AttorneysEd Center

Too often the asset protection planning process stops at protecting individually held assets; the assets of the client’s operating business, professional practice and/or real estate holdings are left unattended. Join Barry Engel as he discusses various principles, concepts and strategies designed to address these areas of need, including: 1) a business or professional practice settling a trust; 2) a business or professional practice undergoing a divisive reorganization to accomplish asset protection goals; 3) a business or professional practice forming and funding one or more related entities to which assets are contributed; 4) a business or professional practice selling its assets to a separately owned company and then leasing the assets back from the purchasing company; 5) “liquefying” the equity of a business or professional practice and contributing the proceeds to an integrated estate planning trust; and 6) asset protection planning structures owning real estate and the special considerations required by this immovable asset class.

The 1987 Bruntland Commission, the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Council and the 2011 UN meeting on carbon emissions have shown the pathway that intergovernmental efforts have led along the way to a greener future for commercial real estate. The UK government has introduced legislation for new buildings to be nearly zero energy by 2020 and as near to zero as possible by 2050. The UK Energy Act came into force in 2011 and the recent Energy Performance of Buildings Directive will be transposed into EU member state legislation by July 2012. The Investment Property Databank has produced the IPD Sustainable Property Index Monitor which aims to establish and measure the link between sustainability credentials of a property and its value. Environmental tools exist such as the IPD Eco-Ledger, BREEAM and Energy Performance Certificates. In this program of particular interest to in-house counsel, attorneys and experts in the areas of banking and sustainability explore the regulatory background of the