He just never understood his insurance well enough and so got pretty screwed up since he never bought insurance for himself.Just to comment on the rest:  I've only heard of the trust just helping with hiding your assets, but as Kohler's book points out (and others), during court you should be disclosing all your asset anyway... 

I've been having a little trouble hiding the plans that I'd like to use for the build.  

Building permits may be another source and utilities usually have personal guarantees that may be public.It's hard to hide with an LLC, but it's better than sticking your name out there.The best way to protect yourself in business is first by your conduct then with insurance.

I would look at maybe other costs, costs can be hiding in these kind of agreements that turn a great partnership into a very unpleasant one.

There's no returns specified which leads me to believe they're hiding it for a reason but despite that, my CPA will probably charge me more for the extra complexity.

Also popcorn ceilings can hide imperfections.

I just figure they're hiding the loch ness monster and a couple million mosquito eggs underneath, maybe the guy they foreclosed on is under there too, who knows...Is it a terrible idea to run the pump without being able to see the pool?

We truly had no recollection of this inspection report issue and weren't deliberately hiding anything but we're now scratching our heads at how such a specific accusation would have been made.

I wouldn't try to hide anything by fixing it, but a 1 year old unit should have a few years left in it.

@Mike Flora  The beauty of Land Trust is that they are never recorded, thereby, hiding the true owner from public records.