Question for life gurus
- Thread starter Crabcake Johnny
- Start date
What about immediate annuities? The owner does not have access to the cash, only the income stream.
Creditors can attach at least a portion of the income stream but I can't imagine them wanting a lifetime monthly income. Can the courts force the owner to sell the annuity for the commuted value and then turn the proceeds over to a creditor?
- Thread starter
- #24
- 14,809
It's correct that in the end it's up to a judge. I watched a Dateline episode years ago showcasing a husband who's been in jail for years for refusing to disclose where millions of dollars are to his ex wife. His story is he lost all the money he had in business transactions and showed "proof" during the case. The judge simply doesn't buy it.
M
Macdaddy
Guest
Having been an entreprenuer for 10 years in a number of businesses I have had to learn a little bit about asset protection and practice it in my own life. Knowledge of this has helped me take the extra measures to protect my own assets plus gave me the knowledge on how to structure a lawsuit to go after the assets of a current debtor commercial real estate developer just a little over a month ago. He settled with me before his first response was due to the court.
I am not celebrating yet however. Not until he pays the debt on the payment schedule we have agreed to.
One of the things you can do is title your assets in seperate companies. I use LLCs. For instance my home is titled in a Delaware LLC. My bank and brokerage accounts in a seperate Delaware LLC. These LLCs can have your wife as being the 99% member/owner and you 1%, yet you can be the manager of the LLC, therefore you have full control of the assets.
The goal with asset protection is to make it as difficult as possible for someone to be able to attach to your assets. If all your assets are titled in companies, things become very messy. The goal (IMO) is NOT to defraud a creditor! ....but rather put you in a position of strenth to settle a claim on more friendly and reasonable terms.
If a creditor has to tie you up in court and hire attorneys to work to get at your assets then it will cost him a boat load of $$ and might net him much less money, or even nothing in the end but an attorney bill. He knows this and that is why he would be more likely to settle the claim early with you on your terms.
The downside to doing things this way is you do have to pay those darn LLC renewal fees every year, and opening accounts requires a bunch of paperwork and copies of your LLC operating agreement.
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M
Macdaddy
Guest
I am not an attorney, but I have learned from them, which is an expensive education.
M
Macdaddy
Guest
I am not sure about the actual specifics of the insurance products but Jay Adkisson does and it is probably talked about in his book, which I do not have. Jay also likes to form small offshore reinsurance companies for his clients as a asset protection vehicle and tax shelters as the investment income on a reinsurance company is non taxable. However this is only for clients with say 5 million (if memory serves me) or more to protect. This is a very popular vehicle for high income physicians.
M
Macdaddy
Guest
Probably the landmark Anderson case. http://www.assetprotectionbook.com/anderson_case.htm
It is an interesting read. Both husband and wife were thrown in jail for not repatriating the funds to settle a claim with the FTC.
- 11,280
ASset proetecting is about having control over assets and not owning them. Read that in a book last night
- 7,790
There is an ongoing case in the suburban Phgiladelphia, PA area (the Main Line----a very wealthy area) of an attorney who refuses to divulge where his assets are as part of a divorce settlement. He has been held in contempt and has resided in the county jail since 2000. He is still there and still stubbornly refuses to divulge the information. I believe he has set a record for the longest serving person incarcerated for contempt of court. Now there is a guy who sticks to his principles. I think the case is in the courts of Delaware County, PA.
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