Offshore Asset Protection Trusts

Law Offices of Inna Fershteyn also specializes in offshore asset protection trusts.  Offshore trusts are created under the laws of a foreign country (often the Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, or the Cook Islands) that does not enforce the judgments of other countries. Recently, several states including Alaska, Delaware and Utah have changed their laws and now allow similar trusts here in the U.S. These trusts, called domestic asset protection trusts, operate differently from the offshore trusts described here.

In order to set up these trusts your assets must be transferred to a limited partnership. As the general partner, you could keep only 1% of the shares, but full control. The other 99% of the shares would be transferred to the foreign trust.   If there is a judgment against the person who set up a foreign trust, it will not effect the assets that were transferred to the such trust prior to the lawsuit.  The case would have to be retried in the foreign country. But first a local attorney would have to be hired and the witnesses would have to go there to convince the court to even accept jurisdiction over the case, which is usually a good deterrent.

An asset protection trust cannot be set up after someone has filed suit against you or if a lawsuit is imminent.  So any asset protection planning would have to be done before.  

If you would like to discuss your estate planning needs, please contact an experienced estate planning attorney at the Law Offices of Inna Fershteyn by calling (718) 333-2395 or contact us via email today.