Asset Protection Jurisdictions Compared: Fine-Tuning the DAPT with Steve Oshins

By Robert L. Moshman, Esq. | The Estate Analyst Since 1997, 13 states have enacted laws permitting self-settled trusts. Including Colorado, which has had a highly questionable statute on its books since long before the other states, there are a total of 14 states with some form of domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) laws. Each of these DAPT jurisdictions has taken its own approach, and there are critical variations. To some extent, the 14 states have jockeyed for competitive edge to position themselves as attractive havens for trust funds. Here, we have consulted Nevada attorney Steve Oshins, an authority on…

Managing Your Priorities and Offer for Personal Coaching Session

Reposted from WealthManagement.com | By Matt Oechsli Los Angeles—“We’ve got so much going on in our practice, everybody is working, but I don’t really know if we’re prioritizing properly,” Michael explained. “Do you know of a simple way in which we can get a handle on this?” In the busy world of a successful financial practice, it’s easy for everyone to get caught up in the reactive whirling dervish of day-to-day affairs. The telephones are ringing all day, support personnel have been trained to answer the telephone by the third ring at the latest, they attend to whatever the client…

Testamentary Planning & Administration for Blended Families

A prospective new client contacts you about working with him. Within minutes, you learn that he wants you to also work with his partner, and that they are unmarried with each having children from prior relationships as well as one of their own together. Do you experience a thrill of excitement at having such a complex and fascinating potential couple to work with, or does this scenario strike fear in your heart? If you’re like most of the estate planners we work with, fear is the first response, and, in most instances, the prospective client is afraid as well, but…

Out of the Ashes: CPA Robert Keebler is Leading Keebler & Associates LLP to the Cutting Edge of Tax and Estate Planning

Reposted from Financial Advisor Magazine | By Eric L. Reiner | May 2012 The financial crisis has been blamed for a lot of things. Setting in motion the events that launched a topflight planning boutique isn’t usually one of them. The Ponzi schemes exposed by the crisis affected clients at the firm CPA Robert S. Keebler was with at the time. As he delved into the tax issues surrounding clients’ losses, Keebler, a nationally known speaker and writer based in Green Bay, Wis., came to a realization. Few, if any, noted experts existed in the obscure world of theft-loss deductions….

Steve Oshins & the Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. “After approximately 15 years since the first DAPT legislation passed, not a single DAPT has been tested all the way through the court system. Most likely this is because such a large supermajority believes that if tested the DAPT will work to protect its assets from a creditor of the settlor. However, despite the very high likelihood of protection, if there is a way to increase the odds of success even more, then such a strategy should be…

LISI.com – Practice Pointers on the Core Concern of Blended Family Estate Planning: Joint or Separate Representation

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. “Statistics show that approximately 60% of second marriages end in divorce, and almost 75% of third marriages do as well. These figures loom large in the minds of couples with the “yours, mine and/or ours” scenarios in their step and blended families. There are pluses and minuses to couples sharing everything regarding their estate planning together, and when it comes to couples with blended families, the minuses can outweigh the pluses substantially. While there is great value in…

New Book Helps You Plan for and Protect Your Assets

Orange County, California (March 29, 2012) – There are few things in life more certain than death and taxes and perhaps, in today’s society, Law suits. However, the fact is few people actually plan for them. In the New Book The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer, Attorney Jeffrey R. Matsen (“Top 100 Attorneys in U.S.” Worth Magazine) has provided a straightforward and elementary description of what Asset Protection really is and demonstrates how it can be effectively implemented by taking various steps, like rungs on a ladder, to truly climb the ladder of success. “The one constant…

Steve Oshins’ 3rd Annual DAPT Ranking Chart & Other Free Updated Charts Available to Download

Steve Oshins’ 3rd Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust Ranking Chart Thanks to the generosity of nationally renowned estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) for providing his 3rd Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust Ranking Chart. For the first time since the chart was originally created, this chart now assigns numerical rankings to each DAPT state. The approximate weights assigned to each variable are listed. However, please note that in the interests of impartiality, since Nevada is the only state (of the top eight states per the rankings) that doesn’t allow divorcing spouses to access its…

Practical Planner – Checklist: Capacity (Volume 7, Issue 2)

Martin “Marty” Shenkman, Esq., CPA, MBA is an estate planning attorney and Certified Public Accountant who authors a number of publications each month, including his monthly e-mail newsletter, “Practical Planner“. Below is the second installment from Marty’s March/April 2012 newsletter. To be added to Marty’s monthly e-mail distribution list, e-mail newsletter@shenkmanlaw.com. Summary: By 2030 it is estimated that 1/5th of all Americans will be age 65 or older. Age brings challenges, that are often compounded by more health challenges. These make confirming that you have adequate ability, called “testamentary capacity,” to sign a will more important. But even if you’re…

Baby Boom Good for Life Insurance

More babies means greater demand for good old-fashioned cash-value life insurance. Young couples tend to buy life insurance to protect their families and babies are making a comeback. In fact, what has been called a “baby bust” in the United States is now over, according to a January report from Demographic Intelligence, published by W. Bradford Wilcox, associate professor of Sociology at University of Virginia, Charlottesville. In the wake of The Great Recession (2008-2012), the total fertility rate and the number of U.S. births fell more than 7 percent from 2007 to 2010, says Wilcox’s “U.S. Fertility Forecast.” The report…