Posted by: Lee Phillips
There are a couple of lessons learned from the Bernie Madoff scam that business persons can make sure they are observing. Bernie and his wife made a couple of mistakes. (Well, maybe more than a couple.) They were just flat out illegal in most of what they did, but they made mistakes that you can avoid when you are trying to protect your assets. Every businessperson needs to pay attention to these basic rules. The ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Lee Phillips
Bernie Madoff went to jail, but his wife is still living in the big penthouse. There is still a good possibility she will spend some time in a cell, but it won’t be because she owns lots of assets. Her problem is she was working in the business and has committed the same types of illegal acts as her husband. There are a whole bunch of asset protection lessons that can be learned from the Madoff disaster. ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Lee Phillips
A lot of my students have questions along the following lines:
I have several properties that have Freddie or Fannie mortgages on them. Can I move them to separate legal entities in order to get some asset protection? What will this do to the mortgages?
Holding properties in separate legal entities is a good idea for asset protection purposes. The common scenario is to hold them in various land trusts. ...
Continue Reading →