Offshore Asset Protection Services
Offshore asset protection includes the use of many powerful legal structures. You can utilize a foreign jurisdiction's legal statutes to protect your assets. In these cases the "deterrent" can be even stronger with foreign law on your side. An attorney will generally measure the chances of success and the value of the assets that are available and weigh that against how difficult the lawsuit will be to win and to subsequently collect on the judgment.
Most high-profile trial lawyers will tell you that forming a U.S. corporation may work well when your business is sued. However, when you are sued personally, your assets are still within reach. In addition, when a business lawsuit takes place, the U.S. corporate veil may be pierced and judgments are rendered against the corporation and any of the officers or directors. Researching the right asset protection service, on or offshore, is a huge step in securing your financial privacy.
In many cases the U.S. Corporation has to be operated according to state statute in order to maintain the layers of protection. Moreover, all corporate formalities must be adhered to. Otherwise, the U.S. corporation may be deemed a corporate shell and the owners, officers and directors may be exposed. By forming a corporation offshore as one of the tools in your asset protection service, you have a legal entity to hold assets of which only you know the beneficial owner.
For maximum protection and financial privacy through legal structures, offshore entities in many jurisdictions offer much more powerful laws that can be leveraged to your benefit. This is a primary reason why offshore structures are components of middle to high end asset protection services.
There are offshore jurisdictions that frown on frivolous lawsuits. You can take advantage of these statutes by owning such an entity. Consider if an attorney were pursuing your offshore entity, he/she would either have to hire legal counsel within the jurisdiction itself or in some cases, post a non-refundable bond in excess of $25,000 to have the case sent to a review panel for screening. The board reviews the case and unless the chances of actually going to trial are strong, the case will be dropped on the spot and the deposit may be forfeited. This is certainly a strong deterrent against legal predators.
Protecting Your Assets Offshore
By establishing several asset protection vehicles you can create a judgement proof plan and remain entirely confidential. The key elements here using only offshore tools are an offshore trust that will own 100% of your LLC, also offshore. Now these two components work together and the controlling element is that you are the manager of that company. When the trust is set up properly, the trustee immediately removes the manager from duty when necessary (bound by the terms of the trust) until any legal duress has passed. This allows you to maintain control over all of the day to day activities and the assets held within the trust. Since only management duty is transfered, and not the assets, in the event of legal duress, there isn't any fraudulent transfer of assets.
Privacy Service
Privacy is another layer of protection with offshore services. The entire list of top recommended jurisdictions would not disclose the names of the owners to any foreign government, unless an act of terrorism or criminal atrocity has taken place. This allows your assets to be owned by an offshore company that you control. It provides privacy from prying eyes and your legal enemy is unable to find your bank accounts and other assets. This arrangement, therefore, makes you a poor prospect for a lawsuit.
The largest benefits are privacy of ownership and the non-recognition of foreign judgments in these offshore jurisdictions. Should you still be still be sued and lose, the foreign country can simply not honor the judgment, and a U.S. court does not have jurisdiction over the foreign country therefore cannot force compliance with the judgment. Additionally, when a U.S. resident is awarded a judgment, the IRS will often tax the value of the assets awarded, meaning that your legal enemy may be forced to pay taxes on assets that he/she will never see.
Once the plaintiff sees the uphill battle involved plus the enormous cost out of his/her own pocket, he/she may either reevaluate the merits of filing a lawsuit or settle for a fraction of the settlement he/she may have received in a U.S. Court. This is a strong layer of protection and can be achieved by simply implementing an service plan offshore.