Asset Protection Planning
No one plans on being sued. Just ask the 20 million people who found themselves in a lawsuit last year. We help you structure both your business and your personal life so you can pursue opportunity boldly while carrying as little worry as possible.
Our Approach
Divorce, inheritance disputes, health crises, creditors, employees, theft, shifting markets, malpractice claims, harassment allegations, natural disasters, and unhappy business partners are only a handful of the situations that can turn into ruinous lawsuits for families and business owners who weren’t ready.
The greatest exposure of all sits with the people who assume it could never happen to them.
Today, more than ever, Americans are worried about shielding what they’ve built from creditor claims, taxes, divorce, and every other kind of setback. That concern is well founded. The further you rise, the more visible you become, and the more others take notice of your success.
Here are a few examples of the “risky behavior” you might be caught up in right now without giving it a second thought:
- Are you about to sign loan paperwork, a personal guarantee, or a lease?
- Do you own rental property or have people on your payroll?
- Are you an attorney, a physician, or another licensed professional?
- Do you work in construction, or provide services to others?
- Are you divorced, or marrying into a blended family?
- Do you have children from an earlier marriage, or separate property of your own?
Here’s the thing. Every one of these is something we’d love to see you do more of. In many ways they’re what makes life full and interesting. But we don’t want your ambition and your activity to put what you’ve built at risk.
That’s where we come in. We can arrange your business and personal structures so you’re free to chase opportunity fully while keeping worry to a minimum, and we help each client figure out the right degree of asset protection planning for their own situation.
We Help
- Nuclear families, blended families, and non-traditional families
- Business owners and entrepreneurs
- Divorcees and widowers
- Professional service providers
- Landlords and tenants
- Anyone who wants to guard their hard-earned assets as fully as possible
What We Do
We work with you to design a plan that builds in as much asset protection as possible, layered onto the life and legacy plan we also help you create. We’ve organized our services into flexible options, and every fee is flat-rate and settled in advance, so there are never any surprises.
- Lifetime Asset Protection Trusts for your beneficiaries
- Domestic Asset Protection Trusts
- Qualified Domestic Trusts
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Foreign Asset Protection Trusts
- Family Protection Trusts
- Other Irrevocable Trusts, depending on your circumstances
About Sheri L. Kelly
Hello, I’m Sheri L. Kelly, your neighborhood Personal Family Lawyer® attorney.
What I’ve come to understand is that your legacy is about far more than wills and trusts, and far more than money. As your trusted advisor, I help you make the strongest possible legal decisions for your family, with the kind of guidance that used to be set aside only for those with tremendous wealth.
Our Life and Legacy Planning model covers what happens to your assets, and it also prepares you to pass along what matters most: your values, your priorities, your relationships, your life, your legacy.
Frequently Asked Questions About Asset Protection
Which kinds of assets can actually be protected?
Only certain assets are a good fit for an asset protection trust. Once you pinpoint which of yours qualify, you can move those valuable assets into the trust to guard them against creditors you may not even know about yet. That transfer protects the assets during your lifetime, and it also shields them from the IRS after you die.
There are trade-offs, though. These can include your existing or anticipated exposure to creditor claims, the personal control you give up over how an asset is handled once it is transferred, and possible gift tax consequences. Which assets belong in such a trust really comes down to your particular situation, including where you live, where your business was formed, and where your assets sit.
On top of that, some assets are considered exempt, meaning permanently protected from creditors, and each state draws that line for itself.
Do I need an attorney for asset protection?
In asset protection planning, the best outcome for you and everyone you love comes from working with a lawyer who deals with these situations every single day. You have spent your whole life building what you have, so we urge you not to trust an online form, a piece of internet software, or a fill-in-the-blank template to look after your family the way they truly deserve.
How much does asset protection cost?
Cost tops the list of questions in asset protection planning, and that is completely fair. For that reason, all of our fees are flat, so you know exactly what you are committing to, with no surprises.
We are unable to quote a price online or over the phone, because we first need to understand the specifics of your situation. Our Life & Legacy Planning® process is instead designed to help you settle on your own fee based on your family, your assets, and your goals.
Are my retirement accounts safe from creditors?
If you have a retirement plan, federal law keeps creditors from reaching it. That protection covers profit-sharing plans, pensions, and 401(k) accounts. Traditional and Roth IRAs, however, may or may not be protected depending on the circumstances. We work alongside you so you understand exactly where you stand in your own case.
Does asset protection genuinely work?
It does, provided it is done correctly. Asset protection rests on a simple principle: nearly any asset you own can be taken from you by a creditor, while an asset you do not own cannot. In essence, the strategy is about separating your ownership of an asset from your control over it, which lets you continue enjoying the economic benefits of your assets while keeping them out of a creditor’s reach.
One important caveat: we do not build plans meant to dodge a creditor who is already known or likely, because by that point this kind of planning has come too late.