Im being sued for a car accident. How do I protect my property?

[Peter Kopchik]

I had an accident 2 years ago, I was deemed at fault. I am now being sued for personal injury by the other party Involved. Is my property in danger? How can I protect my assets? The deed is in my personal name.

[Jennifer Gligoric]

@Peter Kopchik  Unfortunately, once the lawsuit is filed, any measures to move assets are looked upon unfavorably by the courts.  The other posters are correct in that insurance can be used, but again, you must disclose the lawsuit trying to get new insurance and most will not want to cover you if they know you are currently in litigation.  Also, getting this settled by insurance is what you should hope for.  I've had clients that have had to pay settlement amounts over and above what insurance would pay or what they didn't cover under the fine print.  Having the suit come in under the State filing limit is pretty typical.  Many people get fuzzy with the details & can't find photos, etc. over time.

This is why I always recommend having insurance and having the right entity structures designed specifically for real estate investors, the state you live in and the state your properties / other businesses are held in layering protection in Series LLC, DST's, Anonymous LLC's or other types of trusts such as a QPRT ( in California, though right now with the tax laws, I don't see them as attractive as they used to be prior to the 2017 (TCJA) Tax changes to the Estate & Gift Tax portion of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.

You will have to go through this and then I highly suggest once it is settled, good luck by the way - I hope your insurance is able to settle it out of court for you - go & get the right anonymous entity setups for your business based on the type of investing you are doing, where you live and where your assets are located.