GROW · VOLUME 1 OF 3 · FOUNDATIONSEstate and legacy shelf
Wealth Protection Fundamentals
The first book on protecting what you have built. It explains what a creditor can and cannot reach, how insurance, exemptions, titling and beneficiary forms do most of the work, when LLCs and protection trusts help and where they fail, how to plan a business handover, and which trusts matter once an estate could owe tax. Estate law varies by state, and each chapter says where.
Chapters8
Reading time50 min
Worked examples12
Updated2026-10-01
What you will be able to do
- Sort your assets into exempt and exposed, and explain why protection has to be in place before any claim arises.
- Read your liability limits and judge whether an umbrella or professional policy is worth its cost.
- Choose how assets are titled and audit every beneficiary form so they pass the way you intend.
- Weigh an LLC, a family partnership or an asset protection trust against its cost, its reporting and its record in court.
- Tell whether estate tax applies to you, and what a buy-sell agreement and the main irrevocable trusts are for.
Contents
8 CHAPTERS · ABOUT 50 MIN- 01How Asset Protection Works What a creditor can actually collect from, why transfers made after trouble starts can be undone, the retirement, home and other exemptions the law already gives you, and the order of protection layers.7 min1 computed
- 02Lawsuit Risk and the Insurance Layer Where personal and professional liability comes from, how to read the limits on your auto and home policies, what an umbrella policy costs against one uninsured judgment, and the coverage work and board roles need.6 min2 computed
- 03How You Title Assets Sole, joint, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety and community property compared: whose creditors can reach each, who inherits, and how titling changes the step-up in basis heirs receive.6 min2 computed
- 04Beneficiary Designations Why the form on a retirement account or policy overrides your will, how to name primary and contingent beneficiaries, the rules for spouses, minors and trusts, and how the 10-year rule taxes an inherited account.6 min3 computed
- 05Planning for Digital Assets What you own online and what you only license, what the law lets an executor access, how to keep cryptocurrency from being lost for good, and the four parts of a digital plan someone can follow.5 min
- 06LLCs, Family Partnerships and Protection Trusts What LLCs, family limited partnerships, domestic asset protection trusts and offshore trusts really do, where courts have rejected them, what they cost, and the FBAR and Form 8938 reporting that comes with assets abroad.6 min
- 07Business Succession and Buy-Sell Agreements The events a succession plan must cover, cross-purchase versus entity-purchase agreements after Connelly, how to set a price, how to fund a buyout with insurance, a note or savings, and estate tax relief for business owners.6 min2 computed
- 08Trusts for Larger Estates Whether federal or state estate tax applies to you, why giving early freezes growth outside the estate, and how ILITs, GRATs, grantor trusts, SLATs, QPRTs and dynasty trusts work, with what each costs in control and basis.6 min2 computed
CALCULATORS USED IN THIS BOOK