Asset Protection For Lawsuits and Divorce

Money Tree Investing

Money Tree Investing Podcast

Stockmarket, Valuestocks, Investing, Finance, Passiveincome, Wealth, Business, Personalfinance

4.6 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Blake Harris shares tips for how to improve your asset protection! The conversation delves into how offshore trusts differ from domestic ones. Blake also dispels misconceptions about offshore trusts, emphasizing their legality and utility for asset protection rather than tax evasion. We explore how these trusts work, the best jurisdictions for establishing them, and the practical benefits for individuals seeking robust asset protection.

Today we discuss...

Offshore trusts help protect assets from lawsuits and divorces while allowing clients to retain control over their investments.
Asset protection trusts are designed to prevent courts from easily seizing assets.
Offshore trusts offer stronger protection compared to domestic trusts by shifting control to foreign trustees in jurisdictions like the Cook Islands.
Offshore trusts provide access to foreign investments and international diversification opportunities.
Unlike older practices of hiding money offshore, these trusts comply with IRS reporting requirements and are not used for tax evasion.
Countries like the Cook Islands, Nevis, and Belize offer asset protection laws, but the Cook Islands are regarded as the strongest jurisdiction.
Domestic trusts are weaker because U.S. courts can compel trustees to hand over assets.
Offshore trusts can help clients negotiate favorable settlements or avoid lawsuits altogether.
Compliance with offshore trust regulations involves some reporting but is manageable with expert guidance.
Asset protection trusts primarily safeguard cash, stocks, bonds, crypto, gold, and silver in Swiss bank accounts.
Cryptocurrency can be held under a Cook Islands trust via self-custody, third-party vaults, or Swiss bank accounts.
Real estate is typically held in LLCs tied to the trust, with options for further protection through equity stripping.
Divorces are treated as "super creditor" cases, but Cook Islands trustees can refuse to release funds under duress.
Clients comply with court orders but trustees protect assets by requiring sworn statements of no duress.
U.S. courts cannot force clients to perjure themselves, further securing trust assets.
Over 10 million lawsuits are filed annually in the U.S., creating a need for robust asset protection strategies.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://moneytreepodcast.com/asset-protection-blake-harris-670

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Money Tree Investing Podcast.
0:04.8	Stock market, wealth, personal finance, value stocks, invest in your life.
0:10.6	Hello, the Smart Money Tree podcast listeners.
0:12.7	Welcome to this week's show.
0:13.7	My name is Kirk Chisholm and I'll be your host.
0:15.7	So today I'm talking with Blake Harris.
0:17.6	How you doing today, Blake?
0:18.7	I'm doing great.
0:19.5	Kirk, great to be on the show.
0:20.7	Great. Well, glad to have you. We haven't covered this topic in a while, and I think this is going
0:25.3	to be really interesting, especially with what's going on in the world. Blake, tell us a little bit
0:29.0	about your background. I am an asset protection attorney. My firm focuses exclusively on setting up
0:35.2	offshore trusts to help keep our client's assets protected from
0:38.2	lawsuits and divorce. Well, how did you get into that field? You know, you went to law school.
0:43.1	Why that part of the field? Well, I thought it was an area of law where I could make some good money.
0:47.6	How's that for an answer? When I started my practice of law over a decade ago, my office was a few
0:53.4	blocks away from another attorney office named
0:56.4	Barry Engle. Barry Engle was well regarded as the godfather of asset protection. He's the one who wrote
1:03.1	the asset protection trust law back in the 1980s. He was a mentor of mine for many years before he
1:08.7	passed away. And while working with and learning from him, I came to realize that there's a great opportunity
1:15.9	for Americans to protect themselves from a legal system which has eroded.
1:20.2	And we can talk more about how the legal system has eroded in a moment, but it was really
	...

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