Stephen Speiser, Esq September 2024 When it comes to protecting assets from potential creditors, lawsuits, or other financial threats, establishing an offshore trust in a jurisdiction with strong asset protection laws can be a strategic move. Among the most popular jurisdictions for foreign asset protection trusts are the Cook Islands, Nevis, and Belize, and to a somewhat lesser degree the …
The Impact of Divorce on Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPTs)
Stephen Speiser September 2024 Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPTs) are a powerful tool for safeguarding assets from potential creditors and legal disputes. However, when it comes to divorce, the effectiveness of these trusts can be put to the test. Divorce proceedings often involve complex asset division and can lead to intense scrutiny of any trusts established by either spouse. In …
The Power of International Asset Protection Trusts
By Stephen Speiser, Esq. June 2024 The vehicle of choice for many high-net-worth families engaged in offshore asset protection planning is the international asset protection trust (“IAPT”). The principal reason IAPTs are popular is because the trust can lawfully hold assets outside the jurisdiction of the United States where they are beyond the reach of U.S. creditors. In addition, IAPTs …
Advice CPAs Should Give Clients on Asset Protection – Part I
By Stephen Speiser, Esq. May 2024 CPAs are called upon to advise clients on a wide range of financial planning matters, and their good counsel is often essential to the success of their clients’ business and estate planning objectives. One area that most CPAs tend to avoid, however, is asset protection. This is unfortunate, because CPAs are trusted advisors with …
The Commercial Real Estate Meltdown is Coming – Prepare Your Clients
385 Banks Projected to Fail / 1,000’s of Loans Projected to Default / Guarantors Wiped Out By Stephen Speiser, Esq. May 2024 The Coming Storm Approximately $1 trillion of commercial real estate debt is coming due this year, and that number will increase dramatically in 2025. The Mortgage Bankers Association confirms that real growth in CRE debt together with major …
The Alec Baldwin Saga: A Case Study
Can Asset Protection Save His Fortune from Manslaughter Charges? By: Stephen Speiser, Esq. February 1, 2024 The once bright future of Alec Baldwin is now in serious peril. On Friday, January 19, 2024, a New Mexico grand jury indicted the Emmy-award winning actor and director on involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the October 2021 fatal shooting on the film set …
Asset Protection: Foundations versus Trusts
From time to time, we are asked about using foundations as a substitute for asset protection trusts. In our judgment, there is no substitute for a competent, well crafted trust. This does not mean, however, that foundations should not be used in asset protection planning. For clients with charitable goals and objectives, foundations provide an excellent vehicle to satisfy those …
When In Rome… How the Location of Assets Affects Asset Protection Planning
The location of particular assets affects the law governing those assets and your ability to protect those assets from unanticipated creditors
Digital Asset Protection Planning
Several years ago, I assisted a client who was going through a contentious divorce. Of particular concern to my client was that he had entrusted his then wife with passwords for many of his online accounts, and she was not ready to hand them over. Her phone number had also been used for two-factor authentication on several of these same …
When Is An “Offshore” Asset Protection Plan Not Really Offshore?
There are three basic elements of a true “offshore” asset protection plan: (i) the legal structure (trust or business entity) must be formed outside the U.S. in a safe jurisdiction; (ii) the assets have been successfully migrated to the offshore legal structure; and (iii) legal control of the structure must be vested in persons or trustees who are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
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