This is the essence of asset protection. “When things go wrong”- that is when we need it, and value it. It’s of no use, and too late to act when things have already gone wrong. I know from personal experience, that even the people closest to you and the most trustworthy, can turn on you. So, you must protect yourself.

In the US, lawsuits are being filed at the rate of one hundred million cases a year. Many of these suits have nothing to do with right and wrong, but instead, are predicated on the desire of one party to extract wealth from another party. In many cases, this equation is not predicated on the desire to extract real wealth, but on a desire to extract small payments as "nuisance" settlements, because it is cheaper to pay out than to fight the case.

If someone slips and falls in a business, or if a car taps their car's rear end, they react like they just won the lottery. If an armed thug breaks into a home in the dead of night, slips on a child's marbles, and breaks a leg, he can sue and possibly win.

 Here are some examples that may frighten you into action: 

• One man strapped a refrigerator on his back and ran in a race. The strap broke and he hurt his back. He sued the strap manufacturer and collected $ 1.3 million.

• A woman in Texas was awarded $ 780,000, by a jury after breaking her ankle, tripping over a toddler who was running amok in a furniture store. The owners of the store were very surprised by the verdict, considering the child was in fact the woman’s.

• A woman was awarded $ 113,500 after she slipped on a spilt drink in a restaurant and broke her coccyx. Again, surprise, she was the one who had thrown the drink on the floor during an argument with her boyfriend.

If lawsuits continue at the pace they do today, each person in the top 50% of income earners in the US will ultimately be sued five times. Australia, Canada and the UK are catching up too.

One does not have to lose even one of these cases in order to lose their wealth, simply the cost of litigating these issues can be onerous enough. One solicitor told me if it goes to court you’ll be up for $ 50,000 win or lose, minimum.

For many people the threshold issue in asset protection is: do I need it? Many people believe "this won't happen to me, it can't happen to my business, my family is safe, because we don't do anything that's dangerous."

• Deals with the public
• Rents properties or you are an owner of a rental property
• Is a director of a company
• Is in the medical field
• Is involved in a “white collar” profession working for yourself
• Is wealthy

You are talking a great deal of risk and as time goes on your chances of being sued, based on the laws of probability, increase. It’s only a matter of time.

The reality of life is that you don't have to do anything dangerous or negligent; all you really have to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ordinary people have extraordinary problems. In many cases these problems are not problems of their own doing, they were simply matters of circumstance.

Once a judgment is made against you have to tell the court everything, regardless of how unjust the case is. You must tell them what properties you own, about your bank accounts, investments, absolutely everything. They will then place a value on it and then proceed to “re-distribute” your wealth elsewhere. Good isn’t it?

Now, you may say, “I have insurance to cover that!” Do you really? Check your policy, you may be surprised on how much you are not covered for. Also, if the insurance company can prove your negligence for whatever reason, they’ll drop it back in your lap. What you need to do is ensure that it doesn’t get to court and that you have nothing worth taking in the first place.

Now it has all gone wrong and you have found yourself on the wrong end of a court case and you must pay up. You are known as a “judgment debtor”. As such you virtually have no rights, as the winner now owns everything up to the value of the judgment. And heaven help you (the defendant) if you fudge your testimony. If you conceal a safe deposit box with a few goodies in it you’re committing perjury, a crime that carries mandatory sentencing guidelines. You could end up in jail!

It is all too easy to go around saying it won't happen, but once it happens, it is too late. If money is transferred after an incident or accident, that is concealing assets, this can cause both criminal charges and civil loss of other assets. The law looks at it as stealing the property of the person who is suing, or who may sue. The defendant may think it is his lifetime savings from hard work, but legally he now holds it in trust for the person who has a pending claim.

Presumed knowledge of the possibility of a claim is sufficient to invoke these fraudulent transfer laws. So if somebody moves their money the morning after an “incident”, it is likely to come back to haunt them. The only legally valid protection is to take careful and legal protective steps before there is even a potential claim against a person or his assets.

In Australia, and several other countries it takes two years before your assets are truly protected because during this two years, any transfers can be reversed by the courts…… very scary!

However, there are simple ways to ensure your assets are safe from litigants, government, corporations, ex-spouses, bitter ex-friends, neighbours, business associates and the scumbags that just want "steal" your assets........... We show you how, the best techniques and strategies to ensure your hard earned assets remain yours.

We have compiled the Best Methods and Failsafe Strategies into one Ultimate Asset Protection Guide. This Guide will show you just about every trick in the book to protect your assets in a simple and inexpensive way. You don't need to spend thousands on lawyers and so-called "experts" when you have all the information they do! The Ultimate Asset Protection Guide will literally save you thousands and possibly protect millions!

Here are 8 Simple Tips to Protect Your Assets

Not everybody can afford a sophisticated asset protection plan: however, everybody can take some commonsensical steps to better protect their hard earned wealth.

Divide and Conquer

Always use a separate entity for each liability generating asset and never mix liability generating assets. For example, an apartment house should not be owned by the same entity which owns a printing business.

Avoid General Partnerships

Avoid general partnerships and handshake agreements. This only causes trouble. Did you know that any general partner can commit the partnership (and hence every other general partner) to any legal contract (like taking out a loan). All general partners are jointly and severally liable.

Assume that most "Asset Protection Experts" are unqualified...because they are

Please read our traps and scams page. Always check references and avoid the professional "seminar givers." Never assume that "charging order protection" is enough, never trust anybody who asks you to trust anybody else with your money and never trust anybody who promises to save you income taxes.

Stealth Works

Don't show off and don't put everything in your name. If people think that you are rich you will be sued. If you are unwilling to have a modest lifestyle (and many of us are not willing) then keep a low a profile as possible and don't title your assets directly in your own name. Remember, to take your assets they first have to be found. Also remember that a good asset protection plan does not rely on stealth. It should work even if every single document is discovered.

Each State is Different

Remember, what a creditor can get is often controlled by state law. Get good advice and you may be able to keep assets even when faced with serious creditor attack. For example, some states have liberal homestead laws and some states accord greater protection to pension plan type accounts than other states.

No Country Automatically Recognises Local Court Judgments

Remember, no country in the world automatically recognises court based judgments from your home country. In fact, most countries think that our tort laws, securities laws and anti-trust laws are nonsensical. Also, no country in the world recognises local tax judgments either.

Never Ignore a Lawsuit

If you are served always get good advice.

Keep Insurance

Even if you effect a state of the art asset protection plan you still should keep adequate insurance. Often the main value of a good policy is that the insurance company must provide you a defense.