Offshore bank accounts have been getting more and more scrutiny in recent years. An article in last week’s Bloomberg News by David Voreacos outlines yet another U.S. investigation relating to foreign banks. Eight offshore banks are now under a federal grand jury investigation — for facilitating tax evasion by U.S. citizens.
But none of this
Certain life insurance products (as well as certain arrangements like an irrevocable life insurance trust) can provide asset protection advantages. For example, if you have a significant amount of cash that is not otherwise needed, and you also have the need for life insurance, a single premium whole life policy might be appropriate. Cash that
The Court of Chancery in Delaware is well respected by business lawyers from coast to coast. A recent New York Times article (which I discussed in another recent post) explains that the Delaware Chancery Court has a reputation for quick and knowledgeable business decisions. This is one of several reasons that so many businesses are
Approximately 900,000 businesses are incorporated in Delaware, including 63% of all fortune 500 companies. This is according to Rita K. Farrell in a recent New York Times article.
In various other posts, I have explained how Delaware’s LLC statute provides better asset protection for LLC owners than the law in many other states. The
Some new investment vehicles — called "black swan funds" — are designed to go up in value if there is an economic collapse. They are designed to protect against what some investment professionals are calling "tail risk" (basically meaning the economy going into some sort of disastrous tail spin).
Not all analysts are sold on this
Given the poor state of our economy in recent years, one would expect that the number of lawyers in the United States would be declining. There has been significant downsizing at larger law firms. Many businesses have been deferring some discretionary legal services. So one would expect a decreased demand for lawyers.
But according to James Podgers (writing
A June 8, 2011 New York Times article by Steven M. Davidoff (a law professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law) notes that personal liability for directors and officers of large publicly held companies is less common than most of us think. Professor Davidoff argues that the upside of serving as a director
Many things in my law practice run in spurts — just like things in our daily lives. I may go a whole year without having a client buy or sell a business, and then several clients are engaged in business sales all at once.
This past month I have a had a disproportionate number of inquiries
Asset protection planning is usually triggered by fear of a catastrophic lawsuit. Most of the clients I work for — especially physicians, closely held business owners and high net worth individuals — are concerned that a single lawsuit could wipe out everything they have. And this concern is entirely justified. It is silly not to protect your
Following up on my posts of January 26, 2011 and July 21, 2010 — I want to emphasize again that not all trusts provide asset protection.
A so-called revocable "living trust" (often designed for probate avoidance) can protect beneficiaries of that trust from claims of creditors. For example, you can protect assets that you place
