A picture of the Statue of Liberty with the New York City skyline in the background.

The Folly of Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPTs)

Published on: May 17, 2024
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: May 17, 2024 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 By Stephen Speiser, Esq. We need to have a serious conversation about domestic asset protection trusts (DAPTs). By our last count, 20 states now have DAPT laws: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Yet, …

Corporate Transparency Act Held Unconstitutional

Published on: May 16, 2024
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: May 16, 2024 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 By Stephen Speiser, Esq. In Nat’l Small Bus. United v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36205 (March 1, 2024) the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled that the CTA is unconstitutional in a lawsuit brought by the National Small Business Association (NSBA) and one of …

The Alec Baldwin Saga: A Case Study

Published on: February 1, 2024
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: February 1, 2024 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 By: Stephen Speiser, Esq. February 1, 2024 Can Asset Protection Save His Fortune from Manslaughter Charges? 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 …

A young couple stands in the yard of their large home.

Florida’s Homestead Law

Published on: September 1, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: September 1, 2022 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 by Stephen Speiser, Esq.The Speiser Law Firm P.A. Florida’s homestead exemption is one of the most powerful asset protection laws available anywhere in the United States.  Moreover, it is not just statutory law:  It is written into the Constitution of the State of Florida.  That makes Florida’s homestead law a constitutional right.   Article 10, …

A law book and judge's gavel sits open on a table in a law library.

The Mareva Invasion: Are Mareva Rulings Coming to the United States?

Published on: June 27, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: June 27, 2022 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 Readers of our website know that we have written extensively about the Mareva ruling, a form of ex parte preliminary injunction increasingly granted by courts outside the USA to freeze debtor assets. A 2021, Florida state court decision has created a great deal of unease among debtors’ representatives concerning …

Asset Protection: Foundations versus Trusts

Published on: June 24, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: June 24, 2022 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 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 …

When In Rome… How the Location of Assets Affects Asset Protection Planning

Published on: June 17, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

The location of particular assets affects the law governing those assets and your ability to protect those assets from unanticipated creditors

A paperclipped stack of papers sits on a desk next to a judge's gavel. "Fraudulent transfer" is written on the top sheet of paper in black text.

Is All Asset Protection Planning Bad Under the UVTA?

Published on: March 24, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

A state’s enactment of a DAPT law should be regarded as the state legislature’s expression per se “actual intent” under the UVTA not be imputed in any form of asset protection planning.  While this is an incredibly broad inference, it reflects the reality that DAPTs do not exist in a vacuum.

Three cryptocurrency coins shown on a black background.

Digital Asset Protection Planning

Published on: January 18, 2022
Last modified on: March 10, 2025

Published on: January 18, 2022 Last modified on: March 10, 2025 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 …