How do I protect myself from getting sued?

"Peircing the corporate veil" is easy for someone determined to get a chunk of money from you.

If you have assets (no matter where they are), and you do something stupid, you can expect to be sued. Expect them to take stuff that belongs to you, including what you tried to hide.

LLCs and Corporations protect you personally for something an employee did to a customer, or protects other members of your LLC from stuff you did on your own time.

Such entities are not good hiding places. IMHO, rightly so. I don't want to have to pay my hospital bills from someone who decides to drive home drunk from the bar, and has everything wrapped in 101 LLCs.

Insurance policies aren't a catch-all either. They can refuse to pay if you're found negligent.

Hence, get good insurance, be careful, have a good team of intelligent advisors.
 
Quote from gkishot:

Not for me. She is my best friend. :)
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Quote from USAtrader:

That's what they all thought.
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LOL :p

***

Your best Port, is speak to a ... wait for it, LAWYER.

Make sure you are comfortable with him/her and then make sure whatever business transactions you do to protect your wealth (always a good, regardless of what folks around here have to say), you get their "OK" on it before you sign on the dotted line.

Creating multiple businesses, diversifying assets amongs confidants and having seperate accounts are all good ideas for protecting wealth when you start to move into the seven figure range.

GL
 
Quote from Port1385:

All of my accounts are in my name. If some guy decides to file a lawsuit against me and wins then they can garnish those accounts with a court order.

How do I protect myself from lawsuits? Please be specific...
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I don't think your creditors are interested in your paper trading accounts.

Likely scenario is that your paper route is going to be garnished.
 
A lot of terrible advice here. Probably the worst is entrusting your assets to other people with handshake agreements. Even if you can trust them, which is a very big if, what if they die suddenly? How do yo think their heirs will react when you show up and say, oh, I'm terribly sorry about your loss and by the way, that mill in his account is really mine? What if they lose the money with unauthorized trading, etc? You are SOL.

As for putting your assets into multiple LLC's, etc, you need to distinguish between hiding assets and protecting them. If you are prepared to risk being charged with a felony for obstruction of justice when you lie about the existence of such assets, then there are tax haven jurisdictions that offer varying forms of confidentiality. As someone noted, the more privacy however, the less legal protection. I would look at austria, cayman islands, etc.

Merely putting your assets into corporate form does nothing to protect them. Your ownership of the corporation is an asset, just like a bank account. I wouldn't count on a forensic accountant not being able to track them down either, at least if they are in the US.

If you are really worried, one area to explore is the bankruptcy exclusions of different states. While there is a federal bankruptcy code, what one is allowed to protect from creditors as a homestead, etc is determined by state law. I know florida and texas are thought to have generous allowances. As I recall, both allow a bankrupt to retain a principal residence, no matter how expensive.

If you are merely trying to protect your assets from run of the mill lawsuits, an umbrella policy is the way to go. Someone said they don't protect you from negligence, but that is totally inaccurate. That is the whole point of them. Intentional misconduct or criminal acts, perhaps a different story.
 
Best answer.


Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

A lot of terrible advice here. Probably the worst is entrusting your assets to other people with handshake agreements. Even if you can trust them, which is a very big if, what if they die suddenly? How do yo think their heirs will react when you show up and say, oh, I'm terribly sorry about your loss and by the way, that mill in his account is really mine? What if they lose the money with unauthorized trading, etc? You are SOL.

As for putting your assets into multiple LLC's, etc, you need to distinguish between hiding assets and protecting them. If you are prepared to risk being charged with a felony for obstruction of justice when you lie about the existence of such assets, then there are tax haven jurisdictions that offer varying forms of confidentiality. As someone noted, the more privacy however, the less legal protection. I would look at austria, cayman islands, etc.

Merely putting your assets into corporate form does nothing to protect them. Your ownership of the corporation is an asset, just like a bank account. I wouldn't count on a forensic accountant not being able to track them down either, at least if they are in the US.

If you are really worried, one area to explore is the bankruptcy exclusions of different states. While there is a federal bankruptcy code, what one is allowed to protect from creditors as a homestead, etc is determined by state law. I know florida and texas are thought to have generous allowances. As I recall, both allow a bankrupt to retain a principal residence, no matter how expensive.

If you are merely trying to protect your assets from run of the mill lawsuits, an umbrella policy is the way to go. Someone said they don't protect you from negligence, but that is totally inaccurate. That is the whole point of them. Intentional misconduct or criminal acts, perhaps a different story.
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Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

If you are merely trying to protect your assets from run of the mill lawsuits, an umbrella policy is the way to go. Someone said they don't protect you from negligence, but that is totally inaccurate. That is the whole point of them. Intentional misconduct or criminal acts, perhaps a different story.
More...

I've been looking for a way to protect investors (Sinking fund concept) And since you seem deeply involved or familiar with various forms of Insurance.

What do you think would be the cheapest and most Proper Structure to get the idea covered??? Not intentionally looking to lose money, however I want to go after bigger clients and bring with me alittle risk reduction for the bigger accounts

Only example I have found is the structure mid to bottom of the page.
http://www.investmentbankingsolutions.com/InvestorsHedge.htm
 
What kind of Ponzi scheme are you running?

LOL.

Seriously, I'm still not sure why you would need this kind of protection and hiding asset unless you are doing something illegal, and the courts are going to rule against you. Unless you have employees, and you don't trust them.

Whatever it is, it stinks.

And don't you think it would be infinitely smarter to talk to a asset protection lawyer than some guy on the internet. LOL. I swear people are always dumb enough to save money in all the wrong places.
 
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