Asset Protection for Real Estate Investors

[Brian Bradley]

Hello BP members and investors. I am an Asset Protection Attorney specifically for Real Estate Investors. I see lots of questions on this topic about how to structure your companies and protect your investments, but not a specific forum entitled Asset Protection, which is what we are all talking about. 

Asset Protection works by taking away the economic incentive for somebody and their attorney to sue you. The reality is that investors will face a lawsuit in their lifetime: it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN am I going to get sued?

A properly established plan performs three primary functions: lawsuit deterrence, settlement negotiation leverage and/or placing your assets out of the reach of a legal opponent.

You do this by:
- Insurance
- Using LLC's
- Combining them with Trusts
- Owning NOTHING personally in your name (the Rich own nothing, but control everything).
- Use separate legal tools
- DON'T FLAUNT YOUR WEALTH

The main ways clients use their planning are:
1. Reducing Fear
2. Deter Lawsuits
3. To focus their Financial & Estate Planning
4. To re-focus their efforts on their money making activity.

I invite everybody from BP newbies trying to get started, to your richest investor to chime in and ask any questions, and offer up their own experiences and protection plans. We are all in the investment game together, and will all face the same problems as we grow our assets and legacies. Asset Protection is NOT a one size fits all strategy, but is specific for each person per their current assets, worth, goals, and what they invest in.