Protecting your assets is one of the best things you can do to ensure a good future for what you own, especially liquid assets, real property, and intellectual property. You may want to protect your assets for a number of reasons, but probably the top two most common reasons are to protect them from creditors or a spouse in the event of a divorce.

Asset protection in California is a great tool – but it’s a serious tool, and should not be used in a cavalier or careless manner. Those who try to use asset protection after a judgment or divorce papers have already been served are walking a fine line… a line that could be deemed fraud. Once this line has been crossed, the consequences are severe and things will not pan out in your favor.

The proper and responsible thing to do is sit down with a California asset protection attorney BEFORE you experience a life change that could affect your assets. Speak to your attorney about protecting what is rightfully yours before a divorce, before going into a new business , or before entering into any agreement that will mean you owe money to a creditor, including purchasing a new home or car.

So what’s the final word? Use asset protection a) before any major life changes, and b) with the help and guidance of a California asset protection lawyer.

If you have any questions or any uncertainties regarding when you should use asset protection, contact your Newport Beach asset protection lawyer today.

California estate planning attorneys have had their eye on this story today. Anyone who watches the news knows by now that a man named Joseph Stack purposefully crashed a plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas last week.

What many people don’t know is that when he crashed, he killed a man named Vernon Hunter. Hunter’s family is now suing Stack’s estate, and while they did tell the media that their hearts go out to Stack’s wife Stacy, they are aware that she is the executor of his estate.

Imagine your spouse or child in a situation not unlike this one: you’ve passed away and a judgment against your estate is something that your loved one will have to be responsible for while also grieving his or her loss. Not only is this menatlly and emotionally taxing, it’s also a responsibility laden with a variety of issues, including proper record keeping, no formal education in estate planning, and perhaps worst of all, clouded judgement caused by fatigue and being overwhelmed.

These are all good reasons to seek out the help of a Newport Beach estate planning lawyer. An attorney that specializes in trusts and estates can tell you whether your estate should name a family member as the trustee or executor. Only after reviewing your very unique situation should the decision be made — and it should be made by someone who knows the law to the letter, not by some Internet program that can’t advise you otherwise.

If you’re ready to start planning your estate, or if you’d like to revise the trustee of your estate, call Matsen today. Our experienced estate planning and California asset protection lawyers can help you decide what’s best for your estate and your family.

As far as personal asset protection goes, an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is probably your best option. So what makes an LLC so great? You hear all the buzz but no one really talks about why the alternative to incorporating is so fantastic.

An LLC offers the same kind of protection that an S or C-corp does, making it extremely difficult for judgments against your company to affect your personal assets. The mistake that small business owners make when setting up an LLC is doing it themselves or online; you just can’t guarantee how well you will be protected personally if you don’t enlist the help of a California asset protection attorney.

In addition to protecting your personal assets by separating you from your company (which sole proprietorships or partnerships do not do), an LLC offers individual business owners to take advantage of the kind of tax breaks that small businesses have access to as partnerships. For company owners that are looking for ways to protect personal wealth and have some of the tax perks they may have enjoyed before they grew out of partnership status.

As good as an LLC may sound, the common mistake entrepreneurs make is assuming without legal counsel that it’s the best fit for them. The only way to know this for sure is to sit with a California asset protection attorney who understands exactly which business type (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, S-Corp or C-Corp) will give you the best protection and advantages that your company can get the most use out of.

Asset protection is an important part of estate planning as well. If you are a small business owner, you need to consider how an estate planning lawyer in California can keep your assets and estate safe from predatory creditors and those who may file suits against you or your business.

Many times business owners – even sole proprietors – don’t read what they’re signing because they feel they just don’t have the time to deal with it. True, reading through everything you sign is clearly time-consuming. Nonetheless, not reading contracts is a real no-no. Business owners have no idea the mess they can get themselves in by not reading a contract thoroughly; always have your California asset protection lawyer review important and/or lengthy contracts.

It’s so easy to overlook things that are obvious to an attorney. For example, you should never sign something as yourself – sign all documents in the name of the company you own. If you sign something using your name, naming yourself as an individual offering some sort of product guarantee, creditors and customers filing judgments can come after you as an individual rather than coming after the company, which likely has far better protection than you do as an individual.

Talk to your Newport Beach asset protection attorney about adding liability protection and including it as a clause somewhere in every contract you sign. This can be of enormous benefit if something comes up unexpectedly. Liability protection for your business and you as an individual can save you from a lot of heartache. If an accident occurs in your store or even in the parking lot of your shop, you will thank yourself for having liability insurance. And remember, it does you no good to wish you had it, so get it before something happens.

Contact an Orange County Asset Protection Attorney today. The Matsen team can guide you through asset protection planning to meet your unique needs as a business owner.

Small business owners are so busy getting their businesses off the ground that they easily overlook ways they could protect themselves and their businesses from falling prey to circumstances that are often unavoidable.

California asset protection can safeguard your personal and business assets – but if you don’t have an asset protection plan in place, creating one after the fact will do you no good.

What to have in place:

First, don’t try this at home. You’ll need to enlist the help of a California asset protection attorney.

Create a COMPLETE list of your business’s assets. This inventory list should include every single item that is owned by your business. If you’re serious about staying protected, you’ll update this list of assets any chance you get. In most instances, a small business owner should do this quarterly – every other quarter at the least.

Hire a California Asset Protection Lawyer who stays on top of changes in federal law. Trying to stay up-to-date with laws that concern asset protection, exemptions, and protective trusts is not something you’ll have time to do if you’re a business owner. Your lawyer should be experienced enough to stay on top of changes in federal law that could affect your assets, both personal and business. He should alert you of changes and let  you know how the game plan will change to keep you protected.

Talk to your Newport Beach Asset Protection Lawyer about protection through insurance. If you run a small to medium-sized enterprise, chances are, there’s a way for creditors or dissatisfied clients to come after your personal and business assets. Damages insurance, property insurance, and personal injury insurance should all be part-and-parcel of your asset protection plan. Bring this up with your attorney and let him know you want it!