Do You Own Rental Property? How Proactive, Comprehensive Estate Planning Can Help

A comprehensive estate plan should address all of your assets. For most people, an estate plan must include three common categories: (1) your home; (2) financial accounts, like your checking and savings account; and (3) personal property. Other types of assets – such as life insurance, retirement funds, and annuities – should also be considered as part of your estate plan. Continue reading

Once Again, If Charging Order Protection Closes the Door to Asset Access by the Creditors, the Courts May Open Another Door

September 20, 2017

The use of a limited liability company can provide what is known as charging order protection against creditors of individual members who have assets inside the LLC. Continue reading

The Double-Whammy’d Charging Order: Forget About Protecting the Assets in that LLC

August 21, 2017

Once again, the confidence one may have in relying on an LLC created in the United States as being the untouchable storehouse where assets can be safely tucked away, is misplaced. In the new ruling in the case of Peach REO, LLC v. Rice, Peach REO, LLC sought to attach the LLC interests that Malcolm Rice owned in various LLCs (in Tennessee, Mississippi and Delaware).   This attachment of the LLCs was through a charging order. Continue reading

Cautionary Tale: Charging Order Upon Death of Debtor, Losing All the Limited Liability Company Asset Protection Benefits

July 20, 2017

The Delaware Chancery Court has now ruled on the continuing asset protection aspect of a charging order against assets in a 49% owned LLC. In that court case, a charging order had been obtained by a creditor who wanted to seize the assets inside of the LLC. Continue reading

The Real Life Perils of Online and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Estate Planning

With the number of online and do-it-yourself (DIY) legal providers continuing to grow and advertise heavily, you may be wondering if you could do your estate planning with the help of these forms. The advertising is seductive. Ads say, “attorneys use similar forms,” “the cost is significantly less than hiring an attorney,” and “many of these websites and kits are created by attorneys.” Continue reading

Yet Another State Joins in Passing Asset Protection Trust Law

Effective in early 2017, Michigan will be the 17th state to enact self-settled spendthrift trust legislation. This new law will allow for the creation of trusts in Michigan under which the settlor (trust-creator/ grantor/trustmaker) can name himself or herself, along with one or more other beneficiaries, as a discretionary beneficiary of the trust, and as such, be eligible to receive distributions from the trust. Continue reading

Knowing the Rules, and Knowing They Won’t Change, Can be Helpful

The sixteen states that have passed asset protection trust law often compete with one another for business, each trying to woo individuals to use a trust company in that state to protect assets. An often-touted advantage of using one state over the others is that the “superior” state has the shorter statute of limitations Continue reading

Transfers to Cook Islands Trust Not Voidable

In a previous blog, we discussed the “Bellinger” case and how the court concluded that the debtor’s actions were defensible. To briefly recap the facts, this was the matter in which Mr. Bellinger had made transfers of about $1.7 million to a Cook Islands trust after he knew the primary obligors (on a promissory note that he had personally guaranteed) were defaulting. Continue reading

Contempt of Court Issue Raised in Asset Protection Trust Case

A case in the Southern District of Florida involved an individual who had guaranteed to a bank the repayment of about $5 million in debt obligations. The guarantor learned that the primary obligors on the debt were defaulting on the loan. Afterwards, the guarantor created, and transferred about $1.7 million in various securities and cash assets to, a Cook Islands trust. Continue reading

5 Mistakes Made by Successor Trustees (and How to Prevent Them)

When establishing a trust in Denver, you need to give serious thought to choosing your successor trustee—the person who will administer your trust once you’re no longer able to do so. Continue reading