• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P.

Attorneys & Counselors

Call Now: (281) 759-3213

  • FB
  • TW
  • IN
  • RSS
LP Payment button
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • About The American Academy
    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Mission Statement
    • Multimedia
    • Published Books
    • The Academy Fellow Designation
  • Services
    • Asset Protection & Business Planning
    • Elder Law & Medicaid Services
      • Are You A Caregiver
      • Coping With Alzheimer’s
      • Guardianship & Conservatorship
      • Hospice Care
      • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
      • Medicaid Planning
      • Veteran’s Benefits
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
  • Seminars
  • Testimonials
    • Client Testimonials
    • Representative Clients
    • Review Us
  • Resources
    • Areas We Serve
      • Baytown
      • Conroe
      • Galveston
      • Houston
      • Pasadena
      • Woodlands
      • West University Place
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Galveston Elder Law
      • Houston Elder Law
      • Sugar Land Elder Law
      • West University Place Elder Law
      • Woodlands Elder Law
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top Estate Planning Techniques
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Asset Protection Planning
      • Avoidance Tax Planning
      • Avoiding Probate
      • Business Succession Planning
      • Charitable Gifting
      • Elder Law
      • Estate Planning
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • IRA and Retirement Planning
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Living Trusts
      • Medicaid
      • Medicaid Planning
      • Nursing Home Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Power of Attorney
      • Probate
      • Trust Administration
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Trusts
      • Veterans Benefits
      • Wills
    • LGBTQ Resources
    • Probate Resources
      • Houston Probate
      • Sugarland Probate
      • Woodlands Probate
      • West University Place Probate
    • Probate & Trust Administration Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
    • Special Needs Resources
    • Newsletters
  • Contact Us
  • BLOG
Home » Estate Planning Articles » Avoid These Four Asset Protection Pitfalls

Avoid These Four Asset Protection Pitfalls

March 31, 2012 by Stephen A. Mendel, Estate Planning Attorney

Compliments of Our Law Firm,
By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

If you have creditors, you should consider which asset protection strategies might be right for you. Asset protection is the shielding of your property from creditors, potential creditors, and others. While most people don’t realize it, the estate planning process includes a number of opportunities for you to use asset protection strategies to protect yourself and your loved ones. Here are four asset protection pitfalls you can avoid with estate planning:

  1. Ignoring Medicaid Planning. As much as we hate to admit it, we’re all aging every day. As we get older, the likelihood of a debilitating illness increases. Along with this comes an increased chance of the need for expensive long-term care. Without excellent health and long-term care insurance, an extended stay in a nursing home or other long-term care facility can wipe out your savings. One way to avoid this unpleasant prospect is to include language known as “Medicaid triggers” in your Trust. This allows your Trustee to engage in Medicaid planning on your behalf in case you become disabled.
  2. Not Considering Your Children’s Asset Protection Needs. Using a Will or Trust to make sure your property goes to your children at the time and in the manner you wish is an excellent first step, but it might not be enough. If your son inherited from you and later divorced, his ex-wife could walk away with a chunk of his inheritance. If your daughter inherited and used the money to make bad investments, your hard-earned nest egg could just disappear. When you build asset protection into Trusts for your children, you provide for them and protect their inheritances.
  3. Failing to Protect Special Needs Children. Millions of parents have children with special needs, and the death of a parent can be particularly painful for these children – both emotionally and financially. When you have a child with special needs, leaving her a direct inheritance can deprive her of much-needed government benefits. You can avoid this problem by creating a Special Needs Trust for your child. A properly-established Special Needs Trust lets you put a Trustee in charge of your child’s inheritance, preserving her benefits and allowing you to provide her with an excellent standard of living, even after you’re gone.
  4. Not Protecting Your Real Estate. If you own a farm, a ranch, a sole proprietorship, or rental property in your own name, you’re exposing yourself to unnecessary risk. If someone is injured on one of these properties, they can sue you and collect against all your assets, potentially forcing you into bankruptcy. If you own the property through a limited liability entity such as a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC), the injured party can only collect against the property owned by that entity. Your other assets are insulated from exposure, and your net worth is protected.

Asset protection is an important aspect of estate planning, not only for you but also for your children. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you determine which asset protection strategies are appropriate for your family.

About Stephen A. Mendel, Estate Planning Attorney

Mr. Stephen Mendel is an attorney who focuses a substantial part of his practice on estate planning. Mr. Mendel’s guiding principle is to provide his clients with quality legal services tailored to each client’s specific needs and goals.

Primary Sidebar

The Mendel Law Firm

Follow Us

  • FB
  • TW
  • IN
  • RSS

Plan For Your Future and Protect Your Legacy

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

HOUSTON

The Mendel Law Firm, L.P.
1155 Dairy Ashford, Suite 104
Houston 77079
United States (US)
Phone: (281) 759-3213
Fax: 281-759-3214

Map

map

Office Hours

Monday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Footer

The Mendel Law Firm

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an
attorney-client relationship.

© 2023 Mendel Law Firm, All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Site Map | Powered by American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys