Asset Protection and Estate Planning Considerations for Business Owners
When you form a corporation around your business, you limit your personal liability. In other words, a corporation can protect your personal assets from the liability of a business lawsuit.
But what happens if you, the individual, are sued? The value of your business will be considered a personal asset and could very well be included in a judgment.
So not only do you need to protect your personal assets from your business liabilities, you need to protect your business from your personal liabilities as well.
Many business owners make the mistake of believing that a standard Trust will protect all of their assets. However, this is often not the case, especially for those who are business owners themselves.
You also need to know that a standard trust may not provide you with enough flexibility to differentiate the way your personal and business assets are to be handled within the trust itself.
How to visualize the situation
For a moment, think of your business and personal assets as bubbles. Your home and savings are one bubble, your stock investments are another bubble, and your business is yet a third.
So, what’s the solution?
Often, a more effective approach is to protect these assets individually — then wrap them together in an all encompassing Trust. There are, of course, many factors to consider. Everyone’s situation is unique.
I want to provide you with the information you need, personally, to determine which forms of asset protection and estate planning are best for you.