The primary goal of estate planning is to provide for the management and transfer of wealth at the smallest financial and emotional cost to family and loved ones. Further, in an increasingly litigious environment, many of our clients are concerned about asset protection. Typically, they want to ensure that:

• Their assets are protected from attack from:
o Creditors; or
o bankruptcy
• Their personal and business assets are protected for future generations (note the likelihood of marital breakdowns); and
• The assets they pass to their children are protected from creditors, bankruptcy or divorce of their children

Often accumulated assets are in unsuitable structures (or in personal names) which potentially exposes those assets to risk. Once those assets are owned, the cost to transfer those assets an new entity can be prohibitive due to Capital Gains Tax or transfer duty liabilities.
If the transfer of assets is too costly due to Capital Gains Tax or transfer duty liabilities, other strategies can be adopted which will achieve the same level of asset protection but without such real and present liabilities.

If you wish to know more about asset protection both within or outside of your estate plan, please contact us.