Now United offers you the opportunity to offer your clients the concepts of asset protection coupled with domestic and international estate planning. The planning can be utilized by anybody to accomplish the following goals: Protect assets from creditors, judgments and regulatory seizure, Maintain control of the client's assets throughout their lifetime, Eliminate both estate and where applicable inheritance taxes, Eliminate probate fees, Defer capital gains taxes, Reduce, wherever possible, income taxes, Establish a structure that will provide the security that your client needs to sleep at night, knowing they have accomplished their asset protection estate planning goals. No matter what business venture or activity in which your client is involved, it is simply foolish for any business or investment position to not be somehow coupled with either a domestic and/or international asset protection/estate plan. There is never an excuse to have an asset or potential asset placed in a position where that asset can be made available to a creditor should a mistake, either in that specific venture or some other venture, be made. There are so many advantages and benefits from operating in an asset protection/estate planning environment that there should not be one person who does not operate through one of a number of available vehicles associated with such planning. United Wealth Protection Concepts, LLC is an association of law firms, accountants and asset protection planners. All planning approved by the American Academy of Asset Protection Planners, LLC. Over the last 80 years or so it has become more difficult for Americans to keep what they earn. Under today's rules what is yours is yours - until the tax collector or someone else finds a way to take it from you. Here are what we see as the three main drains. The Constant Drain   Income from salary and investments is not yours alone. Federal and State Governments can claim up to 50% of your salary. Federal capital gains tax can claim at least 15% of your gain and in many instances more. This is only the Federal government. Many states also tax income along with capital gains and that adds to the total tax number. Actually you lose more than 15% on capital gains since inflation can add to your taxable profit but not to your real profit. Estate Taxes   After paying all of the taxes on your salary and capital gains, you now pay taxes for the right to die. If not properly structured, your entire estate, everything you have accumulated in a lifetime of paying taxes, is again taxed and at rates of up to 55%. Estate taxes are probably the ugliest tax of all. Estate taxes may force a grieving family to liquidate a business or real estate holdings at fire sale prices. Please keep in mind that the tax revision of 2001 is a reduction of estate taxes through the year 2009. In 2010 estate taxes are repealed and then in 2011 the estate tax exemption falls to $1,000,000. Simply put, in 2011 any estate worth more than $1,000,000 will be taxed at a 55% Federal rate plus any State tax. In addition, 18 states and the District of Columbia have a lower threshold for collecting estate taxes than does the Federal Government (see chart 2.15). Planning is much more effective than taking a chance on Government. Lawsuits   An average of 43,000 lawsuits are filed every day in the US. The US accounts for over 94% of all of the lawsuits filed in the world. What isn't lost to taxes is exposed 24 hours a day to the threat of imaginative lawsuits: lawsuits from governmental agencies and lawsuits from individuals hoping for a winning ticket in the litigation lottery. The wealth you've accumulated through decades of hard work can be snatched away at the bang of a judge's gavel. The grounds for a government seizure or a catastrophic lawsuit can seem ludicrous - UNTIL YOU'RE THE TARGET!!! For many of your clients, the most strongly desired financial goal is peace of mind. They want the comforting knowledge that their lives will not be upset by sudden financial loss. The kind of bullet proof protection that once was only available to the very wealthy is now available to your clients, your business and you. Here are what we think should be the goals of a good Asset Protection/Estate Plan. Protect your assets from any predator (creditor) Control your assets during your lifetime Eliminate probate Eliminate estate and inheritance taxes Reduce Federal and State income and capital gains taxes Direct distributions of your assets after death Have the ability to modify your system Have the ability to treat your system like building blocks Feel comfortable with your system Laws change - Keep your system current A good asset protection plan redistributes the assets on a balance sheet. A good plan does not render the individual insolvent - a good plan simply makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a creditor/predator to get to the assets. There are basically two ways to gain asset protection: Sell, or exchange the asset. Encumber the asset. Before we go any further we would like to address the congressional act known officially as "Economic Growth and Tax Rule Reconciliation Act of 2001" as it relates to estate taxes. There has been a great deal of press coverage concerning the estate tax repeal. Here are the facts: Tax Credit (The amount of your estate before Federal estate taxes are due) 2008 - $2,000,000 2009 - $3,500,000 2010 - 100% of the estate 2011 - Reverts back to the law in 2001 $1,000,000 Between 2008 and 2010 the United States will experience one (1) Presidential election, two (2) Congressional elections and three (3) Congressional sessions. The tax laws in the US are chiseled in quicksand. It is better to plan than leave your estate planning to the whims of government. Unlimited among married couples. But on surviving spouse’s death estate taxes apply on everything over this amount. Some states have kept the $1,000,000 exclusion. Click here to view flow chart.