Creditor protection ensures assets passed to beneficiaries are shielded from creditors, lawsuits, or financial disputes. This strategy secures inheritances for future generations.

Yes, irrevocable trusts are a common tool for shielding assets. By placing assets in a properly structured trust, creditors cannot claim them.

We design tailored creditor-protected solutions, including trusts and estate strategies, to safeguard your assets and ensure they’re securely passed to your beneficiaries.

It’s great that you are in a position to leave a substantial inheritance to your children or grandchildren. You worked hard to build a sizeable estate, and it’s your hope that those who inherit will enjoy the value of the property you leave them for years to come. Unfortunately, once you create an Irrevocable Trust or your heirs inherit through a Will, those assets are quite literally out of your hands. Nothing is more distressing than the fear that this valuable inheritance you leave will be squandered away or lost. With proper planning, however, you can make choices that protect that inheritance from creditors, predators and even the actions of the beneficiaries themselves.

At Nici Law Firm, P.L., in Naples, we establish what we call a Creditor-Protected Inheritance. With the right combination of Trusts in place, you can rest assured that the inheritance you leave will be protected, no matter what life puts in your heirs’ way. A Creditor-Protected Inheritance can help prevent loss of inheritance due to:

• Personal injury lawsuit, such as a car accident or premises liability (slip & fall) claim
• Professional malpractice lawsuit (medical malpractice, legal malpractice)
• Bankruptcy
• Divorce
• Bad business deal
• Substance abuse
• Gambling problem
• Mental illness

An effective tool for a Creditor-Protected Inheritance is an Asset Protection or Spendthrift Trust. With an Asset Protection Trust, designated beneficiaries receive distributions from the Trust through the trustee. The trustee holds legal title to the trust funds, while the beneficiaries have only equitable title. The beneficiaries’ creditors, therefore, can’t get at the assets while they are in the Trust.

When a Trust contains a spendthrift clause or provision, the beneficiary can only receive distributions from the Trust for designated uses, such as health, education, maintenance or support. A spendthrift clause not only protects the Trust’s assets from creditors but also from the beneficiaries themselves, who might otherwise blow through the Trust funds too quickly in an irresponsible manner.

Already have an Estate Plan in place, replete with Revocable Living Trusts? Often, the creation of Asset Protection Trusts can be done easily and inexpensively, involving a simple adjustment or amendment to your current Estate Plan. You can also create Asset Protection or Spendthrift Trusts for assets you gift during your lifetime and not only when you pass on. 

At Nici Law Firm, P.L., we think of all the details you may not have considered when drafting or amending an Estate Plan. We’ll make sure your Estate Plan meets your needs and your wishes for your heirs to have a lasting inheritance that isn’t lost to taxes, creditors, ex-spouses or bad life choices. For strategic and effective Estate Planning from Marco Island to Estero and Bonita Springs, call Nici Law Firm, P.L., in Naples at 239-449-6150 or contact us online for a complimentary consultation with a Florida Board-Certified Estate Planning Specialist in Wills, Trusts and Estates.