Las Vegas Asset Protection Lawyers

Asset Protection Planning Keeps You and Your Beneficiaries Safe

Many clients who have completed their living trusts and other estate planning documents sometimes come back later and say: 

“My living trust will avoid probate and make it much cheaper and easier for my children to administer my estate after I’m gone, but it really doesn’t do anything for me here and now.” True

“My living trust won’t help my kids at all if the bad guys take everything from me now.” Good point.

“I’m much more concerned about protecting my assets now than I am about making my kids rich when I die.” Agreed

“Is there anything I can do now to protect my assets now?” Absolutely

Fortunately there are very simple, cost-effective steps you can take here and now to ensure that no one can take your assets from you.

Some popular tools you can easily and quickly set up include LLCs and NAPTs.

Is Asset Protection Necessary?

A good, lawyer-like answer is, “it depends.”  If you are confident that nothing bad will ever happen to you and you can guarantee that you will never incur any liability or claim or out-of-left-field lawsuit ever in your life, then the answer is, ”No.”  However, if you don’t have complete confidence in that answer, keep reading.

A client of our firm whose husband, age 64, recently passed away unexpectedly didn’t have health insurance to “save money.” He was in the hospital for 10 days.  She was sent a hospital bill for $900,000.  They offered her a payment plan of $20,000 a month, which of course, she doesn’t have.  

She’s 63 and retired, living on a fixed income.  She’s dipped into savings and has paid $20,000 in smaller medical bills, trying to keep all the creditors at bay. She’s worried that her creditors will clean out all her savings and take her house.  She’s moved in with her son.  This isn’t the kind of retirement that she was expecting.

Another client recently told me that his wife accidentally “hit” a lady on a bicycle as she was driving her car.  Neither was going fast.  The lady got a skinned knee.  Nevertheless, she was shipped off in an ambulance to a local hospital. 

Shortly thereafter, they were sued for $4,000,000.  Ridiculous?  Of course.  Their attorney got them down to $3,000,000, then $2,000,000.  They’re still doing battle.  With an insurance policy of $300,000 in place, they still have a way to go.  I hope they make it.

Unfortunately there are people out in the world who are looking to make a quick buck however they can, and filing ridiculous lawsuits has become common practice.  Yes, bad things can happen to good people. The sad fact is that her situation could have been avoided with some advance planning. 

It's not just unexpected medical expenses or a car accident that can wipe you out. You may be in an accident and actually injure someone.  If the injuries exceed your policy limits, you’re personally liable for the difference. And, as above there are situations where bogus claims are made.  People fake injuries and seek outrageous judgments. Whereas baseball used to be the national pastime, you can now make the case that spurious lawsuits are gaining ground for that distinction.  If you have assets, there are in fact people out there who are looking to you as their retirement plan.  

You’ve no doubt seen billboards everywhere offering services to “injured” (real or imagined) people for attorneys to come after you and take you for as much as they can possibly get.  Hint: There’s a reason why paying for expensive billboards makes a handsome income for these attorneys. There are attorneys out there who see you as a payday.

A stepson of another client hit a lady in a crosswalk going maybe 5 mph.  At first, she was fine.  Then, after being motivated by one of those billboards for quick, easy cash, at no cost or burden to her, decided that she was injured after all. This lady sued my client (stepfather of the driver) and was awarded $4,500,000 at trial against my client (not his insolvent stepson) for permanent, irreparable back injuries.  She ran a marathon a few weeks before the trial. Permanent, irreparable back injuries? I don't think so. Unfortunately, there are dishonest people who retain dishonest attorneys to represent them on bogus cases. Amazingly, her attorney was able to have his excluded from evidence.  

First the bad: My client only had a $300,000 liability policy on his car.  This could have been catastrophic for him but for his foresight in planning ahead.

The good news was that, years before, we set up a Nevada Asset Protection Trust and some LLCs for him. All of his assets were safely tucked away beyond the grasp of this particular creditor.  His taking those steps years ago to protect himself was the difference in retaining his assets or being completely wiped out.

As is often said, what we have today is a “legal system,” not a “justice system.”  Sometimes justice prevails, but not always. Unfortunately, many predators out there look at this as a legal game of how much can they squeeze out of you. Conversely, your part in the “game” is to make sure that you never get cleaned out and aren’t required to start over at age 63 or any age.