Leesburg Asset Protection Attorney
If you own a business, or if you have acquired significant wealth and property, protecting those assets is a major concern and an important piece to your overall estate planning. An economic downturn, personal injury lawsuit or other events beyond your control could put your assets at risk, and insurance alone may not offer the protection you need. A Leesburg asset protection attorney at Simms Showers LLP can help you explore your options and implement innovative and creative legal strategies to help you hold on to the wealth and business interests you have worked so hard to create and maintain.
What is Asset Protection?
Asset protection simply means taking steps to protect your assets from creditors who might otherwise be able to reach them in order to satisfy a debt or judgment entered against you. Removing yourself from the title to the property is an effective means toward asset protection, and there are a number of ways to accomplish this. Often times, the steps you take to protect an asset also serve to remove the asset from the probate estate and offer other significant tax advantages as well.
Transferring assets to an irrevocable trust can take the title to the property out of your hands and keep it safe from creditors. If you decide to act as trustee, you may still maintain some degree of control and benefit from the asset as well. An irrevocable trust may also form part of your business succession planning, since an irrevocable trust can hold a business as well as real property, cash and other personal property. Relinquishing title to the trust may also relieve you of the tax liability for the asset; therefore, irrevocable trusts may be considered as part of your strategic tax planning as well.
Another safe haven for your assets is an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), which provides significant tax benefits as well as protection from creditors. In addition to cash, an IRA can be used to store stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments. The contribution limits for an IRA are not very high, so making the maximum contribution to an IRA is an effective means of shielding assets, maximizing tax benefits, and planning for retirement all at once.
There are a wide variety of other legal instruments and vehicles which can be effective tools for asset protection, including offshore bank accounts and other international devices as well as the many domestic options available. A Leesburg asset protection attorney at Simms Showers LLP can provide more information.
The Time to Protect Your Assets is Now
The time to engage in asset protection is before a crisis has presented itself; by then it is often too late to take adequate measures to protect your assets. We do not know what the future will bring, which is why we plan for every contingency and make sure you are protected no matter what happens. Contact the Leesburg asset protection lawyers at Simms Showers LLP for thoughtful, deliberate asset protection and estate planning.
Simms Showers LLP represents clients throughout Northern Virginia, including Leesburg, Sterling and the surrounding areas of Loudoun County as well as Arlington County, Clarke County, Frederick County, Fairfax County and Prince William County.
