 |
Providing Affordable On-Shore Tax Advantaged Asset Protection
Owning "Stuff"?
Regardless of your personal religious beliefs, you'd probably agree that you "can't take it with you" someday when you're gone. Some one else - most likely your Family - is ultimately going to end up with your house, your car, your sailboat, your bank account, your golf clubs, your beer can collection and all your other "stuff", as comedian George Carlin humorously refers to it. I love to ask during my live seminars "how much of his wealth did billionaire, J. Paul Getty, leave behind?". Folks start guessing "one billion?", "two billion?" The answer is "ALL OF IT!" He left it all behind. Every dime. He left the world the same way he entered it, just like we all do - with nothing.
So, in a sense, isn't all ownership of property, really just temporary, since none of us can "take it with us" after we've quit this "mortal coil"? In reality, don't we all go through life in a sense just "renting" the use of what we like to think of as "ours"? Regardless of how we obtained our worldly belongings, whether through inheritance or hard work, isn't what concerns us the most not so much the ownership of them, but the enjoyment of them while we're still alive and the ability to decide who will receive them upon our death? Since all the "stuff" you've collected thus far in your life is titled in your own name and thereby vulnerable to those dozens of state and federal agencies prone to confiscation without due process of law. (Not to mention the person who slips on your front steps and sues you for everything you've got). Since you'll surely be giving it all away someday anyway, why not just give it all away RIGHT NOW - while you're still alive?
What is the advantage to doing this? Asset protection and judgment proofing. You can't steal something from someone who doesn't own it in the first place. Think of it this way: You can owe someone (or some bureaucratic agency) a million dollar's, but, unlike England in Dickens' time, when they threw a debtor "in the hole" (hence the expression) until the family had paid the debts, there are no debtors prisons in America today. If there is nothing titled in your own name, there is nothing subject to seizure and therefore nothing at risk! A house owned as one's own personal property is a "sitting duck". But rent or lease that same house from someone else and it can't be liened to get at you, the tenant. Ditto with leasing a car, business equipment, etc. In order to protect hard earned assets, many people naively rely upon a will which causes the estate to pass through probate, thereby subjecting it to public exposure, potential attack by would-be heirs, time consuming administration, long delays in the transfer of assets, and erosion through heavy inheritance taxes. However, the law also allows the conveyance of personal property into trust for the benefit of descendants and others.
What are the advantages of a trust? Asset protection, judgment proofing, total privacy, guaranteed and immediate continuity of inheritance, avoidance of wasted time and money, and legal avoidance of estate taxes, to name just a few. There are essentially just two broad types of trust, revocable and irrevocable. Since the popular and numerous types of living trusts can be revoked during the lifetime of their creator, such a revocable trust can be set aside by the courts, if attacked by creditors, as a mere "alter ego" or shadow entity, thereby exposing the imperiled assets.
Why? Because the creator of such a trust retains the right during his or her lifetime to revoke or dissolve the trust and regain ownership of the assets conveyed into it, thereby maintaining a continuous thread of ownership. A **Constitutional Pure Trust, on the other hand, is an irrevocable trust. One who conveys property into irrevocable trust, thereby entrusting it to the care of the trustee(s), irrevocably gives up all rights of ownership of that property forever, becomes judgment proof: and is rendered a legal pauper. For example, the home owner who conveys his or her home into irrevocable trust (or whose home is purchased by such a trust ) may, by the trustee's administration of the trust contract if so written, remain on the property as a tenant or caretaker - but is no longer the owner.
The bottom line: you give your "stuff" away and continue to enjoy the use of it while you're still alive. Increasing numbers of law abiding Americans are taking quiet steps, allowed by law, to render themselves judgment (and seizure) proof through the use of various methods of divesting themselves of ownership. Many of these patriotic and law abiding Americans have learned that, when dealing with a rapacious bureaucracy it can be fun standing up for your rights when you have nothing to lose!
The information on this site will point you in the direction upon which to begin your education in this area. Keep in mind that not all trusts are alike. A Trust is only as good as the written contract that defines it and is only as strong as the trustee(s) will step forward to defend it should it ever be attacked in court. As with everything, "you get what you pay for" in the way of quality and expertise. The vast majority of attorneys are totally oblivious to the very existence of the Pure Trust Organization, let alone its creation, language and proper use.
** Some of the names also used for Pure Trusts are "Constitutional Pure Trust", "Pure Trust Organization", "PTO", "Common Law Trust", "Contract Trust", or "Constitutional Trust".
Click here if you wish to subcribe to our mailing list.
SITE LINKS
[ HOME ][ Why FFA? ][ Free Report ][ Asset Protection 101 ][ "Timing is everything" ][ "Probate" ][ Do It Yourself? ][ Owning "Stuff" ][ Conference call ][ Inquiry to IRS on PTO's ][ Scanned IRS response ][Talking to the Pros][ Common Law ][ Case Law ][ Frequently Asked Questions][ Become an FFA Rep?][ Upcoming Events]
Copyright(c)2004 Financial Fortress Associates
Last Update: