|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
    |
INTRODUCTION continued... During the past year, there has been a rash of media stories and Congressional hearings into the dangers caused by the availability of sensitive financial information. In response to this heightened awareness of the problem, we have witnessed an explosion of demand for legal strategies designed to protect financial privacy and shield personal assets from lawsuits and other attacks. A considerable portion of our practice over the last twenty years has been devoted to these issues, and this book is intended to present the solutions we have seen and developed over the years. In chapters 1 and 2, we will show you how personal information about you is located. You will learn the tools and the techniques used by investigators and "information brokers" to uncover your bank accounts and other private financial data. We will look at the reasons why somebody wants this information about you -- and what they can do with it to harm you. In chapters 3 and 4, we will examine the lawsuit danger in greater detail. We will see how a lawyer uses private information about your financial matters to evaluate a case, and then what really happens during a lawsuit. Beginning in chapter 5, we will turn our attention to the strategies that are commonly employed to achieve financial privacy and asset protection purposes. We will look at corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Family Limited Partnerships, and a variety of trust arrangements and offshore plans. We will concentrate attention on a powerful strategy known as the Privacy Trust, which allows us to create an excellent level of privacy and asset protection in the most flexible and convenient format. As a word of caution, this book cannot possibly substitute for competent legal advice. Our treatment of the law is general and is not intended as a comprehensive discussion of all relevant issues. The law in each state will vary to some extent, and the applicability of the law will depend upon your individual circumstances.
|
