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Click here to find out moreAsset protection planning should be an integral part of any estate plan, and estate planners who are not incorporating asset protection features into client estate are not only doing a disservice to their clients but to themselves as well. In this first of a two-part series, Barry Engel introduces estate planners to the key concepts involved with integrated estate planning and its asset protection component. Areas of discussion include: what is an integrated estate planning trust (“IEPT”); how it combines with one or more domestic and/or foreign limited partnerships and/or limited liability companies; how the planner should balance protection of assets with day-to-day flexibility for the client; what constitutes a fraudulent transfer and what the downside can be for the client and for the planner; what portion of the client’s overall estate should be protected; what planning techniques are available to the planner and their relative level of efficacy; how domestic trusts compare to foreign situs trusts when asset protection is an important planning goal; and designing planning structures so they avoid the ire of the I.R.S. This discussion is followed by a comparative analysis of the various jurisdictions that are available for asset protection purposes, and a model integrated estate planning structure is then presented and reviewed as a case study.
