Asset Protection: Planning Against Attacks

There are a number of law firms on the internet that advertise asset protection plans and packages for sale. Unfortunately, these firms are only to happy to sell their clients asset protection plans that are incomplete or lack the ability to provide you with an early warning system should you come under attack. If your asset protection plan does not provide you with advanced warning before your assets have been frozen then it is not a professional plan.

Use Multiple Layers

Any asset protection plan that is utilized should consist of several layers which each provide you with some form of warning that you are under attack. The outer layers of the asset protection structure are used as a shield to prevent attackers from getting at your actual assets while at the same time giving you time to move your assets once the outer layers are being attacked. An adequate outer layer should shield you from one to three months depending on which jurisidiction(s) are used and how the structures are tied together.

Nobody Wants to be Frozen

If you want to avoid your assets being frozen then you will need to create an asset protection structure that provides an outer layer of defense that keeps you from having to defend your assets in court. If your asset protection plan gets pierced to the point that you need to go to court to defend them then your privacy protection has been completely blown wide open. Nothing shows that you are associated with a group of assets more then mounting a defense to protect them in court. If you end up in court defending your assets then your asset protection plan has been a failure and the law firm that sold you this plan did not do a good job. Early warning through the use of an outer layer of protection is the only course of action that this author recommends.

Can Your Assets Be Traced?

A mature asset protection plan uses offshore financial structures in a layered fashion in addition to banking secrecy laws. Neither one of these things on their own are enough protection. The harder it is for an attacker to connect the layers of your asset protection plan together the harder it will be to penetrate it. Even if one layer gets penetrated it should still be expensive and difficult to penetrate each subsequent layer for the plan to be a good one. You cannot rely on banking secrecy laws alone for privacy protection because these laws can be broken.





Only Use Legal Structures

Before implementing any asset protection plan, especially one that utilizes offshore instruments, be sure to consult with a lawyer in your local jurisdiction to see that you will be meeting your legal reporting obligations at home. You can get into hot water buying an asset protection plan that is perfectly legal in the country you are buying it in, but this does not mean it is legal at home. Offshore law firms in general are better at selling you a plan then they are about telling you the laws in your home country.

Who Owns That Company?

The best asset protection plans leave your name as far away from the actual ownership of the assets while allowing you to maintain total control over them. Separating yourself from your assets will also shield you in the instance that you are personally attacked. Beware, not all offshore law firms know how to set up these instruments properly to suit your needs and you will find that out too late in many instances.

About the Author:

Earnest is a writer for Offshore Legal a Panama law firm that helps clients to develop asset protection plans that work.

Asset Protection: Planning Against Attacks / Author: earnest