assets.  Each year, more and more families, individuals and businesses are legally attacked and devastatingly bankrupted.  And it can happen to you! 

Today's world is filled with lawsuits, taxes, accidents and financial risk taking.  No matter how safe you feel you can never be certain that the assets and security you have built-up over a lifetime will not suddenly be taken away from you tomorrow by some unscrupulous predator no matter what occupation you have or lifestyle you lead. You are so close to financial disaster that you have to regard the possible occurrence as more that just a potential liability. 

In today's world, if you do not have an asset protection plan, you are certainly more vulnerable than you think. No matter how large or small of an estate you have amassed, you need an asset protection plan. You need to protect what you do have. 

Without Asset Protection You Could Lose Everything !

Face just one of the following unfortunate reality's and regardless of how safe and secure you now feel, without an asset protection plan implemented in advance, your hard-earned wealth may well end up in someone else's pocket.  Everyday you flirt with liability and financial disaster, regardless of lifestyle, occupation or caution.  There are simply too many ways in our over-litigious, regulated and overly hostile society to avoid the encounter with nightmarish financial troubles. 

Consider the two main categories of dangers that may impoverish you next month or next year: Lawsuits and Government.

Protect Your Assets
From Lawyers & Lawsuits

You know we live in a "litigious society." But do you now what that means to you?

Lawsuits are now the American way of life and our courts are just a glorified crap-shoot with 700,000 lawyers looking for deep-pocket defendants. The rising tide of frivolous litigation filed by plaintiffs and their lawyers has created an omnipresent threat to anyone with a positive net worth.

One in three Americans will be involved in a lawsuit sometime in their life. The staggering cost in attorney's fees to defend a lawsuit is many times more onerous than the potential outcome of the lawsuit itself. In the past, lawsuits were filed when a point of law needed to be clarified or the amount of a damage claim needed to be decided by a jury, but that's changed. Because judges lack the backbone to assess plaintiffs and their lawyers, for attorney's fees sustained by the defendants in frivolous or groundless lawsuits, there are legions of underemployed lawyers who have turned a lawsuit into a live hand grenade.

Roll it into a room full of defendants
and see who will pay.

Don't wait until you're a defendant in a lawsuit or the target of an IRS investigation to consider protecting your assets. If a creditor has a legitimate claim against an identifiable asset, it may be against the law to transfer or sell that asset. Most states endorse the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act that prohibits a debtor from transferring his assets with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor. You've got to protect yourself before the storm approaches, not in the middle of it.

The following statistics are a little scary

• Twenty million lawsuits will be filed next year in the United States which is more than all the lawsuits filed in the world.

• Nine out of ten lawsuits in the world are filed in the United States. A new lawsuit is filed every thirty seconds.

• If you own a business or practice a profession, you have one chance in three of being named a Defendant in a lawsuit in the next year. And it only gets worse. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 law students in school right now

• If you earn less than $50,000 a year, the odds are one in four that you will be the target of a lawsuit next year, and if your income is over $50,000 your odds increase to 1 out of 2

Statistically, you are virtually guaranteed to be targeted by at least one devastating lawsuit within ten years. And if you are under the age 30, prepare to defend against no less than five major lawsuits over your lifetime, and most likely many more.

The rising tide of frivolous litigation filed by plaintiffs and their lawyers has created an omnipresent threat to anyone with a positive net worth.  You may be their very next target.  Lawsuits can be originated by real or imaginary events, and can be deserved or frivolous. The scary reality is that any one of the following events could leave you in debt and penniless:

• A negligence or injury claim, whether justified or not, by you or family member, or even an employee that exceeds any insurance coverage you may have

• A member of your family seriously injuring or killing someone in a car accident

• Breach of contract through no fault of your own

• A professional malpractice suit or business conflict

• If you are married or get married, you have a 50% chance of getting Divorced.

• Claims from creditors should your business fail

• Loan Guarantees

• What is the chance of someone being injured on your personal property? Or your rental properties?

• Are you a Business Owner, Corporate Officer, Manager, or an employee? What's the chance of a negligence claim? A sexual abuse charge? A race bias suit? Even if you are innocent, these frivolous charges could cost you everything.

• Nursing home or catastrophic and unforeseen medical bills

• Bankruptcies

If you are a business owner, as well as an officer or director, or if you are involved with rental or commercial property, real estate development or a builder, or you have obvious exposed accumulation of assets including retirement funds, pension funds, or IRA's, you are what the legal community considers a deep pocket defendant.  You are a virtual magnet for a never-ending barrage of tremulous claims, lawsuits, and forfeitures.  Your potential liability could be in the millions of dollars, which can easily exceed the amount of insurance coverage.

You are left open to such wide claims as negligence and product liability lawsuits, claims by customers, as well suppliers, employees, lenders and business competitors.

You also face potential litigation of government agencies such as the IRS and the EPA just to name two.  These claims can easily lead to financial devastation, by distracting your offensive attention to your business or profession to defending your assets.  These types of cases can drain the company and you of all financial resources. 

A few years ago, a young, smart plastic surgeon came in that didn't have any assets. In fact, he was in debt for his student loans and other expenses incurred while he learned to be a doctor. But he had recently joined a medical group of other plastic surgeons and was confident about his financial future.

We formed two Nevada corporations and one offshore corporation to own or mortgage any real estate he had and to hold any other liquid assets he intended to acquire. As the years ticked by, he bought a house, leased a new Mercedes, and set up an offshore stock brokerage account. He maintained each of his corporations, keeping them in good standing, and always used us as his nominee officer and director.

A few months ago we had lunch and he showed me a thick stack of legal pleadings naming him as one of the defendants. The plaintiff was a disgruntled patient of one of the other surgeons in the medical group. Her breast enlargement wasn't big enough, allegedly causing her pain and suffering, emotional distress, and a dysfunctional sex life. Although my client had never even seen this patient, her lawyers were careful to name all the doctors in the group, hoping for a larger settlement.

Although the medical group carried liability insurance, each of the doctors still had some potential personal liability. Further, the more the insurance company was required to pay, the more their premiums would go up. Our doctor went on to explain that before any answer or responsive pleading was filed, his attorney explained to plaintiff's counsel that he had no assets. Counsel for the plaintiff laughed and turned the matter over to a private investigator. After searching the Internet, real estate and banking records, and obtaining a complete credit report, counsel for the plaintiff grudgingly was forced to admit that the doctor owned nothing. The case against my client was quietly dropped.

His timing and foresight were impeccable. To this day he carries on as a plastic surgeon with a minimum of malpractice insurance, doing the work he genuinely loves.

Government

Currently, the fastest growing threat to your wealth is the federal government.  Between the years of 1985 and 1995, government seizures increased by 2,000 percent according to a congressional report.  Yet, according to government watchdog groups, 80 percent of those who have had their property seized were never charged with any crime. 

ASSET FORFEITURE: If you are a US Citizen or foreigner living within the US with property or financial assets located in the United States, you should be aware of the threat of civil asset forfeiture.  Over the past twenty years, the federal government has quietly increased its police power to confiscate your real and personal property.  Almost every activity can be construed to be a crime, if the government wants to.  All they have to do is allege that the target asset was somehow used or involved in some ambiguous criminal activity and the asset can be seized without notice.

TAX PROBLEMS

Our unpredictable, insurmountable, crazy and unfair tax laws are incomprehensible even by the professionals.  Simple tax problems can become an everyday nightmare as the ever increasingly aggressive IRS, utilizing Gestapo tactics, make rules as they go.  About 4 million Americans are audited by the IRS each year.  If you are audited, you stand to lose.  If you lose, the IRS can attack your home and estate, if they are not protected with an Asset protection plan. In many states, Homestead protection only protects a small amount of your existing equity leaving it vulnerable to creditor and IRS attack.  In most cases, without protection, the creditor's and the IRS can attach your IRA's, pension and retirement funds.

DEVASTATING FINES

With ever-increasing federal laws and regulations controlling every aspect of business and business behavior, we are left increasingly open to huge and devastating fines for violating state or federal laws and regulations by uncontrollable actions of employees.

With contingency based lawsuit's, eroding civil liberties and legal constitutional rights, strong handed government techniques leave you in a position where you can be sued or have your assets confiscated or frozen for the most obscure and unexpected reasons.  Even if you win and overcome that frivolous lawsuit or illegal Government action, you are still liable for your own legal fees and costs which can be stifling. 

Without an Asset Protection plan in place, your assets can be frozen during court proceedings and made inaccessible for years, leaving you penniless to defend yourself.  Without access to your financial reserves, you can find yourself sitting and watching helplessly while your once stable world crumbles around you.  The legal system can be slow, ineffective and expensive.  Even small nuisance lawsuits can result in tens of thousands of dollars in legal cost plus hundreds of hours of personal time.  There are many individuals who make their living filing frivolous lawsuits knowing that with the tremendous expense for the defendant, it is many times cheaper for the defendant to settle rather than to fight it in the courts. 

An appropriate asset protection plan will leave you in control of your assets, not the courts.

The primary goals of asset protection is to legally shield assets from the reach of creditors, however this primary goal can have the following component objectives:

The benefits of a properly structured and implemented asset protection/estate plan is the potential reduction of income and capital gains taxes, bullet proofing your assets, elimination of probate, and reduction of outrageous estate taxes upon your death.  But more importantly, Peace of Mind.  As Americans we all want lifestyle protection, peace of mind, financial security, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

DON'T GET CAUGHT WITH YOUR PANTS DOWN

Without proper structuring of your affairs your maximum personal income taxes could range upwards of over 40% and estate taxes up to 55% or higher and just one single adverbial judgment can take 100% of your assets leaving you penniless and in debt.  

Asset protection is financial self-defense in its purest form.  It combats the frivolous and harassing lawsuits against our most productive and affluent citizens and companies, the "deep-pocket" defendants who become perennial targets only because they have exposed wealth.  The well-protected are less inviting targets for a lawsuit.  

The bottom line is that wealth is good. 
Vulnerable wealth is bad.

Guarantee Your Complete Financial Privacy

Camouflaging your assets is the first step to implementing any asset protection plan. Remember, if a federal judge can find an asset, he can seize it.

Conversely, what he can't find, or doesn't know about, he can't touch. 

A client, who we'll call Gino, made his money in the "adults only" business. He's close to seventy years old and lives in a beautiful, but modest home overlooking the ocean in Santa Barbara, California. The house is tastefully appointed and stuffed with mementos he has collected during his extensive travels. He rents the home from a Bahamian corporation and sends his monthly rent payments to the offshore bank account of the landlord company. He drives a leased Lexus (not a new one) and routinely eats lunch at Brophy's restaurant in the marina (cioppino, no cheese) where he always pays with cash. His favorite activity is golf. He carries a respectable sixteen handicap and hates slow play. So, he plays anytime he wants as a guest of a corporate member of a private country club. He always has "two inches" of cash in his left pocket. See, Gino loves to play gin rummy at a buck a point with anyone foolish enough to think he might be an absentminded old man. He files all of his tax returns religiously and tips service people generously. Everyone knows his first name. If you won a lawsuit against Gino, you might be able to seize his golf clubs, but that's about it. He carries an offshore debit card in a corporate name that works in any ATM machine. Financially speaking, Gino is invisible. Psychologically speaking, Gino never worries about lawyers, or the IRS, or much of anything else for that matter.

Personal privacy, especially in financial matters, although constitutionally protected, is routinely violated by collection agencies, private investigators, and the government, especially with the advent of the Internet. The following records are routinely accessed about a debtor's assets and personal life: