Asset Protection
Safeguard your wealth from creditors and preserve assets for your beneficiaries
What is Asset Protection Planning?
Asset protection planning involves legal strategies to safeguard your wealth from potential creditors, lawsuits, and excessive long-term care costs. Proper planning, done well in advance of any threats, can help ensure your hard-earned assets are preserved for you and your family.
Asset protection is not about hiding assets or evading legitimate debts. It's about using legal tools—such as trusts, business entities, insurance, and strategic ownership structures—to minimize your exposure to financial risks while remaining fully compliant with Michigan and federal law.
Why Asset Protection Matters
Protect Against Lawsuits
Professional liability, personal injury claims, or business disputes can threaten your assets. Proper structuring provides a legal shield.
Long-Term Care Costs
Nursing home and assisted living expenses can rapidly deplete savings. Strategic planning helps preserve assets while potentially qualifying for Medicaid.
Divorce Protection
Protect family wealth from division in your children's potential divorces through properly structured trusts and other mechanisms.
Business Protection
Separate business liabilities from personal assets through proper business entity selection and operation.
Asset Protection Strategies
Irrevocable Trusts
Assets transferred to properly structured irrevocable trusts are generally protected from creditors and long-term care spend-down requirements. Unlike revocable trusts, these trusts remove assets from your ownership while providing for beneficiaries.
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
Michigan LLCs can provide asset protection for real estate, investments, and business interests. Properly structured, they shield personal assets from business liabilities and vice versa.
Insurance Strategies
Umbrella liability insurance, long-term care insurance, and properly titled insurance policies provide important protection layers for your overall asset protection plan.
Retirement Account Protection
Michigan and federal law provide strong protection for qualified retirement accounts (401(k)s, IRAs). We help maximize these built-in protections while coordinating with your overall estate plan.
Homestead Protection
Michigan's homestead exemption protects up to $45,000 of equity in your primary residence from most creditors. We help structure your home ownership to maximize available protections.
Important Considerations
⏰ Timing is Critical
Asset protection planning must be done before a threat arises. Transfers made after a lawsuit is filed or a claim exists can be considered fraudulent and may be reversed by courts. Planning ahead is essential.
⚖️ Legal and Ethical Boundaries
All asset protection strategies must comply with Michigan and federal law. We never recommend hiding assets or evading legitimate obligations. Our strategies are transparent, legal, and designed to withstand scrutiny.
🔄 Ongoing Maintenance
Asset protection plans require proper implementation and maintenance. Trusts must be funded, entities must be operated correctly, and documentation must be kept current to ensure protections remain effective.
Protect Your Assets Today
Schedule a consultation to discuss asset protection strategies for your situation.
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