You have worked hard over the course of your lifetime, building your wealth to provide for yourself and your family. Unfortunately, our country is the most litigious society in the world. Over 50,000 lawsuits are filed in the United States every day. Anyone who has accumulated substantial assets or who is in a “risky” trade or profession is a likely candidate to be a defendant in a lawsuit.
Asset protection planning is designed to avoid the unnecessary exposure of personal assets to the claims of potential creditors. For an individual, business owner, or professional, it is important to create a strategy that protects your personal and business assets from liability and exposure. Our attorneys assist clients, their businesses, and their families in protecting their assets from future creditors and lawsuits through the implementation of a wide variety of legal tools.
Goals of an Asset Protection Plan
You are proud of the risks you have taken and the hard work you have done to provide for your family. The wealth you have built should ensure your future and that of your heirs. Unfortunately, your assets may make you a target for frivolous lawsuits. Whether or not you are truly liable for another person’s losses, you may be a target simply because you have valuable assets. If you work in a high-liability industry such as trucking, construction, or environmental remediation, you are even more susceptible to litigation.
When you work with our asset protection team, we will develop a plan to meet the following goals:
- Deterring litigation. If your assets are protected in trusts or with other legal tools, there will be no reason for a creditor or plaintiff to come after you. This can serve as a deterrent to frivolous lawsuits.
- Leveling the negotiation playing field. If you are named in a lawsuit, you will be on equal negotiating terms if the bulk of your wealth is untouchable.
- Early and cheaper settlements. When certain assets are off the table, it is much easier and less costly to quickly settle lawsuits and other legal issues.
- Providing the client with options. We don’t offer cookie-cutter asset protection plans. We will present a variety of options and help you choose the options that work best for your current needs and future goals.
- Creating a user-friendly asset protection plan. We do not use legal strategies that are so complicated and unusual that you can’t understand where your money is and how you or your heirs can access it. We set up your plan so that you can easily understand the legal rules.
When it comes to asset protection, your goals are our goals.
Who Should Consider an Asset Protection Plan?
You may not think of yourself as wealthy, but your investments, real estate holdings, insurance policies, and other assets may be worth more in total than you realize. You may also be in a position that makes you more vulnerable to lawsuits. We create asset protection plans for a variety of people, including the following:
- Professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and service providers.
- Business owners and executives.
- Persons who sit on the boards of directors of publicly or privately held corporations or charitable organizations.
- Spouses in a second marriage, or in a first marriage without a pre-nuptial agreement.
- Business owners contemplating the sale of a company.
- Businesspersons who have just sold a company.
- People concerned with passing wealth to children and grandchildren.
- People with “hot assets” such as airplanes, valuable real estate, etc.
There is no single type of person we work with on asset protection plans. Allow us to take a look at your situation to help you determine if you could benefit from our services in this area.
Schedule a Consultation Today
The St. Louis, Missouri, asset protection attorneys at The Kaiser Law Firm, P.C., assist clients, their businesses, and their families in protecting their assets from future creditors and lawsuits through the implementation of a wide variety of legal tools. Contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss asset protection strategies that may be helpful to protect your wealth from future potential creditors and lawsuits.