Home Asset Protection

Home Asset Protection

We live in a society where anyone is subject to be sued at any time and for any reason, especially entrepreneurs. While individuals and business owners can expect to battle lawsuits at least once in a lifetime, there is no reason why personal property should be lost in the process. Individuals may spend years accumulating possessions or building a family home, only to have the courts foreclose or repossess a lifetime of memories, which can never be replaced. In the case of court-ordered judgments against a defendant, the authorities may be given the right to enter a home and seize contents as restitution for unpaid accounts. The local sheriff meets the creditor at the debtor's home and begins to go through room by room, allowing creditors to take whatever they deem necessary to satisfy the judgment. Furnishings, computers, electronics, or vehicles --whatever items total the amount of money owed are immediately forfeited. While filing a homestead exemption prior to a judgment being rendered prevents authorities from taking certain personal items and real property; home asset protection via a land trust, family partnership, or by transferring title are some of the most affordable and effective ways to protect property. And these legal means are not just for the rich and famous.

Wealthy property and home owners and entrepreneurs have long utilized systems for sheltering possessions to avoid paying excessive taxes or incurring liability. Placing property in the name of children or spouses, establishing offshore enterprises, or forming limited liability corporations, LLCs, are several ways the wealthy routinely hide assets.

While there are online companies which advertise do-it-yourself home asset protection, individuals may want to have attorneys review paperwork to ensure that plans are properly structured and ownership remains secure. Laws may vary according to an individual's state of residence, age or annual net income. Business owners who are faced with closures due to failing sales, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, or a lack of bank funding may seriously consider home asset protection to retain ownership of personal property. In the case of a Chapter 11 filing, court-appointed trustees oversee the liquidation of corporate assets, and creditors step in to help manage a failing enterprise. In that case, business property would fall under the jurisdiction of the court and new managers. But no one wants to lose a business and become bereft of personal property at the same time. For this reason alone, sole proprietors, partnerships and small business owners should take a good hard look at asset protection. There is not much anyone can do about a failing national economy. However by utilizing legal means of protecting prized possessions, especially real property, homeowners can at least hold onto a roof over their head, irreplaceable memories, and mementos of more prosperous times.