California Asset Protection Attorney, Sebastian Gibson
Asset Protection - Offshore Asset Protection and Offshore LLCs and Strategies
If you’ve been searching for California asset protection lawyers or offshore asset protection attorneys in California and haven’t found the asset protection attorney in which you can be confident when retaining a lawyer for your asset protection, voluntary disclosure, offshore trust protection and family limited partnership matters in California, Sebastian Gibson is the asset protection attorney you’ve been looking for.
California Asset Protection Lawyer
With over thirty years of experience handling international matters, with law degrees in both California and in Great Britain, and years of international experience in London as well as decades of experience in California, California asset protection lawyer Sebastian Gibson brings a wealth of experience to the table and was chosen one of the 2011 Top Lawyers by Palm Springs Life Magazine.
U.S. taxpayers and their asset protection attorneys often utilize offshore trusts or combinations with offshore LLCs to accomplish their asset protection. The taxpayer typically chooses a jurisdiction favorable to judgment debtors in which there is a very short (one or two year) statute of limitations for lawsuits for fraudulent conveyances and a high burden of proof required of creditors. The value of such a short statute of limitations becomes apparent when one considers that most states have four year statutes of limitations for fraudulent transfers.
Valid reasons for creating an offshore trust include avoiding certain laws regarding heirs, protecting separate pre-marital property, estate planning, business planning, asset protection, and tax planning. Spouses can establish separate trusts or combine their wealth into one trust for their mutual benefit.
A foreign trust should not own any assets located in the U.S. Ownership of stock in U.S. companies may even present a problem. However, with the availability of owning stock in companies anywhere else in the world, this can be a minor inconvenience to the savvy investor.
Some strategies call for assets to be held by a foreign limited liability with all of the membership interest in the offshore LLC given to the foreign trust. Often the two are in different jurisdictions. The manager of the offshore LLC thus has all of the control over the bank accounts or brokerage accounts. In this strategy, it is thus possible for a U.S. person to control the assets yet have ownership of none of them. Should there be a risk developed against this manager, or should his independence be jeopardized, the manager can be removed and a foreign trustee step in to manage the offshore LLC’s assets. Once the risk has been eliminated, the original manager can be placed back in control.
An offshore trust can always be attacked by a creditor with the money to do so. They are not ironclad and will not protect a settlor’s assets in every instance due to all the variables in each situation. However, they provide one of the best asset protection devices and with proper planning and correct decisions such as what foreign jurisdiction to utilize, they can be extremely effective as a deterrent to creditors the vast majority of the time.
Foreign or Offshore Trusts are not for hiding assets. Although they can provide a level of privacy, they are still subject to onerous U.S. tax reporting and as a result of this reporting and the crumbling of bank secrecy in today’s world, their primary purpose is not confidentiality. Indeed, many settlors of foreign trusts willingly disclose the existence of a foreign trust holding the debtor’s assets to discourage litigation and to foster settlement on their terms.
In compliance with IRS requirements, we must advise you that any U.S. federal tax advice or asset protection strategies contained in this informational article about offshore trusts and offshore LLCs is not intended to be used nor is it published in order for it to be used and you may not use it for the purpose of avoiding penalties or fines under the Internal Revenue Code. It is not intended to be used nor is it being published in order to promote, market or recommend any specific transaction, tax-related matter or estate planning tax scheme to any party.
California Asset Protection Attorney, Sebastian Gibson
Sought out to be a writer for California’s two largest and most prestigious legal newspapers, California asset protection attorney Sebastian Gibson’s articles have been published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Today thousands and thousands of people visit this website and his blogs monthly for useful advice and thousands more follow him on Twitter for his humor.
One of the best asset protection attorneys for people in California to follow for his humor and wit, one of the funniest California asset protection lawyers as well as one of the top humorous California asset protection attorneys people follow on Twitter, California asset protection attorney Sebastian Gibson has been called "brilliant," "hilariously funny" and a "legend."
It matters more than you think who you call for your asset protection and other legal matters. When it matters most, call California asset protection lawyer Sebastian Gibson. When it’s time to hire a California asset protection attorney, hire a legend.
