Frequently Asked Questions

Helping you make smarter and more informed choices

The decisions you make now can forever affect the way you are remembered.  The Holker Law Offices, PLLC offers clients access to information and insight on the operations for your business or wealth management plan.  Various legal structures are available to help you secure the majority of your assets for yourself and your heirs.  Below, you will find answers to frequently asked questions about asset protection and wealth management.  Keep in mind that these answers are not meant to be a substitute for legal advice.  Only a lawyer can properly guide you toward a business or investment decision:

What is asset protection?

Asset protection is a matter of strategic planning.  To manage your wealth and preserve a majority of what you own for you heirs, you can structure your finances to minimize your personal risk from lawsuits and your taxable liabilities, while maximizing your returns from investment strategies and business endeavors. Asset protection thus limits your personal exposure and your estate's exposure to creditors who seek you to frustrate your estate plan.

How can legal principles be applied to asset protection?

Such a question is best illustrated with an example. If you own a business and you register it as a sole proprietorship, you could lose your home, your car and everything else when your business is sued.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, a corporation operates independently of its owner and operator.  Although the corporation might be sued for all it is worth by a third-party litigant, your personal assets as the owner or operator are completely immune from lawsuit. 

"So,"  you might ask yourself, "why isn't every business a corporation?"   The reason is simple.  Maintaining a corporation is much more difficult, expensive and time-consuming than maintaining a sole proprietorship.  There are many other taxable structures that allocate liability and return more equitably.  Based on the type of industry you are in and the level of risk you are willing to endure, other types of business structures may better serve your legal needs.  Only an attorney can advise you of your legal options with respect to selecting the appropriate business structure.

How often do I have to revise my asset protection plan?

That depends.  An asset protection plan may take on different legal implications as old laws are replaced by new regulations or as case law overturns historic precedent.  An annual check-up with your local lawyer should suffice to ensure that you are continuing to derive the greatest possible benefits from your asset protection plan, or whenever you engage in a major life event.

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