Can you engage in asset protection after a lawsuit is filed? We need to deal with the situation the way it is, not the way we wish it was. Your best defense, is offense. That said, the bottom line is this: yes, you can set up asset protection after a lawsuit is filed. But it is much better to do it before finding yourself in a situation where they are at the mercy of the courts. Consider an Asset Protection Trust as the best way to prevent financial loss, should someone sue you or your company. Even better, you should open an Offshore Asset Protection Trust. By doing so, you put a qualified offshore trustee company / law firm in place to shield your funds when someone sues you.
Asset Protection After a Lawsuit is Filed
Trying to protect your assets inside the US after someone launches a legal attack against. It you simply doesn’t work in most cases. So, an international asset protection strategy is usually the more effective course. You have effectively taken your wealth outside of your local court’s jurisdiction. The trust has tied their hands from forcing the seizure of your assets; even after a lawsuit strikes.
Trying to protect assets inside the US after someone sues you simply doesn’t work. An international asset protection plan the key.
Think of this as a simple way to allow a tested professional to safeguard your funds. It is the strongest way to protect assets after a judgment. This is legal, and it’s not only legal, it’s smart.
Offshore Asset Protection Trust
Based on our management’s decades of experience, here are the most powerful and trusted offshore asset protection trusts. The Cook Islands trust and the Nevis trust. The Cook Islands are south of Hawaii. Nevis is in the Caribbean Sea. Both of these jurisdictions have clean reputations and powerful asset protection trust statutes.
In fact, our own CEO has a Cook Islands trust for himself and his family. We have set up more trusts in the Cook Islands than anyone in the world.
Your offshore trust will often own 100% of an LLC such as Nevis or Cook Islands Limited Liability Company. The LLC holds the bank account. This structure can offer you peace of mind you may not even have known existed. You are the initial manager of the company inside of the trust. You and are the signatory on the bank accounts until you need our licensed, reputable trustee company / law firm to step in to protect you.
Asset Protection 101
How it works is simple. Let’s break it down for all the asset protection newbies out there, and for those of us who like simple explanations. You have assets that you or your company have worked hard to attain. You don’t want someone to seize them in the event someone slaps you with lawsuit. Or maybe you need to protect your assets after being served with a lawsuit. Let’s face it, people like to sue these days. We’re here to help you understand how to outsmart those ill-intentioned plaintiffs.
Speak with a specialist (such as our company) about opening an Asset Protection Trust even before a lawsuit is filed. Simply placing your assets, legally, in an international offshore trust, keeps the bad people away.
Say a court decides that some of your assets would be useful in funding the plaintiff’s action. If you currently hold them in an Offshore Asset Protection Trust, the court can ask for the assets all they want. But the trustee of your assets, offshore, does not have any interest in losing your assets. Plus, they do not need to follow your local court’s orders.
Your assets are important to you. They are important to your, and your family’s livelihoods. By considering the suggestion above, you are also being defensive even before a legal attack. If the creditors, or some other entity is aware that you have an asset protection trust, let alone an offshore one, you have the upper-hand. Before turmoil even begins, you are discouraging aggressive plaintiffs from even pursuing you.
Riskier Profession Means Greater Need
Everybody runs the risk of being sued. Some more than others. An asset protection trust is critical for well-off professionals, especially those in high-risk positions. Medical professionals, lawyers, and architects are generally at high risk of legal attack. So, it is crucial to start planning this endeavor now, especially if your profession falls into a high-risk category. If not, there are ways to protect yourself after a lawsuit appears.
Family Asset Protection
In addition to business professionals, other at-risk individuals are children. When a teenager wrecks the family car the lawsuit can attack the driver and owner of the car. Both of these usually point the liability back to the parents. Another high-risk target is those who have inherited some form of asset. Those of you with children who have inherited large sums of money, or a home, or an estate, from their rich uncle, need to offer them some protection.
Children who have inherited riches have large bull’s-eyes on their backs, attracting lawsuits from ill-meaning poachers. Plus, they are likely financially inexperienced. As a result, history shows a tendency to quickly blow riches that they obtained easily. A trust with the children as beneficiaries can have protective provisions. For example, the trust can make distributions to pay for living expenses and education. Then it will divvy out certain percentages of trust assets at specified ages.
You Work Hard
Make Sure Your Opponent Has to Work Harder to Take It Away
So, it is obvious that there are people who will benefit from offshore asset protection trusts, as mentioned above. Consider your personal financial situation right now. It feels a little disconcerting knowing that your assets are probably out in the open. They are sitting there for the taking, should someone send just one aggressive lawsuit in your direction. It is clear that you could very well benefit from one of these trusts. And you would especially benefit if you are wealthier than average, and work in a risky profession.
As a physician, you likely worked 24-hour shifts during your residency. Heck, you likely have been on-call for 48 or more hours, time and time again. As a lawyer, you have invested critical hours of your life into your profession. You are likely just making it financially if you are right out of school. As an architect, your visionary outlook creates beauty in this world. None of those mentioned here deserve be victimized by a devastating lawsuit. Safe, and legal offshore protection trusts are your key to peace of mind, and security. It is one of the few ways you can protect your assets after someone has filed lawsuit against you.
Protect Assets After a Lawsuit
So, can you protect your assets after someone files a lawsuit against you? Yes, in most cases you can. Setting up your asset protection plan as early in the process as possible is the key. Those who snooze, lose.
Moreover, to secure assets after the fact, we often need to take advantage of international laws. As discussed, we often set up trusts in countries that give more priority to judgment debtors than do countries such as the United States, Canada, UK, and Australia.
The offshore asset protection trust in a secure and trustworthy country such as the Cook Islands or Nevis has proven most effective. However, much like a seatbelt, merely knowing you should use it is not going help you in a car crash. You must actually engage it.
Similarly, head knowledge about asset protection strategies is great. But it’s not going to protect your assets. To enjoy the peace of mind they give, you must set up the proper legal tools and use them. If you’ve gotten this far in the article, it might mean that you are seriously considering an asset protection plan. Perhaps you can benefit from speaking with our attorneys or consultants about setting up the legal tools you need to secure your wealth.
Interested? Call or fill out a consultation form on this page.