Saturday, February 1, 2014

How Asset Protection Planning Is Carried Out

By Serena Price


Asset protection involves the use of legal mechanisms and laws to protect assets of individuals and businesses from the judgements of the civil money agencies. On the other hand, asset protection planning is used for protecting assets from creditor claims in line with tax policies and concealment. If a person is facing a monetary judgement, he/she would even become bankrupt in attempts to repay it. In this manner, he would require a comprehensive protection plan in order to keep the assets away from creditors.

Common planning techniques used to protect assets include retitling certain assets, maximization of IRA contributions, using a family partnership, moving funds to a trust, or using a limited liability company for families. A lawyer is usually required to help the in developing a protection plan for the assets. He/she intervenes in the discussion of short term and long term financial targets as well as assisting the client in developing an asset protection plan.

Usually, the plan is only operational in cases where there is no any pending lawsuit. If a lawsuit is already in place, the court cannot defraud the creditors. In fact, an asset protection plan should be put in place before a lawsuit is issued. For example, in case a person has been and attempts to evade the creditors by transferring the assets, the court cancels it and reverses the whole process.

There two major goals associated with creating the plan-short and long term goals as well as specific estate planning goals. Assessing the short term and long term goals, for example, makes the person learn about several factors. These include; both current and future sources of income, amount of money required for retiring, as well as the amount of money to be allocated to the heirs in case of death.

After examining financial goals and developing a comprehensive financial plan, all the existing assets can be reviewed to exempt them from the creditors. If the assets are not exempted from creditors, they can then be prepositioned. A financial plan is used to preposition assets that a person may be intending to acquire in the future by protecting them from potential creditors.

Once the financial plan is in place, the net worth of both current and future wealth to be accumulated can be calculated.This information enables an individual to develop a comprehensive estate plan, which is used to address other issues such as who will take care of the person if he/she became mentally challenged. The plan also addresses other issues like who will take care of the family and assets if the person dies unexpectedly.

There are specific estate planning techniques which can be used in the overall plan. The main protection programs used are family liability companies and irrevocable trusts. They are collectively used to take care of the person, family and all the beneficiaries.

Once the financial goals have been integrated with the goals for estate planning, an asset protection planning is carried out. This also involves positioning or prepositioning all the assets to be protected with an attorney. Thereafter, the client can hold negotiations with the creditors. You should however ensure that the person you have consulted in experienced and certified to carry out these duties.




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