Education before action

Key Concepts of Asset Protection

A 15-part video series on the language of asset protection: trusts, trustees, spendthrift provisions, jurisdiction, control, domestic and foreign planning, and fraudulent-transfer rules.

Start with part one Request a legal consultation →

15 short videosFoundationsComparing structuresTiming and action

How to use this series

Understand the questions before you choose a structure.

These videos are not instructions to move assets. Use them to learn the vocabulary, so you can ask better questions about your own assets, risks, and documents. Pick the path that fits where you are.

New to asset protectionStart with ownership, trusts, irrevocability, spendthrift provisions, and self-settled trust basics.Concepts 1 to 5 →Comparing structuresWatch jurisdiction, cost versus benefit, domestic planning, the Bridge Trust®, and entities.Concepts 6 to 12 →Under pressure nowPause before acting. Learn the concepts, then talk with counsel about timing, existing claims, and what not to change.Concepts 13 to 15 →

Part one

Foundations

Ownership, trusts, irrevocability, spendthrift provisions, and self-settled trusts.

Video: key concept 1, Use it, don’t own it

KEY CONCEPT 01Use it, don’t own itWhat you own, a creditor can generally reach. The starting point is separating legal ownership from the use and benefit of an asset.Read the guide →

KEY CONCEPT 02Use a trustIn a trust, a trustee holds legal title and manages the assets for the beneficiaries under the terms you set. It is the usual way to separate ownership from use.Read the guide →

KEY CONCEPT 03IrrevocabilityA revocable living trust is not asset protection. Under California Probate Code §18200, its assets are reachable by the settlor’s creditors during life.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 4, Spendthrift provisions

KEY CONCEPT 04Spendthrift provisionsA spendthrift provision generally keeps a beneficiary’s creditors from reaching the beneficiary’s interest before it is distributed, subject to statutory exceptions such as support obligations. It protects beneficiaries who did not fund the trust.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 5, Self-settled trusts, done right

KEY CONCEPT 05Self-settled trusts, done rightA trust you fund for your own benefit is self-settled. California (Probate Code §15304), Florida, and New York let your creditors reach it, and their courts may refuse to apply another state’s more protective statute.Read the guide →

Part two

Comparing structures

Jurisdiction, cost versus benefit, domestic planning, the Bridge Trust®, and entities.

Video: key concept 6, Jurisdiction is everything

KEY CONCEPT 06Jurisdiction is everythingThe court where you are sued can apply its own law. In Toni 1 Trust v. Wacker, 413 P.3d 1199 (Alaska 2018), Alaska’s own supreme court held that its statute could not deprive other courts of jurisdiction.Read the guide →

KEY CONCEPT 07The offshore edgeA foreign trust changes the forum. In jurisdictions that do not recognize U.S. judgments, a creditor pursuing trust assets generally has to start over, in a foreign court, under foreign law. A settlor living in the U.S. is still subject to U.S. court orders, which is why control matters.Read the guide →

KEY CONCEPT 08Cost vs. benefitOffshore strength comes with offshore cost: trustee fees, international banking, and annual Forms 3520 and 3520-A. The question is whether your actual risk justifies that regime every year.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 9, The domestic upside

KEY CONCEPT 09The domestic upsideA domestic trust keeps administration, banking, and the trustee at home, with no foreign-trust reporting and lower cost. For the right client, those advantages are real.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 10, The fatal flaw of domestic trusts

KEY CONCEPT 10The fatal flaw of domestic trustsThe trustee, the assets, and the settlor typically all sit inside the United States, within reach of a U.S. court’s contempt and turnover powers. That proximity is what makes a domestic trust convenient, and what limits it.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 11, The Bridge Trust®

KEY CONCEPT 11The Bridge Trust®A hybrid: designed to be treated as domestic for federal tax purposes while no threat exists, with an offshore contingency the Trust Protector may activate through fiduciary judgment, never automatically.Read the guide →

Video: key concept 12, Use a charging order protected entity

KEY CONCEPT 12Use a charging order protected entityUnder A.R.S. §29-341, a charging order is the exclusive remedy against a partner’s interest in an Arizona limited partnership: the right to distributions if and when they are made, not control.Read the guide →

Part three

Timing and action

What makes a transfer vulnerable, who is exposed, and when to act.

Video: key concept 13, Fraudulent conveyance

KEY CONCEPT 13Fraudulent conveyanceA transfer made with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a present or future creditor can be unwound. Under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act the general period is four years, or one year after discovery if later; in bankruptcy, a trustee can reach back ten years for such transfers to a self-settled trust (11 U.S.C. §548(e)).Read the guide →

KEY CONCEPT 14The target zoneOnce a claim becomes known or foreseeable, you enter what many courts treat as the target zone. Transfers are scrutinized for intent, timing, and economic substance, and actions taken after risk becomes apparent may be unwound.

Video: key concept 15, Education vs. action

KEY CONCEPT 15Education vs. actionLearn the concepts first. Then talk with counsel about timing, existing claims, and what not to change without advice.

Legal consultation

Tell me about your situation

Fill out the form below. I review every submission personally. If your situation is a fit for pre-litigation planning, you will receive a link to book a private 60-minute consultation. If you prefer to speak directly, call (888) 773-9399.

Asset protection works best before a claim exists. If you already face a pending or threatened claim, transfers made now can be challenged and may not protect you against that claim. Tell me about it at the consultation.

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Structure before stress.

Turn the concepts into a plan.

A legal consultation connects these ideas to your actual assets, risks, and documents.

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Attorney advertising. Brian T. Bradley, Esq., Bradley Legal Corp, Wilsonville, Oregon. Licensed in California, Oregon, and Washington, and serving clients nationwide; matters under other states' law are handled with local counsel where required. These videos and this page are general information, are not legal or tax advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Outcomes depend on facts, timing, and jurisdiction. The Bridge Trust® and Dynasty Bridge Trust® are registered trademarks of their owner, used with permission.

Disclosure: I handle every trust engagement as co-counsel with the Trust Protector, an affiliated firm that prepares the trust documents and serves as protector on the Bridge Trust® and Dynasty Bridge Trust®. I am directly involved in each engagement, from design through implementation. The legal fee is divided between the two firms, as set out in the engagement letter, and I am paid for that work.