Why Protect Your Assets?
Sarah and David Chen had built the perfect life. Twenty-three years of growing their architectural consulting firm had earned them a thriving business, a beautiful New Jersey home, healthy retirement accounts, and college funds for their twin daughters. They had wills, a living trust, and umbrella insurance, everything their financial advisor said they needed to protect their wealth. Life felt secure until one day, David opened the mail – and a lawsuit changed everything.
The case stemmed from a building project they’d completed eighteen months earlier. Despite their plans meeting every code requirement, stress fractures appeared in the building’s facade after residents moved in. Investigation revealed the contractor had used substandard materials, deviating from the approved specifications. But the desperate property developer, facing millions in repair costs and angry residents, sued everyone involved, including the Chens’ firm, demanding $4.2 million in damages, nearly double their professional liability coverage.
For the first time in twenty plus years, the Chens were uncertain about their future…
Don’t Take the Risk
Call Now with NJ’s Top Rated Asset Protection Attorneys at Matus Law Group
What is Asset Protection?
Asset protection is like building a legal firewall around your wealth. Traditional estate planning decides who gets your money when you die but it won’t stop creditors from taking it while you’re alive.
Asset Protection vs. Estate Planning:
- Estate planning: passing wealth down after death
- Asset protection: keeping wealth safe during your lifetime
- Asset protection: uses special trusts and business structures to create barriers between your assets and threats
Asset Protection is Ideal for:
- Business owners facing lawsuit risks
- High-liability professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.)
- Families worried about long-term care costs
- Anyone with significant wealth to protect
The goal isn’t hiding money: it’s a smart, legal planning tool that lets you control your assets while making them much harder for creditors to reach.
Amazing service! Thank you so much to the entire awesome staff especially to Kristine Gurski! You were more than a lawyer to us. ☺️
Raul
New Jersey
How Does Asset Protection Work?
Here’s how asset protection would have changed everything for the Chens: instead of keeping their business profits, home equity, and retirement savings in their personal names where creditors could reach them, they could have moved these assets into protective legal structures.
For example, the Chens could have placed their investment accounts in an irrevocable trust that still provided family benefits while removing the assets from their personal ownership. Their business real estate could have been owned by an LLC, separating it from both personal assets and business liabilities. A family limited partnership could have held their other investments, with the Chens maintaining control while a trust owned most of the valuable shares.
With these structures in place before the lawsuit hit, the developer’s attorneys would have faced expensive legal barriers to reach the family’s wealth. Instead of threatening everything the Chens had built, the lawsuit would have been limited to whatever assets remained in their personal names—making the family a much less attractive target and giving them real negotiating power.
I have worked with and personally trusted the Matus Law group for over 10 years. They continuously go above and beyond expectations for every life event.
Frank V.
Common Asset Protection Tools Include:
Irrevocable Trusts
- Transfers assets out of your personal name into a trust you no longer directly control.
- Shields those assets from creditors, lawsuits, and certain estate taxes.
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
- Separates business activities from personal assets.
- Protects your personal wealth from business debts and lawsuits.
Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
- Lets family members pool assets while limiting liability exposure.
- Provides creditor protection and estate-tax advantages.
Retirement Accounts
- Many retirement plans (401(k), IRA) have federal or state protection against creditors.
Insurance Products
- Liability insurance and umbrella policies provide a first line of defense.
- Long-term care insurance helps avoid spending down assets for medical expenses.
Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
- Protects personal or family assets in the event of divorce.
Gifting Strategies
- Transfers assets out of your estate during your lifetime, lowering both liability and estate exposure.
Proper Titling of Assets
- Using tenancy by the entirety can protect jointly owned marital property from creditors of one spouse.
Offshore Trusts:
- Established in jurisdictions with strong creditor-protection laws
- Can be helpful if all the other protections with local structures are insufficient
Matus law group was recommended by our accountant.
We needed important family documents drawn up.
They were thorough knowledgeable and patient with all our questions.
We really enjoyed our experience with them.
Gentle B.
How Long Does Asset Protection Take to Set Up?
It really depends on what you need and how complicated your situation is.
The simplest moves happen fast. Something like changing how your house is titled or updating your insurance can be done in just a few days. Setting up an LLC or family partnership usually takes a few weeks, mostly waiting for state paperwork to process.
The more sophisticated strategies take longer. If you’re creating an irrevocable trust or moving assets offshore, you’re looking at several weeks to a few months. There’s a lot involved – drafting documents, setting up trustees, moving assets around, and making sure everything follows the rules.
Here’s the key thing to remember: the earlier you start, the better your options. Asset protection works best when you put it in place before any problems show up. Once someone’s already threatening to sue you, your choices become much more limited.
Our New Jersey Team
Christine Matus, Esq.
Estate Planning
Kristine Carranceja-Gurski
Estate Planning
Brayndi Grassi
Estate Planning and Real Estate
Caitlin Pennell
Estate Planning