          
          
          
                    An Introduction to Asset Protection
          
               One of the unhappy facts of financial life in our
          lawsuit-happy society is the increasing danger of being
          sued.  And if you should have the misfortune to wind up
          being sued, it could easily cost you your life savings. 
          Even if you win, the legal costs could still take
          everything you have.
          
               One of the best ways to protect yourself against
          such a calamity is to have a professional prepare an
          asset protection plan before any problems arise.
          
               Doing so is not expensive, and provides a great
          deal of assurance that you and your family will have
          the benefit of the money you have built up through
          years of work.  Asset protection plans are a relatively
          new area of law, prepared by lawyers who specialize in
          protecting what you own instead of litigation.
          
               Asset protection plans are not only for the
          wealthy.  An asset protection plan can be relevant if
          you drive a car, have children, own a business or
          simply want to pay less taxes.
          
               It can come into action in the event of an auto
          accident, if someone injures himself at your business,
          or possibly in the case of a divorce.
          
               A restaurant owner could easily be at risk, if,
          despite his or her best efforts, a patron drinks too
          much and is involved in a drunken driving accident.  An
          asset protection plan could protect the owner's
          personal wealth from a lawsuit even if insurance did
          not.
          
               Similarly, a doctor is at risk of malpractice,
          regardless of the level of the care provided.  Awards
          in those cases routinely exceed the amount of insurance
          coverage.  An asset protection plan could keep the
          difference from coming out of the doctor's personal
          assets.
          
               Asset protection is different from traditional
          retirement or estate planning.  It is the protection of
          your family and business from risk, by including
          lawsuit protection with complete financial planning.
          
               Most financial planning is intended to help you
          establish wealth so you can retire, and pass on as much
          of that wealth as possible to your family after death.
               Asset protection plans include estate plans but
          also help you keep your wealth while you are alive. 
          They often involve legal structures such as family
          limited partnerships, children's trusts, exempt assets,
          offshore trust arrangements and living trusts.
          
               More lawsuits are being filed today than at any
          time in history.  There are 850,000 attorneys that must
          be kept busy in the U.S.  That is 7 times more
          attorneys than IRS agents!  That is 70% of the world's
          lawyers.  These charlatan lawyers are on your TV luring
          all to come forth and sue anyone with assets worth
          taking.  You don't sue people, but the urge to get rich
          quick is too much for some.
          
               Lawsuits are filed in the U.S. with such reckless
          abandon that a little averaging would indicate every
          man, woman and child will be sued the equivalent of 5.2
          time in their lifetime.
          
               In fact, the odds of your losing a lawsuit exceed
          63%, and the trend is rising.  
          
               You cannot buy enough insurance, and many types of
          claims cannot be insured against at all.  Ask Domino's
          how well their liability insurance covered the $79
          million awarded to the woman hit by a delivery truck!
          
               Other threats to your assets include bankruptcy
          filings, taxation, insurance company failures or bank
          financing. 
          
               Many small businesses are finding that critical
          financing is being canceled simply because their bank
          has been sold or merged and no longer wants that type
          of loan.  The loan payments may be current, but if the
          bank has been sold, or taken over by federal
          regulators, they may demand immediate payment of the
          loan, destroying the business. 
          
               If someone slips and falls in a business, or if a
          car taps their car's rear end, they react like they
          just won the lottery.  If an armed thug breaks into a
          home in the dead of night, slips on a child's marbles,
          and breaks a leg, he can sue and likely win.
          
               Asset protection plans are fully legal.  It is not
          something for people who might want to avoid the law or
          their responsibilities.  The law is clear as to what is
          permissible and what is not.  Asset protection simply
          gives protection against unfair lawsuits and gives you
          a level playing field to operate from.
          
               The goal is to structure the plan so you never
          have to misrepresent yourself or worry about the
          legality of the plan.
          
               Asset protection is a hot topic these days.  Which
          means that you need to be extremely careful -- the
          waters are full of sharks.  
          
               Seminars on asset protection are being held across
          the country, usually to try to sell the wealthy on the
          need for immediate (and expensive) protection.  Many of
          the techniques are valid -- though many are not -- and
          they can work just as effectively for the non-
          millionaire with assets to protect.
          
          
          
