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Asset Protection
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HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF?
The best solution is to strip yourself of all assets and become what is known as "judgment proof" amongst the personal injury trial lawyers.
Most lawyers charge their clients no direct fee for filing a personal injury lawsuit. This is known as a "contingent" fee. It means that the lawyer will collect no fee unless he wins the lawsuit and can collect the court awarded judgment amount.
Before a lawsuit is filed, a careful lawyer will research the defendant's ability to pay a court judgment. If the defendant is "judgment proof" meaning he has no insurance, no ownership of assets that can be seized to pay off a court judgment; the lawyer will not want to sue that defendant. That's because the lawyer will spend all of his time and money pursuing a lawsuit with no hope of ever getting paid.
So, how can you make yourself Judgment Proof?
OFFSHORE CORPORATIONS, TRUSTS & PRIVATE INTEREST FOUNDATIONS
Owning a corporation set up in your own country may provide a little protection. However, a domestic corporation can be sued as well. In addition, your shares in a corporation are assets in which a judgment creditor can seize.
OFFSHORE CORPORATION: A better solution is to set up a corporation outside of your country (offshore). An Offshore Corporation can own real estate and vehicles in your country. For even better protection, set up different Offshore Corporations so each owns one of your major assets. For instance, one corporation owns your cars, another owns one piece of real estate, and another owns different real estate. As the old saying goes: "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket."
Therefore, use Offshore Corporations to purchase your homes, office buildings, apartments, condos, raw land, and vehicles. The corporations then rent them back to you. Now you are no longer the owner of these assets. They are owned by Offshore Corporations. You are merely a tenant.
Remember this, it is important that you sign a written lease agreement (preferably in front of a Notary Public) for these properties and duly Record them with the correct state or government agency requiring you to do so. For instance, a notarized Lease Agreement properly describing the real property must be filed with the appropriate county, state, or provincial government office.
Now you have written proof that you are not the owner of the real properties and vehicles which you are using.
Also, remember to always pay your rent. If you have a written rental agreement which you violate by refusing to pay rent, it can be declared a sham by the courts. All of the rent you pay will be deposited into your Offshore Corporation's foreign bank account.
As for cash, deposit as much money into the Offshore Corporation's foreign bank account as you can. These cash assets will also be protected from any court judgment against you.
ONE WEAKNESS: While an Offshore Corporation can legally own and rent your assets back to you, there is still one weakness when it comes to Asset Protection. The corporation's shares may be in your name, or if they are in a form called "Bearer's Shares", they are still in your control. The IRS and most countries' Revenue agencies require you to disclose any ownership in foreign corporations and bank accounts. In addition, a court could order such disclosures in a lawsuit.
You can avoid this weakness by having all of the Offshore Corporation's shares held by either an Offshore Trust or a Private Interest Foundation. Then you can truthfully tell the IRS, Revenue and courts that you do not have ownership in any foreign corporations or bank accounts.
IMPORTANT: Before you set up Offshore Corporations and transfer assets to them, here is one more important fact. You must transfer your assets before you get into legal trouble or become exposed to a lawsuit.
FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCE: This is a legal term for someone who tries to hide assets from creditors knowing that a lawsuit has or will be filed against him. It is an attempt to illegally hide assets. Such assets will not be protected from a court judgment.
If assets are transferred before any act which arises into a lawsuit occurs, those assets will be protected. In other words, create your Offshore Corporations now and transfer ownership of your assets to them before you get into trouble.
CONCLUSION
Asset Protection is necessary in today's lawsuit crazy world.
While the steps we have summarized for you above may seem difficult and complex, they really are not. That's because using experts who know how to set up Offshore Corporations, Trusts and/or Private Interest Foundations will make this easy for you.
Protect Your Ass(ets) and feel better for the future!
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Steven Rich is the Marketing Manager for www.panama-offshore-services.com Panama's leading creator of Offshore Corporations and Private Interest Foundations since 1998. We can be reached by Phone at: ++(507) 236 - 8303
Toll Free from the USA: 1 - 800 - 716 - 3452
Our e-mail is: info@pos-inc.com
© COPYRIGHT, 2006 Steven Rich, MBA All Rights Reserved
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