A front page article that appeared on the Wednesday, April 6, 2016 New York Times provides yet another example of the 
dangers of hiding assets. Successful asset protection makes use of laws that allow you to protect your assets — while keeping them in full view. Hiding assets frequently involves illegal activity; and even when
Business Succession Planning Is Critical For Company Founders
An article in the New York Times on March 24, 2016, emphasizes the critical need for succession planning in closely held companies. While business succession planning is important at various levels, the fall–out for companies that lose a founder can be particularly bad.
The article notes that most small businesses are family
Trust Protectors
For hundreds of years, trusts have had three key players. The settlor is the person who establishes the trust. The trustee is the person responsible for the operation of the trust. And the beneficiary is the person (or persons) who the trust is intended to benefit. Recently, a fourth role — that of the trust
LLC Offers Flexibility For Many Business Strategies
A recent article in the New York Times provides a reminder of how flexible and versatile limited liability companies have become.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife recently announced that they would eventually give away 99% of their shares of Facebook during their lifetimes. When they said that they would use a company to
LLC Provides Better Asset Protection Than an S Corp
S Corporations and LLCs are both “pass through” entities for federal income tax purposes. That is, owners are taxed on dividends/distributions; but the entity itself is not subject to federal income tax. And, as I mentioned in previous posts –on March 26, 2014, July 2, 2009 and June 3, 2009 –both an S Corp
Consider Protecting Your Family’s Assets with a Dynasty Trust
A “dynasty trust” is a trust that is structured to preserve assets for multiple generations. Assets continue to be held in trust (rather than being distributed directly to beneficiaries). This is not a vehicle to protect your assets from your own personal creditors; but it protects the assets once they pass to a beneficiary.
For
Nevis Is Good Choice For Offshore LLC
Nevis (a small island in the Caribbean) is currently a good choice for an offshore limited liability
company.
Nevis recently amended its LLC Ordinance to better limit fraudulent transfer claims, and also to make it more difficult to enforce foreign judgments. Nevis also now requires an LLC creditor to post a large bond to secure
Ohio Appeals Court Says LLC Must Identify Its Members
Some states require public disclosure about LLC owners/managers/officers and others do not. Ohio is one of the states that requires no such public disclosure.
But keep in mind that ultimately, a creditor can always discover who the owners and managers are. Once a lawsuit is filed, the identity of the members, managers and/or officers will
Majority of Public Companies Continue To Incorporate In Delaware
A front page article by Liz Hoffman in Monday’s Wall Street Journal noted that some companies are convinced Delaware is less of a corporate haven than it used to be. Some companies feel the state has become less hospitable toward business (for example, by not doing enough to curb ever-growing shareholder litigation). Nevertheless, Delaware remains
UVTA Includes Important Provisions About “Insolvency”
Your ability to transfer assets for asset protection purposes depends to a great extent on whether or not you are “insolvent” at the time of a transfer. Insolvency is generally defined in terms of your ability to pay your debts as they become due.
The Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (“UVTA”) – – a uniform law