Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Assets With an Estate Plan
We will provide you with a well-crafted plan that shelters and protects your assets and avoids costly litigation. We don’t do this part-time; we are your Philadelphia Metro Area Estate Planning Attorneys; it’s what we do!
I started drafting Wills during Desert Shield and Desert Storm while serving in the US Navy JAGC. I expanded on that experience by obtaining a Master’s in Taxation from the NYU Law School and then opening my practice focusing only on estate matters. Asset protection is an essential component in Estate Planning. As your Estate Planning Attorney, I will make the process as easy and pain-free as possible. But I will also craft a plan that best fits your needs at a reasonable price.
Our Estate Planning Process: We Make it Easy for You!
My goal is to be as efficient and time conscious as possible. I have developed a process after being an Asset Protection Attorney for over 25 years. I strive for efficiency. If you would like to assemble an asset protection plan, I would begin the process as follows:- Phone Call or Meeting: We set up a time to meet or speak on the phone. I know you are busy, so I will try to complete the task on the phone if possible.
- Preparation: Beforehand, you or your financial professional can send me your information or complete our online questionnaire.
- Estate Planning/Asset Protection Questionnaire: Don’t worry; most people don’t get much past filling in their names. The more you give me, the more efficiently I can make our time together. We have assembled asset protection questionnaires for single persons and married couples.
- Our Initial Meeting or Phone Conference: This questionnaire allows me to prepare for our call or meeting. We will talk about your unique situation, get an understanding of your asset protection goals and start outlining options that might fit your needs. In many cases, we decide on specific documents. I can then send you a summary and quote for drafting documents. If you agree, you instruct me to proceed, and I start writing. Easy! We then find time to review and sign the documents. Whatever and whenever is most convenient for you.
We Will Discuss the Following Topics When Developing Your Asset Protection Plan:
You will have specific concerns, but common goals and issues arise when assembling an asset protection plan.
Reducing or Avoiding State Income Taxes
Generally, a trust location determines where it pays income taxes. You can create trusts whose “situs” is a state which has low or no state income tax. While the assets grow, they pay federal income tax but avoid or pay a reduced state income tax. As experienced Asset Protection Lawyers, we consider all the tax ramifications when assembling your asset protection plan.
Locating Trusts in Other Locations That Do Not Favor Creditors
Generally, a trust is subject to the laws of its situs state. You can create trusts whose “situs” is a state whose laws favor the trust over creditors. Asset protection plans vary from state to state and country to country. After years of experience as an Asset Protection Attorney, I can help direct you toward the jurisdiction that best meets your asset protection goals.
Sheltering Your Qualified Plans (IRAs, 401ks, etc.) From Your Son-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law
We can help craft a plan that protects your qualified plans at your death from your child’s divorce and creditors, such as an IRA Trust.
Prenuptial Agreements
How to protect your assets in a divorce? Begin with a Prenuptial Agreement. A Prenuptial Agreement is vital to every estate and asset protection plan. A Prenuptial Agreement does not need to be confrontational. Communication about assets forms a solid foundation for all relationships. Our Asset Protection Lawyers can help assemble an asset protection plan for you.
Postnuptial Agreements or Antenuptial Agreements
Life continually brings changes requiring updating a Prenuptial Agreement. If you didn’t sign a Prenup, marriage has likely taught you that having a clear financial plan with your spouse is a good idea, so negotiating and signing a Postnuptial or Antenuptial Agreement can settle concerns that could simmer into disputes.
Cohabitation Agreements
Living with someone raises many questions, and breaking up can bring conflict and litigation. A Cohabitation Agreement can spell out obligations and settle concerns that could simmer into expensive disputes.
Reducing or Avoiding Death Taxes
It takes years to master all the taxes that affect Asset Protection strategies. A good asset protection plan considers Estate Tax, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Income Tax, and Real Estate Tax. We have many tools available, such as Asset Protection Trusts, such as an Asset Protection Dynasty Trust for your descendants and Asset Protection AB Trusts, Asset Protection SLAT Trusts, and more! Talk to our Asset Protection Attorneys and see what Asset Protection plan fits your needs.
Protecting Your Surviving Spouse
If your spouse inherits all your assets, your assets are exposed. Your surviving spouse might lose your money by remarrying or by running up bills. We have techniques that allow your spouse to enjoy the inheritance but shelter it from attacks, such as Asset Protection Disclaimer Trusts, Asset Protection Insurance Trusts, and Asset Protection Marital Trusts. Let our Asset Protection Lawyers help put asset protection law to work for you!
Protecting Your Heirs
We have techniques, such as Asset Protection Dynasty Trusts, Asset Protection Education Trusts, IOLTA accounts, and Asset Protection UniTrusts. These Asset Protection Trusts protect assets from your descendants’ divorces and creditors. Our Asset Protection Lawyers can draft the trust to allow your descendants to enjoy their inheritance and shelter assets from daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, as well as your children’s creditors and legal entanglements.
Planning for Illness or Disability
Our Asset Protection plans consider your needs should you ever become incapacitated or disabled. We will discuss various methods, including Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Revocable Living Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, and more.
Preserving Your Estate
We have plans, such as Asset Protection Plans, that focus on keeping your estate in the family. While you may have avoided divorces and legal actions that reduce estates, your children may not be as lucky. Our Asset Protection Lawyers can craft an Asset Protection Dynasty Trust or Asset Protection Education Trust to address your concerns for Asset Protection Security with the need for your descendants’ needs. Several asset protection strategies can keep assets in the family forever, free of your descendant’s creditors, spouses, and certain taxes.
Providing for Special Needs Heirs
If you have a Special Needs Person in your Life, we will review how to address providing for their needs without affecting their benefits. You can provide your special needs person asset protection security in several ways. We will examine options such as Asset Protection Special Needs Trusts, Asset Protection Special Needs IRA Trusts, and Protective Guardianships.
Family Complications, Such as Second Families and Ex-Spouses
Blended families raise specific problems (See our article on Estate Planning for Blended Families). We will discuss techniques such as Contracts to Will, Irrevocable Trusts, and Funeral Directives to avoid conflict and litigation while providing for your loved one’s needs.
Concierge Service: One Task or the Entire Process; It’s What We Do!
We are flexible. If you have a small change to your existing Asset Protection Plan or want a complete Asset Protection overhaul, an Asset Protection Attorney at our firm is ready to help. Our department has attorneys who only practice estate planning and asset protection. Exceptionally few practices can provide you with that depth of experience. Asset Protection and Estate Planning is what we do!
Asset Protection Frequently Asked Questions:
Can a creditor use an Inheritance to pay debts?
Leaving a child’s money outright without a protective trust becomes immediately available to creditors. Instead, your Estate Plan should include protective trusts such as a Dynasty Trust or Education Trust.
Can my child's ex-spouse take the inheritance from my child for child support?
Any inheritance you leave outright to your child, including an IRA, is subject to creditors. Unpaid child support is a creditor claim, so your child’s outright inheritance is subject to his ex-spouse’s claim. To shelter the estate from claims, you may want to develop several eligible Irrevocable Trusts. Let one of our Asset Protection Lawyers work with you to determine which trust addresses your needs. Dynasty Trusts are a standard tool, but specific terms must be crafted to protect your son.
Can my child's former spouse take the inheritance from my child for alimony?
If properly sheltered in a Dynasty Trust or some other Irrevocable Trust, your child’s inheritance is safe from his ex-spouse’s alimony claims. But there is no protection if you give your child an outright gift.
How to protect assets from divorce?
The best Asset Protection Plan for divorce begins before marriage, with a well-drafted Prenuptial Agreement. This might be an update of your Cohabitation Agreement or a new arrangement. If you didn’t negotiate a Prenuptial Agreement, or if your Life and assets have changed since your wedding, it is likely time for a Postnuptial Agreement. Other options, such as Revocable Living Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts, are available depending on your goals, assets, relationship with your spouse, and jurisdiction. Read more in my article about Estate Planning and Divorce.
How to protect personal assets?
Personal property assets include valuable jewelry, art, and less valuable family heirlooms. Depending on the item and the long-term goals regarding the item’s use, an Irrevocable Trust can be an excellent tool to protect personal assets. Our Asset Protection Lawyers can help determine which trust best addresses your concerns. See my articles about Estate Planning for Divorce, Estate Planning for Marriage, and Estate Planning for the Second Marriage.
How to protect assets from creditors?
Asset protection is best done before creditors exist. The best offense is a good defense. Assets can be put out of future creditors ‘ reach using a series of Asset Protection tools, including an Irrevocable Trust, such as a Spousal Limited Asset Trust. Once you have an existing creditor, the task becomes more complicated and will depend on the creditor and your particular assets. Let our Asset Protection Lawyers review your situation and help develop a sturdy Asset Protection Plan.
What is a Trust Fund?
We have all heard about trust fund babies, but how does one become a trust fund baby? A Trust Fund results from a well-organized Asset Protection plan where one person, usually a parent, sets up an Irrevocable Trust for a beneficiary, often a child or grandchild. These trusts shelter the assets from the beneficiary’s creditors and spouses but allow the trustee the power to provide for the beneficiary. These trust funds vary and can be crafted to address your particular goals.
What is a Self-Settled Trust?
A self-settled trust is an Irrevocable Trust where the person who created the trust is the primary beneficiary. Typically, one person makes an Irrevocable Trust, the Grantor, for the benefit of a different person. In most states, a self-settled irrevocable trust provides no creditor protection. An exception is the Self-Settled Special Needs Trust.
Reasonable Prices | Years of Experience ǀ We Make Asset Protection and Estate Planning Easier
If you have any questions about protecting your assets or any other estate planning topics, please contact us to schedule a free consultation. Everstead Legal has focused only on Estate Law for more than two decades. We’ve seen it all, and this experience allows us to explain complex estate planning techniques clearly and concisely. We make it easy for you to understand estate planning so you can make the best decisions for yourself and your family.
Fantastically easy and efficient team to work with getting our wills done. We will use Everstead again in the years to come. I highly recommend Everstead Legal
Prenuptial Agreements
