Asset Protection – The purpose of having an effective asset protection strategy in place is to minimise losses if your business fails.
As a member of ARITA (the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association), we are well placed to assist you in protecting your assets from claims by creditors.
Leigh Adams Lawyers is able to consider and advise you in relation to asset protection issues when discussing the establishment, succession or winding down of your business. We can provide you with an initial appraisal and review your current business structures, develop a risk profile and provide you with written advice on appropriate asset protection and business succession strategies.
When discussing how your asset protection agenda should be managed, we can also look at related issues such as applicable insurance and whether regular reviews of your structure ought to be undertaken.
Preparing for business failure is good business sense. Whilst many business owners appreciate this, they fail to prepare for the potential failure of their own customers, suppliers or business partners. How will that impact on their own business? We can consider these issues for you.
The best asset protection is done before it is needed. Disposal of assets when you are only just treading water can be risky – company laws and bankruptcy laws have well developed ‘claw back’ provisions which have to be navigated in such circumstances.
Many advisors will tell you that once a liquidator or bankruptcy trustee has been appointed or is about to be appointed, then the adoption of any asset protection strategy is futile. This is misleading. There are numerous ways of dealing with pending insolvency just before the appointment of a liquidator or bankruptcy trustee and there are also numerous ways to deal with a company in liquidation or the status of bankruptcy just after their appointment.
Nevertheless, whilst we might be able to save your business or your assets when you are in the deep end, it is cheaper and easier to prevent you getting there in the first place.
Many business owners underestimate the value of their own personal assets. In addition, there is a misconception in the community that asset protection is only for very wealthy individuals. Moreover, it is commonly misunderstood that many business assets are ‘automatically’ protected, whereas liquidators and bankruptcy trustees most commonly earmark such items for immediate ‘recovery’ by means of applying the new security laws or by means of litigating, using such of the recovery laws as they are able to access.
We can show you the risks posed by your current personal and business structure, including your superannuation fund – many people are unaware that it can pose a risk. We can assist you by highlighting the ramifications of those risks and then suggesting and implementing risk management strategies to help you avoid them.
When doing so, we can take into account issues like stamp duty, land tax, GST and capital gains tax, and advise you of the risks and benefits of pursuing the various alternatives that we can offer you.
We can look at your personal risk profile and your business risk profile and determine how key assets might be quarantined from claims by creditors in the event of your business failure.
If you find yourself in need of a bankruptcy lawyer, please contact the law offices of Owen Hodge Lawyers. We are always happy to assist clients in understanding the full ramifications of any and all of your legal needs. Please feel free to call us at your earliest convenience to schedule a consultation at 1800 770 780.