Asset Protection in the USA

Introduction - When we surf through the web we see many entities selling American Trusts, Corporations and other structures that they consider to be asset protection strategies. These run the gamut of corporations in the states of Wyoming, Delaware or Nevada, trusts of various types in different jurisdictions and other structures all based in the USA.

What is wrong here is that nothing in the USA can protect you from an aggressive judge who feels your assets should be seized to satisfy some sort of debt or perceived debt. You are subject to the mercy of any Judge who may or may not be following the law. Now if the Judge over steps his bounds you are faced with paying massive legal bills to correct the situation in the appeals process. Your odds of winning an appeal are probably under 1%. Ask some of these law firms that do these asset protection structures what their rate per hour is going to be to try and protect your assets if they come under attack from a financial enemy of yours. Figure on rates starting at $325.00 per hour (very low) and going up to $1250.00 per hour for a partner in a top-drawer law firm in the USA. Ouch.

So the point is judges do not always follow the law in this country therefore no asset protection structure is going to be very protective. Litigation in the USA is too prevalent and expensive to allow one to comfortably use this jurisdiction for asset protection. The legal expenses of defending the asset protection structure can wipe out your assets. If you locate your assets offshore the odds of ever having to defend them against a financial adversary are miniscule.

USA Private Detectives - Now we can talk about private detectives in America getting bank information, credit card information, phone records etc. Go look at the ads on the Internet and call these private detectives up, they even take credit cards. The credit card fraud perpetrators use these people to get dossiers on potential victims they are going to fleece through an identity theft scam, and they even use stolen credit cards to pay for the files for their next victims. They will get your bank statements, cell phone statements and bills, phone bills and records, credit reports, driving records, public records - just about anything you wish to pay for. Big law firms have retainer relationships with private detectives.

We can also go on to discuss identity theft from security violations perpetrated by private detectives concerning bank accounts, credit cards, public records. If you vest your Panama real estate in the name of an anonymous bearer share corporation how could that possibly help someone do an identity theft on you? If your bank accounts were covered by bank secrecy laws wouldn't that help insulate you from identity theft? If your credit card came from a bank under bank secrecy laws wouldn't that help protect you? Panama is a much safer place legally and practically.

Confiscation of Funds and Assets - Next problem is civil court ordered pre-trial confiscation of funds. This can happen in a civil matter such as divorce. Remember any judge on a Federal, State, County or City level can pretty much get at any asset located anywhere in the USA. Usually this is a temporary hold or confiscation pending some court date but could be permanent in theory and/or practice. They usually refer to these actions as liens, levies, seizures, garnishments, attachments, and even injunctive relief. The terms vary with the jurisdiction. In the USA some government agencies can confiscate funds without taking you to court, thus no trial, no being judged guilty by a court of your peers, no due process, no trial by judge etc.

Now you have to convince a lawyer to take your case hoping he can get the judge to allow your money to be used to pay for your legal defense. These lawyers that want to confiscate your funds without you even getting to give any testimony don't even want you to be able to pay for your defense. They will argue that they are so sure of winning it is a waste of money to let you use the funds to pay for a high-powered law firm. How can there be asset protection in this legal environment? The ONLY way to accomplish asset protection where the USA is concerned is to liquidate the assets and move the funds offshore where the money is placed in a corporate or foundation bank account, stock brokerage account or into real estate in Panama.

USA Civil Lawyers Methods - Let me explain what an Ex-Parte proceeding is to start off. It is a legal proceeding where one of the other parties is not present and probably does not even know such a proceeding is taking place, usually the defendant. Let us assume you "feel" you have a good case in a court of law against a person or corporation. You hire a reputable law firm and prepare a complaint with whatever evidence you may or may not have. Next you file a complaint but do not serve the complaint and at the same time file an emergency motion with the court for an Ex Parte hearing in the Judges chambers in private, before the other party even knows you are suing them. You basically tell the Judge that you feel you have an excellent chance of winning and you are most concerned that the defendant will attempt to flee with their assets when the lawsuit commences thus causing you irreparable harm in that the money damages you suffered will then never be recoverable from this alleged culprit who has never had a chance to say one word in his or her defense so far. You then ask the court to freeze the defendant's bank accounts, real estate and other property of the defendant so the defendant cannot flee with the assets thus allowing you to recover your debt when the court rules in your favor, which you are so very sure, they will do. You of course post a bond to cover any damages in case you lose. This plays much better when you are using a large politically active law firm. Now it is going to be an unlikely event that you lose since your adversary now has all his money frozen so how is he or she going to pay for an adequate legal defense.

Essentially the victim (defendant) is suffering as if he were broke, all before he had a trial in court, and in this case even before he knew anyone is even suing him let alone having been convicted by a jury of his peers. Imagine you wake up one morning find all your bank accounts, stock brokerage accounts, and real estate all frozen by a court as a result of an ex-parte motion. Your cars, boats, planes have been towed away by the sheriff, all based on the allegations of some large rich corporation or plaintiff claiming you did something to them in a secret tribunal with the judge.