Assets Protection

We now live in a lawsuit-crazy and financially risky world where we can easily and unexpectedly lose our assets. Each year, more families, individuals and businesses are suddenly and devastatingly bankrupted. And it can happen to you!

You, like so many others, may wonder what you can do today to protect your wealth from these mounting dangers. How can you achieve the lifelong financial security and peace of mind that you need and deserve? What must you do right now to defend yourself financially? These are all important questions, and ASHERON CORPORATION can structure sound asset protection planning now. Good planning in asset protection, as with most things, is the foundation for success.

Face one unfortunate reality as your first important step regardless of how safe and secure you now feel, without advance asset protection, your hard-earned wealth may well end up in someone else's pocket. Everyone flirts with liability and financial disaster, regardless of lifestyle, occupation or caution. Dangers can be minimized but never entirely avoided. There are simply too many ways in our over-litigious, over-regulated and overly hostile society to encounter nightmare financial troubles. Consider just a few of the more obvious dangers that may impoverish you next month or next year:

• A huge tax bill.

• A costly accident and negligence claim.

• Breach of an important contract.

• A lawsuit for professional malpractice.

• Creditor claims from a failed business.

• Nursing home or catastrophic medical bills.

• Lawsuits from disgruntled business partners or employees.

• Huge fines for violating a federal or state law.

• A lawsuit for defamation.

• Divorce.

• Governmental seizure and forfeiture of your property.

These only exemplify the many minefields that can unexpectedly wipe you out. And until it happens, you seldom realize how vulnerable your assets and your family's financial security really are. And until you do understand your vulnerability, you will probably take your financial stability for granted. If you are still unconvinced that a wealth-shattering event can happen to you, then consider the odds:

•             Over ninety million lawsuits will be filed next year in the United States. The odds that you will be the target of a lawsuit next year are one in four (a scarier one in two probability if you earn over $50,000 a year). Statistically, you are just about guaranteed to be the target of at least one devastating lawsuit within ten years. Are you under age 30? Prepare to defend against no less than five major lawsuits over your lifetime, and most likely many more. Lawsuits are now the American way of life and our courts are a glorified crapshoot with more than 700,000 lawyers looking for deep-pocket defendants. You very well could be their very next target.

•             Divorce: You may be very happily married today. Still, the odds are that you will someday divorce are depressing? No more so than the likelihood that the divorce will financially cripple you, whether you are husband or wife.

•             Own a business? Here's more unpleasant news. If your business is under five years old, it has an 80-percent likelihood of failing. What personal liabilities will this create? What assets will you lose?

•             Tax problems? Our crazy, unpredictable and unfair tax laws and an increasingly aggressive IRS will make tax troubles more and more common. Four million Americans are audited annually. Most are clobbered by huge tax bills. But there are many other opportunities to get into big trouble with the IRS. And when you owe the IRS you will most likely see how quickly assets can vanish. Twenty million Americans are now on the run from the IRS collection corps. What will they lose? What would you lose if the tax collector suddenly appeared at your door?

•             And then there are the unexpected bills. Can you afford enormous hospital or medical bills if you or a family member needed uninsured catastrophic care? Or what would happen if you lost your job, bills mounted and creditors came calling? U.S. bankruptcies have skyrocketed to a record 1.25 million annually, and they continue to soar. Two million Americans may soon go bankrupt annually. Will you become another statistic? And what would you then lose?

We’re not trying to depress you or discourage your attempts at life.  However, these and other dismal facts prove one point: Everyone is vulnerable to countless and unforeseeable legal or financial disasters. There is no surefire way to escape liability or losing your assets without smart planning and the professionals at ASHERON can help.

You MUST therefore adopt a defensive and realistic philosophy: Don't wonder if you will someday face these financial dangers. Ask when. Since you can never predict the answer, the only logical option is to anticipate financial crisis and build the strongest possible asset protection fortress before it's too late. Remember that financial crisis may strike tomorrow.

Many people feel uncomfortable with the objectives of asset protection. They believe asset protection is either illegal or immoral, a device to cheat creditors of their rightful due. You may see this advise as nothing more than a guide for certified deadbeats. But this is not the case at all. People seeking protection are neither crooks nor are they immoral. They are only savvy souls with a strong survival instinct. And they are taking advantage of the very laws designed and intended to protect against life's financial vagaries.

Asset protection, when properly practiced, is certainly not illegal. No, legitimate asset protection planning neither encourages nor permits illegal acts. You can and must

implement your asset protection plan, complying with all laws. This is the underlying rule to sound planning.

The ethical question is considerably easier to address because most claims are unjustifiable, inequitable or frivolous, even those that result in a court judgment. Americans are victimized by too many unfair and baseless claims. These unfortunate folks prove that while life cannot be without its risks, it is unreasonable to needlessly participate in a legal lottery where you can unjustly lose all that you own on a spin of roulette-wheel justice. To survive, you must adopt this same pragmatic attitude.

Asset protection is financial self-defense in its purest form. It combats the frivolous and harassing lawsuits against our most productive and affluent citizens and companies, the "deep-pocket" defendants who become perennial targets only because they have exposed wealth. The well-protected are less inviting targets for a lawsuit. The bottom line is that wealth is good and vulnerable wealth is bad.

You will join the growing ranks once you protect your assets. Only the poor or hopelessly oblivious are not protecting their assets or at least thinking about it from time to time. And many more attorneys enthusiastically, if not always competently, happily assist them. And this is why so many corporations, trusts, limited partnerships and a variety of other asset protection devices designed to achieve that mission flourish. The law endorses asset protection as a permissible and even desirable pursuit, as evidenced by the many laws created solely to protect assets so, protect yourself now before it’s too late.

The primary purpose of asset protection is to shelter all assets from all financial and legal threats. How you protect your assets will partly depend upon your other financial goals and objectives. We purchase insurance for almost every aspect of our lives so why not protect our future, family, and hard earned assets from those who want nothing but to take what you are working for?

Asset protection planning also requires the right professionals to balance your team. By reading this important information you have already taken the first step.  Now let ASHERON help you walk financial free from worry about tomorrow.

Most attorneys and accountants won't have or won’t provide all the answers. You must take your own counsel.  An example of this is right in front of every business owner in the US.  How many times have you started a business, consulted an accountant or CPA and asked them to structure your business so you do not have a large tax obligation at the end of the year, then only to hear them say later, “well if you had done things a little different you would owe less!” It’s like a doctor lighting a cigarette and telling you to quit smoking, it just don’t make sense. Frustrating huh?

A good asset protection plan protects everything you own. And it is common to overlook valuable assets. You may, for instance, mistakenly believe certain assets are automatically protected or overlook future assets, such as an inheritance. This may require your parents to revise their estate plan to protect your future inheritance from their creditors and your own. One goal is to protect both your present and future assets. What assets must you protect?

• Cash on hand

• Checking, savings or other bank accounts

• Life insurance

• Motor vehicles

• A home

• Investment real estate

• Stocks, bonds or other investments

• Stocks, equities or interests in private corporations, partnerships or other small businesses

• Notes or mortgages due you

• Savings bonds

• Accounts receivable

• Boats, airplanes and other recreational vehicles

• Options to acquire property

• Leases or leasehold interests

• Art, jewelry, antiques and other collectibles

• Beneficial interests in trusts

• Licenses or franchise rights

• Retirement and profit-sharing plans, IRAs, Keoghs, SEP-IRAs

• Tax refunds due

• Claims against others

• Inheritances and future interests

• Safe deposit box inventories

• Copyrights, trademarks or patents

• Expensive furniture, art and antiques

Estimate the value of each item and how each asset is presently titled (individually, tenants by the entirety, joint tenants, tenants in common, in trust, etc.). Specify your ownership interest in co-owned assets.

Review every sale or transfer of significant assets over the past five years and help your advisor to decide whether these transfers may be recoverable by creditors. Always anticipate inheritances or other prospective windfalls that may come your way and thus require protection. Finally, list all liens or encumbrances against each asset to determine the net equity remaining to protect.

Next, review your liabilities. Do you have:

• Real estate mortgages?

• Personal property mortgages?

• Tax liabilities?

• Unsecured loans?

• Secured loans on other assets?

• Charge accounts?

• Credit cards?

• Alimony or child support obligations?

• Guaranteed business debts?

• Other guaranteed or co-signed debts?

• Outstanding judgments?

• Potential or threatened claims?

This will allow your advisors to quickly evaluate your financial affairs. Good preparation always produces a faster and more easily implemented plan.

Next, compile the many documents that your advisors will require:

• Deeds and mortgages to real estate

• IRA, Keogh, pension and other retirement plans

• Life insurance policies

• Last wills and testaments, codicils and testamentary trusts

• Pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements

• Divorce and property agreements

• Savings and checking accounts

• Wills or trusts where you are a testator, beneficiary or grantor

• Ownership interests in closely held businesses include corporate or partnership documents and recent financial statements for each business

• Notes or evidence of other obligations due you

• Notes or evidence of other obligations you owe others

• Tax returns for the five prior years

• Leases

• Incomplete contracts

• Inventory of collectibles (antiques, jewelry, art)

• Titles, registrations and appraisals on autos, boats, airplanes and other vehicles

• Lawsuits or information concerning suits against third parties

• Lawsuits, judgments or potential claims against you

• Malpractice or liability insurance

• Applications for credit or loans within five years

If you own a business, also compile:

• Corporate books and records if incorporated, or partnership agreements

• Copies of all notes or loans between yourself and your business

• Guarantees on corporate obligations

• Life insurance policies owned by your company

• Financial statements for your business

• Business tax returns

Next, add your assets and subtract your liabilities to calculate your net worth. You may be considerably wealthier than you had estimated. But asset protection is not only for the wealthy. It is for anyone with assets that they would hate to lose. Wealth is relative. People with modest assets find it is no less devastating a loss.

Asset protection must do more than protect your assets. It must help you avoid lawsuits. While asset protection safeguards property from lawsuits and creditors, whether you are sued has more to do with apparent wealth than actual wealth. A lawsuit must seem worthwhile to the plaintiff.

People eyeballing your wealth for their pockets will find no shortage of available lawyers anxious to help. Professional litigants understand that most defendants will quickly settle rather than rigorously defend because lawsuits are costly. That's why lawsuits chiefly target the deepest pockets. It is the expensive car, fancy home and all the other trappings of wealth that encourage litigation. Live as comfortably as you can afford and enjoy your prosperity. However, a too ostentatious lifestyle waves the proverbial red flag before the bull. It simply attracts the wrong attention.

ALWAYS maintain a low profile!  That means to keeps wealth confidential and thus discourages nuisance lawsuits. It also helps you to settle those fewer lawsuits for considerably less than if the plaintiff believes he can get more because you are financially vulnerable.

Your financial camouflage should not, however, require you to live like a pauper. Nevertheless, a more modest home, less flashy car, fewer charitable contributions and less obvious jewelry will keep you less visible. And never boast about or needlessly discuss your wealth. In sum, you must avoid undue attention to your wealth, even if it unfairly diminishes the lifestyle you rightfully deserve.

Finally you must judgment-proof yourself before trouble strikes. Courts can unwind last-minute transfers. Asset protection should occur now before serious problems arise. But you must first anticipate financial trouble and accept your vulnerability. Only then will you take asset protection seriously.

Most people quickly seek asset protection only when prompted by a lawsuit or other temporary crisis. And the perceived need for asset protection usually vanishes with the threat. Most procrastinators eventually get hit with a financial disaster that never vanishes as easily as does their hard-earned wealth.

The two words ACT NOW are the two most important in asset protection!