Deerfield Beach Asset Protection Attorney
Your assets can be vulnerable to attack from a number of different sources: creditors, lawsuits, taxes, divorce, injury or illness. Are there any ways to protect your valuable income and property from being taken from you? Surprisingly, there are. The practice of asset protection includes many methods to insulate your assets from creditors and others. Going about asset protection the wrong way can be ineffective and leave you worse off than before, and even in legal trouble. Instead, call the Law Office of Adam I. Skolnik, P.A., for practical advice and professional assistance protecting your assets. We’ll make sure asset protection is above-board, effective and appropriate to your needs. Our Deerfield Beach asset protection attorney helps clients from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton and throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties, so call today for a free initial consultation.
How Does Asset Protection Work?
Asset protection is not one thing in particular but rather a collection of methods to shield your assets from creditors safely and legally. Some of the main strategies for effective asset protection are described below.
Asset Protection Trust
Self-settled asset protection trusts can place your assets out of reach from creditors. Asset protection trusts can be offshore or domestic. These trusts are irrevocable and should be created by a knowledgeable and experienced asset protection attorney.
Special Needs Trust
Also known as a supplemental needs trust, a special needs trust provides a way for parents and grandparents to provide for a family member with developmental disabilities or other special needs, without jeopardizing their ability to receive valuable means-tested government services like Social Security or Medicaid. Money in a special needs trust is not counted as income to the recipient. These funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including housing, food, clothing, out-of-pocket medical costs, and even vacations and travel.
Medical Asset Protection Trust
If you are ever in need of moving to a nursing home or receiving long-term care, Medicaid can provide valuable financial assistance for this expensive service. Yet Medicaid is only available to people under a certain income threshold. When you fund a Medical asset protection trust, the money in the trust won’t be counted against you for Medicaid eligibility but is still yours to spend or invest.
Family Limited Partnership
An FLP provides a way to pass property from one generation to another without losing value to costly capital gains taxes. Parents or grandparents act as general partners and maintain control over the property, while children or grandchildren serve as limited partners, jointly owning the property and benefiting from its income.
Limited Liability Company
If operating your business as an LLC, business creditors can’t go beyond your investment in the company in pursuing debts of the company. Several steps are required to establish the LLC as an entity separate from yourself and make the most of this protection.
Prenuptial Agreement
With a premarital agreement, you can choose to keep certain property separate and excluded from property division in a divorce, even if the property would otherwise be considered marital property subject to equitable distribution. A prenuptial agreement can be a valuable tool to keep one spouse’s ownership interest in a business separate, for example.
Bankruptcy
Filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 puts an immediate stop to debt collection activities by your creditors, including foreclosure. Meanwhile, debts can be adjusted and eliminated in the bankruptcy proceeding. If you see bankruptcy on the horizon, start early with a bankruptcy attorney to make the most of the asset protection bankruptcy offers. Through careful planning, you can reduce the equity or value of a business or secured property in the eyes of the bankruptcy trustee and maximize the homestead exemption and other property exemptions. Making the wrong moves can make the bankruptcy ineffective or unsuccessful, so be sure to obtain quality advice from a qualified lawyer.
Asset Protection in Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton
Don’t wait until you are being sued by a bill collector to figure out how to protect your assets. Act now and take reasonable, effective steps to protect your property from the many ways it could come under attack in the future. Call the Law Office of Adam I. Skolnik, P.A., to discuss asset protection strategies. Our Deerfield Beach asset protection lawyer serves clients in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach and Broward counties.
