The principle goal of asset protection planning is simple: insulate assets from claims of creditors without concealing the assets or committing tax evasion. While it is generally impossible to absolutely shield assets, the focus of asset protection should be on making assets more difficult and more expensive for creditor’s to reach. Trusts are often effective vehicles to protect assets because they function by splitting the beneficial enjoyment of the trust assets from their legal ownership. This is the chief reason that trusts are widely used in asset protection. However, while not all types of trusts are effective asset protection devices, a properly drafted and structured trust can provide a very solid form of asset protection.
In this course attorney Jacob Stein details the key ways that trusts are used to protect assets from creditors. Mr. Stein also provides an overview of asset protection planning and presents numerous case examples of the use of trusts in asset protection. Further issues addressed include the effectiveness of asset protection, making assets more difficult to reach, the “Home Depot” asset protection method, hiding assets, determining what structure to use to protect assets, exemptions, personal residences, retirement plans, the types of assets that can be protected, real estate, the use of LLCs, assets & trusts, the limitations of trusts, the trust protector, the living trust, inter vivos trusts, irrevocable trusts, the key elements of a trust, the use of offshore trusts, the limitations of offshore trusts and dealing with income producing assets.
Mr. Stein is one of the nation’s leading experts on asset protection and is one of California’s best-known attorneys, teaching dozens of legal seminars each year on the subjects of asset protection and advanced tax planning. He is a Certified Tax Law Specialist and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Stein is the author of numerous articles on asset protection and tax planning, and is the author of Asset Protection Planning (Education Foundation, 2009) and Advanced Tax Planning Techniques (Education Foundation, 2009). He is an adjunct professor of taxation at the CSU, Northridge Graduate Tax Program, and has been an instructor with the California CPA Education Foundation and National Business Institute for many years. He is also a frequent guest speaker at various Bar, Estate Planning Council and CPA group meetings. Mr. Stein is admitted to practice in California and before the United States Tax Court.