Financial Privacy Must Be A Primary Goal

In today’s litigious society, financial privacy must be the primary goal for anyone who owns or invests in real estate. The first step to privacy should be to get your name off public records. Public records reveal who has what, when they got it, how much is borrowed against it, and many times, it can be determined how much was paid for the asset. Someone with an inquiring mind can visit the tax office and discover what the county has appraised the property for, the address they send the tax bill to, and whether you have paid your taxes.

There is NO Privacy Unless You Create It Yourself

Just about everything, anyone wants to know about your real estate ownership and investments is readily available at the courthouse. Worse yet, this information is now available through computer databases, for a fee. Some even show the value of every house on a street and who each of the owners is.

Why Does This Matter?

When someone wants to sue you, they typically approach an attorney first. The attorney’s first question is “How do I get paid?”, “Can the client pay me?” or “Does the other side have any assets to go after if I can get a judgment?” Now, with the days of automation, all the attorney has to do is access a database or contact a skip tracer, look up your name, and Voilà, there is all your real estate worth in front of his or her eyes.

Remove The Bullseye From Your Back

If the case has any validity at all, the attorney will be willing to accept it, often on a contingent fee basis. However, if your name was typed into the database and no assets showed up, it is VERY unlikely they will take a contingent fee case.  So with a Land Trust, your name is off public records, you have created a scenario enjoyed by investors in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, municipals, bank accounts, etc. – the scenario of anonymity. It is no longer readily apparent what you own, so you don’t have a gigantic bullseye on your back.

Estate Planning & Asset Protection is a Multi-Step Process

It is overwhelming for most people, so what usually happens is that they do nothing. Too much to learn. Too many decisions to make.  The truth is if you start with the front line, first- tep of creating a Land Trust for each property as it is purchased and place any existing real estate in those individual Land Trusts, your name is off public records, and probate is avoided on
these assets provided you have spelled out who gets what upon your death. What’s more, you can use Land Trust to facilitate easier purchase options on investment properties and once you place your real estate in trust you are quantum leaps ahead of 99.9% of the general population.

*A separate workbook, Volume II, complete with forms and examples is available which discusses Personal Property Trusts in depth. This is also an important step in your asset protection and estate planning strategy.