How Can I Protect My Estate from Creditors?

You may have been conscientious in planning to leave behind certain parts of your estate for your beneficiaries. So it is understandable that you do not want your efforts to be jeopardized by any external factors, such as collection activities by your creditors. Rest assured, certain planning documents may work to ensure that your beneficiaries get what you have promised. Continue reading to learn how to protect your estate from creditors and how one of the experienced Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can guarantee such security.

In what ways can I protect my estate from creditors?

Unfortunately, you may find yourself in a financial situation that leaves you struggling to pay back your secured debts or otherwise considering a bankruptcy declaration. With this, your creditors may be prompted to repossess your property serving as collateral, among other collection activities.

However, there are ways within your estate plan in which you may tuck away certain assets from the grasp of your creditors. Importantly, these are legitimate strategies that are not considered fraudulently hiding assets or otherwise defrauding your creditors. Without further ado, you may protect your estate from creditors by using any culmination of the following planning documents:

• You may transfer your assets into an irrevocable trust: this is because, technically, you will no longer possess these assets. Thereby, it is unavailable for creditors to collect from.
• You may retitle your assets under your beneficiaries’ names: this is because, for example, tenancy by the entirety law may protect your survivor from any claims on your home.
• You may make the maximum allowed contribution to your retirement plan: this is because your IRA account, for example, may protect a predetermined sum of claims on your assets.

What other activities can my planning documents protect me from?

Unreasonable collections by your creditors may not be the only activity you must protect your assets from. Other examples of such activities are as follows:

• Your planning documents may protect your beneficiaries in the event of any unreasonable collections by their creditors.
• Your planning documents may protect your beneficiaries from any unnecessary waiting periods for their distributions.
• Your planning documents may protect you and your beneficiaries from any unnecessary federal estate taxes and inheritance taxes.
• Your planning documents may protect you and your beneficiaries in the event of any frivolous lawsuits placed against you.
• Your planning documents may protect you and your beneficiaries in the event of the dissolution of your marriage.

There are many benefits in establishing an estate plan to consider carefully. So please do so with one of the skilled Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys from Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC. We look forward to having a conversation with you.