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Retirement and Asset Protection

Retirement and Asset Protection

Attend a Free Estate Planning Workshop

Attend a Free Estate Planning Workshop

Estate Planning: The First Step

Estate Planning: The First Step

Estate Planning: The Second Step

Estate Planning: The Second Step

Estate Planning: The Third Step

Estate Planning: The Third Step

Drafting a Will and Estate Planning

Drafting a Will and Estate Planning

Trust and Estate Planning at Smith Strong, PLC

Trust and Estate Planning at Smith Strong, PLC

How long would it take at $90,000 per year, or $200 to $300 per day, to see your life-savings dramatically depleted?

How can you avoid going broke in a nursing home or long-term care?

How can you ensure your surviving spouse and family have sufficient assets left to survive in their elder years?

As people come to our live workshops each month, they comment, “Van, I didn’t realize I had any other choice but to spend down to my last $2,000.00 to pay for long term care, leaving my family broke!”

You do have choices.

We see intelligent clients stress and be mindful of their budget, but MISS the real, giant expense looming in their elder years: medical care, assisted living and nursing home costs.

Not creating an estate plan that accounts for your long-term care expenses can cost you tens of thousands of dollars each year.

We can partner with your financial advisor and accountant to create a sustainable plan to see you through both phases of estate planning: (1) a secure retirement and (2) avoiding going broke in a nursing home.

It begins by calling or signing up on this website to reserve your slot at our next live estate planning workshop. Attendees are then eligible for a complimentary, private meeting with attorney Van Smith and his team at Smith Strong, PLC.

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Still others may have long term care insurance or are confident they have sufficient resources to pay for their own care, and so, while less concerned about long term care costs, these clients do have legitimate concerns about litigation, or wrongful taking of their assets from a variety of “predators.” Enter asset protection planning.

Your Best Asset Protection Tool: A Virginia Asset Protection Trust Provided by Smith Strong, PLC

We live in a very litigious society. Lawsuits are filed every hour, of every business-day in Virginia, some frivolous claims and brought only to harass. Protect your assets right now, before an incident affords you far greater protection, later. Once the incident occurs or the lawsuit begins, the courts can undo your later efforts at asset protection in Virginia.

How Asset Protection Works

Asset protection is a comprehensive planning and estate planning strategy to limit the risk of losing your assets to creditors and predators. A sole proprietorship or general partnership offer no such protection. Asset protection involves utilizing limited liability entities, such as LLCs, properly established and maintained, alongside trusts, to minimize your personal exposure.

John D. Rockefeller once said: “Own nothing and control everything.”

Plaintiff attorneys are always on the hunt for people to sue, so you want your profile to be low. If during an asset search your name does not show up as an owner, but instead you control your assets through a mix of limited liability entities and trusts, you are on the path to asset protection.

Attend a Free Estate Planning Workshop

Experienced Estate Planning Attorneys Serving Central Virginia

Sign up for a ZOOM link ot the Workshop

Make informed decisions about your future and your loved ones’ futures based on experienced advice. Learn how a properly prepared and maintained estate plan can protect you and your loved ones, by attending our free workshop!

Are you concerned about your hard-earned assets passing to the right people at the right time and not losing them to courts, the IRS, or in-laws? You’ve worked hard and sacrificed to have an estate worth protecting and passing to your children even protected from your children’s potential divorce down the road. If you’re feeling confused or frustrated, let us help you create an estate plan that is tax-efficient, asset protected for your elder years, and protects heirs from their own potential divorce or litigation.

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Bob and Bonnie J.

“We were impressed with Van's knowledge, experience, and, especially, his gift of exceptional communication skills.”

- Bob and Bonnie J.

The Right (and Wrong) Way to Protect Assets

There is a misperception that asset protection is only for the rich. This is not true. Almost all asset protection strategies are very affordable to implement, especially when compared with the potential loss of your life’s work.

The problem arises when you implement a “poor man’s asset protection” strategy, by simply transferring assets to your spouse, brother, sister or friend in advance of a judgment in order to “look poor on paper,” which is a bad idea.

First, the courts can claw back those transfers, and find you in contempt for making them. Second, there are gift tax and IRS consequences when you give away assets. Third, your “friend” may refuse to transfer the asset back. It is hard to sue to get your property back when it was fraudulently transferred in the first place!

The best way to approach asset protection is to start early, before any incident or lawsuit occurs—and do it right. Using the right structures properly prepared and implemented will provide a lifetime of protection. To learn more about our asset protection consultations, please us at 804.325.1245 to speak with our intake specialist.

Basic Asset Protection Tools

Liability Insurance: Insurance is your first line of defense, with coverage for your vehicle, house, business and rental real estate assets. And consider purchasing “umbrella” coverage on your homeowner’s policy to provide additional coverage. Although insurance is the first line of defense, you must never forget that insurance companies have a strong economic incentive to not cover every claim. Oftentimes insurance protection is step 1, but on its own insufficient protection. Consider the next level, step 2: asset protection planning.

Homestead Exemptions: A homestead protects a certain dollar amount of equity in an individual or married couple’s primary residence. You can only homestead one property, your primary residence. In all states, the homestead does not protect against debts secured by the property such as bank loans or IRS liens.

Smith Strong Law Firm’s Award-Winning Estate Planning System:

Estate Planning Workshop: truly understand your options;
Vision Meeting: select the right estate planning solution;
Signing Meeting: review and sign your estate plan;
Funding Meeting: understand with ease the path forward;
Client Care Program: unlimited calls, emails, changes, and review-meetings with our firm, as needed, to make sure your plan remains solid as life changes—we’re there as a trusted family attorney and counselor.

We look forward to meeting with you—and welcome your questions and ideas as we proceed.

Business Entities

Corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs) and limited partnerships (LPs) are business entities that were created for asset protection purposes. There are four major advantages to using these very affordable structures:

Shield Personal Assets From Business Risks: Shield your personal assets such as your home and bank account from claims against the business. This is a far superior to a sole proprietorship or general partnership, which offer no asset protection. One claim against your unprotected business and all of your personal assets are exposed.
Shield Business and Real Estate Assets from Personal Judgments: Proper asset protection planning can shield your valuable business, real estate and investment assets from claims brought against you.
Using Several Business Entities for Asset Protection: If you own 3 rental real estate properties in one LLC, a tenant could fall at one property and reach all 3 properties. Consider setting up separate LLCs for each property—a key asset protection strategy to separate assets and lower each asset’s exposure to claims.
Choice and Use of Entities: Using the right mix of entities is an important asset protection tool.

Consider Allowing Smith Strong to Establish a Virginia Asset Protection Trust for You

A great way to protect your assets is through a Virginia Asset Protection Trust, which we set up every week for clients across central Virginia, as part of an overall estate planning and asset protection strategy, that we develop customized for your unique situation.

Virginia has enacted many laws in recent years to protect assets placed in trust as long as that trust is drafted and funded properly. Virginia is consistently ranked in the top 17 states out of 50 for asset protection planning.

We encourage you to attend our workshop on asset protection planning held each month at Smith Strong, PLC.

Next Step: Please call Smith Strong, PLC at 804.325.1245 or 757.941.4298 to reserve your spot at our next free estate planning and asset protection workshop—seating is limited, so call today—or call to schedule a private consultation with our asset protection attorneys.

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Happy Client Selfies Are Not Required At Smith Strong, But Take A Look At These Happy Clients

Happy Clients Taking Selfies with Van Smith

More Happy Clients Taking Selfies with Van Smith

AN OVERVIEW OF OUR TRUST-BASED ESTATE PLANNING OPTION

At Smith Strong, we believe, after the will-based plan, clients should consider adding the Living Trust. But what, exactly does that look like?

Our trusts are designed to work in real life for real people—you still file taxes the same way, use your money the same way, and you still have total access and control.

Our law firm's Living Trust planning includes:

Revocable Living Trust, with Beneficiary Trusts to Protect Your Children’s Inheritance: Our plans are designed so the right people will inherit your assets—in the right amounts, at the right times, and on the right terms. By adding a Living Trust to your estate plan your family avoids court conservatorship, guardianship, and probate proceedings, and helps reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes for a married couple. Our cutting-edge Children/Heirs Trusts that spring to life upon your death, protecting your beneficiaries' inheritance from spouses, divorces, lawsuits, creditors, loss of government needs-based benefits and additional estate taxes when they pass their inheritance to the next generation.
Trust flowchart: Our Smith Strong vision-clarifier provides the visual summary of the key provisions of your trust, so you know exactly how your trust works.
Pour-over will: A backup to the trust; any assets outside of the trust upon death simply pour into your trust upon death—so you avoid probate, even on the assets you forgot to put in your trust before you passed away. This will also name guardians of your minor children, if any.
Durable power of attorney: Authorizes your agent to manage any property outside the trust and enter contracts with care providers, if you become incapacitated and to take certain critical, last minute estate planning actions.
Property agreement: For married couples, this can avoid needless capital gains taxes and can help fully utilize each spouse's estate tax exemption.
Advance health care directive: Authorizes your agent to make health care decisions for you if you become incapacitated. Also includes a living will, “to pull the plug (or not),” withdrawing life support if in a permanent vegetative state with no hope of resuscitation.
HIPAA authorization: Permits access to your health information when the need arises, without having to go to court, particularly helpful for your medical agent.
Emergency Access: We maintain digital records of all estate planning documents, so we can ensure your family has access no matter where you are in the world. Attorney Van Smith recently faxed and emailed documents to family of an incapacitated client while they were travelling in South Africa.

PLUS: THE "SMITH STRONG ESTATE PLANNING BINDER"

The Living Trust "estate planning binder" includes electronic and paper copies of your estate planning documents, tabbed and organized with your financial documents (as described above) as well as the following items:

Title transfer instructions: Most firms have you sign your plan, tuck it under your arm, and off you go—but not at Smith Strong. We have you come back for a funding meeting to ensure the plan works when you need it to. We provide guidelines and instruction letters for transferring your assets into your Living Trust. At your funding meeting, we also sign all deeds transferring your Virginia real estate to your trust.
Trust certification: Helpful summary of your Living Trust in case a financial institution requests it when transferring assets to your trust.
Personal Effects Section: An ongoing list you may add to of whom, specifically, you wish to receive certain property items (no more post-it notes on your stuff!).
Financial Documents: If something happened to you would your child or financial agent know where to look to gather all of your assets? At Smith Strong, in addition to your estate plan itself, we confidentially organize your financial data, so that we can assist your next of kin in knowing exactly where to look when the need arises.

PLUS: OUR CLIENT CARE PROGRAM

Our services can go far beyond just setting up the Living Trust, if you wish. Our lawyers and firm's resources are also available to you through:

Free phone calls: To help you and to answer your questions.
Free plan-review meeting: Typically, every three years, to make sure your estate plan is up-to-date with any law changes and newer planning strategies; and continues to accurately reflect your planning wishes.
Free workshops: We welcome your family back as you age to ensure your family understands your plan and knows what to do when the time comes. We also update our clients on new services and strategies, law changes, advanced estate planning, and various financial and tax planning subjects.
Free newsletter: Published monthly, you receive our founder Van Smith’s legendary monthly newsletter, printed and mailed to your home.
Free annual calendar magnet: Founding attorney Van Smith’s Smith Strong calendar magnet mailer is sure to impress visitors of your home—even if it only makes it to the garage fridge.
Specially discounted "upgrade" packages: If laws change, you will receive a free consult and discounts for any revisions.
Free consultation with your successor trustee upon your disability or death: To help assure your trust will be properly implemented when the time comes. We also offer discounted fees for estate administration.
Free consult and 25% off our rates for any family member: Whether they need help in family law, criminal defense, business planning, litigation, or estate planning of their own—at Smith Strong, we want to serve as your family’s long-term legal advisor.

All of our estate plans are prepared for a fixed fee, quoted in advance at the private vision meeting, following our workshop, and agreed to by you in writing before any work is done. No surprise fees or charges, ever. Payment plans are available. And we welcome the opportunity to serve our community, including teachers, military service members, and first responders.

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Metropolitan Richmond, VA Serving Central Virginia at Patterson Ave & Parham Rd

Metropolitan Richmond, VA

8411 Patterson Ave, Suite A
Henrico, VA 23229 Phone: 804-325-1245 Fax: 804-482-2661 Location Details Directions