The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that an inherited IRA is not a “retirement account” for purposes of protection under the Bankruptcy code. This now means that inherited IRAs are available to satisfy creditor’s claims in order to pay off debt. The court characterized an inherited IRA as money that…
With the current estate tax exception of $5.43 Million for an individual and $10.86 Milliion for a married couple, some estate planners have begun to question whether gifting provisions in a Durable Power of Attorney pose more risk than reward. While it is true, that these provisions can be abused…
In Florida, a trust is not valid until funded. Many trusts need to be funded prior to your death to be used in the way intended. Often, individuals create trusts and forget to fund them during their life and do not receive the benefits that their trusts were designed for.…
Last month the United States District court in Orlando found that the membership interest in a Nevis LLC was subject to Florida jurisdiction. The court also found that Florida law, not Nevis law, applies to the creditor’s application for a charging lien because the situs of the asset determines what…
Asset protection was previously out of reach for most Americans. Thanks to a new trust called the IPUG™ Trust, Asset Protection is affordable for the average family. In the past many families created trusts to avoid estate tax, but with the recent increases in the Federal estate tax exemptions, many…
If you have been told, don’t worry about your IRA it is protected because Florida has statutory protections for IRAs, you may have misunderstood or been mislead. While Florida does have statutory protection for inherited IRA’s, this protection only applies if your beneficiaries are residents of Florida at the time…
We often get asked about the iPug™ Trust and how it can be so different than a traditional revocable trust or a standard irrevocable trust. The iPug™ takes the best parts of an irrevocable trust and mixes them with the best parts of a revocable trust to create a new…
Many times we get questions from clients asking if their revocable trust provides asset protection from creditors. The answer to this is the typical legal answer “It Depends”. That is it depends on who owes the money. In Florida a revocable trust can provide some limited protection against the creditors…
In Florida, a multi member LLC, has asset protection characteristics. Prior to 2011, Florida law was not clear on whether a charging order was the exclusive remedy for a creditor of a member of a multi member LLC. Assets in a Florida multi member LLC are protected from the reach…
A TAP trust is an extremely versatile trust designed to hold a variety of assets. This type of trust helps the grantor avoid needless estate taxes without the restrictions of other trusts. The TAP trust can hold a variety of assets that include: real estate, stocks, insurance policies, bonds, and…