You just had a car accident causing a fatality or a disability. You are handed a ticket and released with a warning not to leave the state. You call your lawyer, you’re getting sued, you ask about hiding assets.
Your lawyer is going to tell you, there’s nothing you can do.
In my book, it’s better to do something than nothing. Exposing your open wallet for every potential creditor is not in my vocabulary. Your insurance company is your first line of defense. They will send a team of lawyers limited to your insurance coverage. But the Insurance Company is not going to cover your negligence.
Taking stack of what you own and how it’s going to evaporate between legal fees and court decisions, completely out of control.
Your lawyer is partially incorrect. A judge is going to decide how much guilt you are going to bear. Your police are going to determine the amount of negligence and possible criminal prosecution. You will have to defend yourself on both fronts. Most people will hire one attorney to handle the civil and criminal. In my opinion, that’s wrong. Criminal attorney are trained differently. The criminal side of life is to put up defenses to keep you out of jail. The civil attorney is to keep your assets. They are different defenses with different objectives.
4 THINGS YOU CAN DO IMMEDIATELY TO PROTECT YOUR ASSETS:
- Reposition your asset(s) with an independent trustee through an irrevocable trust, before the lawsuit is filed.
- Have your documents notarized and filed with the registry of deeds.
- Avoid fraudulent conveyance by transferring asset at less than it’s fair market value.
- Hire an expert defense lawyer.
- Will it work? It depends. But it’s better to give them the run around to your assets than a straight line to your bank account.
