Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

Address: 3216 S. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84106, US
Telephone: (801) 463-2600

Whether you have a higher net worth or are in a high-liability profession, a domestic asset protection trust can help protect you and your family from lawsuits. If you wish to stop the claims of future creditors and litigators, we can help you. There are several ways to protect your assets, from gifting to family members and charities to paying for certain Medicare costs up front. Setting up a trust, however, is one of the most effective strategies.

Types of Trusts

Types of trusts include:

Revocable Trusts: These do not provide protection from creditors. Since the person who created the trust can amend it, that person’s creditors can also reach the trust’s assets.
Irrevocable Trusts: When a trust is created by someone other than the trust beneficiary, assets can be shielded from creditors. There are certain exceptions to this, however, such as government entities and individuals to whom are owed child support payments. Unless a trust is a self-settled irrevocable trust, it will only provide minimal protection.

UTAH PASSES NEW DOMESTIC ASSET PROTECTION TRUST LAW

In May 2013, Utah established a new self-settled domestic asset protection trust statute. This law provides a great degree of protection: as long as a person creates and funds an irrevocable trust with his/her assets and meets the requirements of the statute. When these are met:

The person’s future creditors will not be able to attach the trust property
They will not be able to force distributions from the trust to the trust’s creator
They will not be able to require the trustees to pay directly to the creditor distributions that would otherwise be made to the trust’s creator

ALTERNATIVE ASSET PROTECTION OPTIONS FOR SALT LAKE CITY FAMILIES

Whether one of these new trusts is right for you depends on the size of your estate and your personal wishes. At Alder Law in Salt Lake City, we listen to each client and create custom plans for asset protection. For example, your life insurance and retirement plans might already have sufficient asset protection in place, but other assets may be at risk. We can help set up special trusts, corporations and limited liability companies to protect you.

To learn more about a domestic asset protection trust or other asset protection options and to see if establishing one for your estate would benefit you and your family, contact our Salt Lake City estate planning attorneys today at (801) 463-2600!