Asset Protection Attorney in New York
You’ve worked hard to build wealth all your life. To stay financially healthy, you should take steps to protect your assets from legal claims and creditors. Unfortunately, we live in a society where people with even a shred of a legal claim may go after those with the deepest pockets.
Most legal disputes end in a settlement, which can deplete your wealth even if you proved that you did nothing wrong. You can avoid a lot of headaches and heartache by safeguarding your assets now. Turn to a New York asset protection attorney from Chaves Perlowitz Luftig LLP to learn your legal options.
For decades, New Yorkers have trusted our law firm for guidance on complex legal issues involving asset protection and estate planning. Our attorneys have the in-depth knowledge needed to craft strategies and solutions to help you achieve your goals, plan for the future, and give you peace of mind. And as your financial status grows and changes, we continue to look out for your interests through forward-thinking, strategic asset protection planning.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to take steps to protect your assets. Call or contact us today for a free consultation with an experienced New York asset protection attorney.
What Is Asset Protection?
Asset protection is the process of protecting your property and wealth from individuals who may file claims for money against you, such as creditors or litigants. Asset protection can also refer to estate planning aimed at passing your wealth to your heirs in a way that minimizes losses due to expenses such as estate taxes.
Asset protection involves using legal transfers of property and structures to reduce or eliminate tax liabilities and put assets outside of the reach of potential creditors or other legal liabilities.
Why Do You Need a New York Asset Protection Attorney?
A good asset protection strategy takes advantage of the best legal mechanisms available to preserve your wealth. But to ensure that you have an effective and legally valid plan, you need a New York asset protection attorney to help develop one that meets your needs.
An asset protection lawyer can:
- Identify the full extent of your assets and wealth that may be exposed to creditors and other liabilities
- Evaluate all potential future liabilities and creditors to determine your overall risk
- Advise you of appropriate legal structures that can help you keep important assets and wealth beyond the reach of creditors or lawsuits, such as establishing corporate structures and trusts
- Craft an estate plan that allows you to quickly pass your wealth on after your death with minimal loss due to expenses like probate litigation or estate taxes
- Walk you through tax considerations for your asset protection strategy
Ideally, you should speak with an asset protection lawyer well before you run into any threats that put your assets in jeopardy. Once claims against your property are made, it is likely too late to undertake any asset protection efforts.
Asset protection represents one of the most complicated areas of law. A single mistake can render your entire asset protection strategy legally unenforceable and void. For that reason, you need an experienced New York asset protection attorney to ensure that whatever steps you take to secure your wealth will withstand any challenges made by creditors or litigants.
How Are Your Assets at Risk?
Examples of the potential risks to your assets and wealth include:
- Unpaid credit card debt, personal loans, student loans, medical bills, car loans, or mortgages
- Serious injuries or illnesses that require expensive treatment and leave you unable to earn a living
- Personal injury, malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, or other lawsuits against you
- Increased alimony or child support demands
- Nursing home or other long-term care expenses
How Can You Protect Your Assets From Creditors?
A New York asset protection attorney can explain the numerous tools that can be used to preserve your wealth, such as:
- Asset protection trusts: Shield your assets from creditors and lawsuits
- Irrevocable trusts: Restrict the ability of creditors or beneficiaries to reach the trust’s assets because the trust cannot be altered
- Offshore trusts: Put your assets in a foreign jurisdiction where creditors cannot easily seize them
- Spendthrift trusts: Used when a grantor wants to leave property to a beneficiary but is worried about their assets going to waste
- Special needs trusts: Ensure that loved ones who require care due to disability or incapacitation have the financial resources needed to afford such care
- Medicaid planning: Uses trusts and other mechanisms to allow someone to qualify for Medicaid or other income-restricted government benefits
- Declarations of homestead: Protect your primary residence from creditors’ claims
- Tax-free gifts: Reduce the value of an estate below levels that would trigger estate taxes
Contact a New York Asset Protection Attorney Today
If you have questions about how to protect and preserve your assets, call Chaves Perlowitz Luftig LLP or contact us online today for a free consultation with a New York asset protection attorney.