The Research Triangle area asset protection attorneys at Clarity Legal Group help you to ensure that the wealth you have worked so hard to acquire is not lost. If you are like most people, you want to do what you can to protect what you have, ensuring that your nest egg is safe so you can use it to sustain you throughout your lifetime. You would also like to have something left to established a financial legacy after your death. To achieve this,the first step and and essential step is to identify the risks that could cause losses. 
There are a few key steps involved in the asset protection process that Clarity Legal Group can help you with, including the following important steps.
Identifying the Risks
You may or may not have risks that keep you up nights, but you certainly understand that things within you control and beyond your control can put you and your family at risk.
There are some common risks shared by most individuals. For example, there is a risk that you could be sued due to accidentally causing harm, such as causing an auto accident or having someone fall and hurt themselves at your home. If you are in business there is the risk of financial debt taken on to facilitate a transaction or sustain operations and the risk of loss due to not thoughtfully planning an exist strategy. In marriage, there is the risk of divorce. As you age, there is the risk of mistake due to failing mental capacity, vulnerability to undue influence, and simply the risk of infirmity. You could end up having to pay high nursing home care costs if you get sick or become disabled because Medicare and most private insurers don’t cover skilled nursing care or home care. You could have to pay out of pocket until you are impoverished enough to qualify for means-tested Medicaid benefits. Finally, if you become incapacitated because of illness or injury, there is a risk that your wealth could be reduced or lost due to neglect or mismanagement.
There are also risks that may be unique to your specific situation. You may have an irresponsible heir, for example, and may be concerned about the risk that an inheritance left to the heir will be squandered quickly. Even a responsible heir might see an inheritance taken in an event of business or professional liability. There is the risk that your child treats an inheritance in a manner which leaves it vulnerable to a divorcing spouse. If your estate is a larger one, you could also face risk of loss due to estate tax and if you are a small business owner, you face threats both to your business and to your personal assets including the possibility your company could be lost if it’s not quickly transferred to new owners in the event of your death or disability, as well as the fact your personal assets could possibly be at risk if your company is sued.
There may also be risks that you are not aware of. For example, if you plan to leave money to a disabled loved one, this generous gift could cause a loss of access to means-tested benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) if you are not smart and strategic about how the gift is structured.
Implementing a Plan
The Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill area asset protection attorneys at Clarity Legal Group will assist you in conducting a thorough risk assessment analysis so we can help you to identify the risks that you need to try to minimize and mitigate against. Once you’ve become aware of the specific dangers to your assets, we can help you to implement a plan. This plan could include:
- Making a Medicaid asset protection trust so you can qualify for Medicaid when you need nursing home care without impoverishing yourself first.
- Making a special needs trust to provide an inheritance for a disabled loved one that does not cause a loss of benefits.
- Analyzing your insurance coverage to ensure you are properly protected against the threat of lawsuits.
- Identifying the right business structure, such as a corporation or an LLC, to reduce the likelihood your personal assets could be at risk if the company is sued and to facilitate the creation of a business succession plan.
- Making an asset transfer plan, such as the use of a living trust that makes it possible for assets to pass quickly to new owners so a family business or other valuable assets do not lose value due to a long delay in new owners taking ownership in the event of your incapacity or death.
- Creating a plan to avoid or reduce estate tax through techniques like creating a family limited partnership, gifting during your lifetime, and transfers through trusts.
- Creating asset protection and divorce protection trusts for those who inherit from you to protect those assets for them.
These are just a few of the different ways that we can help you to take advantage of legal tools that can keep your wealth safe.
Getting Help from Durham Asset Protection Attorneys
The asset protection attorneys at Clarity Legal Group can provide Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Cary area residents the personalized assistance they need to make a plan to minimize the risks most likely to cause losses in their specific situation. We could help you. To find out more about how our firm can help you, give us a call at 919-484-0012 or contact us online .
Mark Costley
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