Asset Protection

Prenup Vs. Domestic Asset Protection Trust

Published on: June 11, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

So how do DAPTs work in a marriage to protect assets? Do they need to be set up before the marriage? Can they be set up during the marriage?

Marriage might be that last step in bringing two people and two lives together. Nevertheless, that moment often causes one to pause, however idyllic a match may be. Cold feet is cold feet.

When it comes to bringing two financial lives together, there are some hard numbers to work through and some tough decisions to make before opening each other up to one another’s liabilities or the liability of divorce itself. You can use a prenuptial agreement – the so-called “prenup” of courthouses and tabloids alike. Alternatively, as pointed out in a recent Forbes article, titled “How To Protect Yourself In A Divorce Using A Domestic Asset Protection Trust,” you might have better luck with a Domestic Asset Protection Trust or DAPT. It’s a big topic.

Houston Business Owners Should Address Risk Management

Published on: April 7, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Asset protection is the process of employing risk management products and legally acceptable solutions to ensure a person’s wealth is not unjustly taken.

Ever heard of the rule of entropy? Roughly, it says that things tend toward chaos. So it is with business and the chaos of litigation.

If you are a small business owner, then you simply cannot have your greatest personal asset, the greatest family asset, and the activity you are most proud of eroded, chipped away or swallowed whole by litigants or creditors. You need a plan to protect the business as an asset.

Houston Home Owners Should Know Key Issues Of Reverse Mortgages

Published on: April 2, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Death of the borrower triggers the loan payoff, but the estate and heirs will never owe more than what the home is worth.

Family homes are unique assets. And like many assets, family homes can be as complicated as they are meaningful. Even when heirs inherit a home with no strings attached, issues can arise.

But what about when there are strings that come with inheriting the family home? What if there is still a mortgage or, increasingly common, a reverse mortgage? Notably, when a reverse mortgage is in play there are a few more things an heir needs to know.

An IRA That Protects Heirs From Themselves

Published on: January 16, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

One big advantage of the trusteed IRAs: IRA owners can prevent their beneficiaries from spending down the accounts right away.

An IRA is a very powerful tool, if you use it right. Your IRA can essentially serve estate planning purposes beyond simple retirement funding in the form of a “trusteed IRA.”

A good place to start your education is a recent MarketWatch article titled “Trusteed IRAs Can Help Heirs Manage Inheritance.”

Prenup: The “Other” Proposal for Houston Couples

Published on: January 2, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Generally, the best candidates for a prenup, besides anyone with substantial assets, are those going into a second or third marriage, says Bonnie Sockel-Stone, a marital and family attorney in Miami, Florida.

A prenup proposal is a bit of an oxymoron. With a marriage proposal, you are pledging to love and care for your future spouse for life, for better or for worse. When a prenup enters the equation, you are basically throwing in a contingency plan. This can create mixed emotions to say the least.

Still, especially with blending families, a prenup can be a prudent tool to maintain peace and domestic tranquility between the respective sides of the to-be-formed family. Love may be blind, but it is best to enter the marriage with both eyes open. Not surprisingly, the use of prenups is on the rise.