|
Commonly Used Structures • residence trusts • limited liability companies • limited partnerships • equity strips • sale to a friendly third party • outright sale |
Protecting Your Home
For many people, their home is their single most valuable asset. It can also be their most vulnerable. The financial and emotional impact of losing it can be devastating. At Klueger & Stein, LLP we utilize perfectly legal and ethical strategies to avoid such a loss.
A Case History: The Unfortunate Widow
Dolores was 84 and a widow. She had been living in the same house for 30 years, and it was fully paid off. She had virtually no savings, and lived off her Social Security benefits.
She was involved in an automobile accident and was sued. The plaintiff asked for $200,000 in excess of her insurance coverage. She was in danger of losing her home.
Representing the woman on a pro bono basis, we transferred the ownership of her house to a special residence trust. Seeing this, the plaintiff ceased its efforts to pursue our client in excess of her insurance limits.
While Dolores is not a typical asset protection client, her case is an excellent example of an important point- you do not need to be uber-rich, or rich at all, to engage in asset protection planning. We all have assets worth protecting. Whether your home equity is $200,000 or $2,000,000, the emotional attachment and the need to protect it is the same.