united-states divorce trusts-and-estates
How should I make a Asset Protection Irrevocable Trust?
<p>I want to make a irrevocable trust to protect me against potential lawsuits and future divorce (I am not yet married).</p>
<p>At the same time, I want to be able to invest my assets (cash/securities right now) the way I want.</p>
<p>Can I put a family member as trustee? How about a company that I am a part of? How about a company that I am the only owner of? Are these cases still provide the correct protections?</p>
<p>I would be the beneficiary.</p>

<p>Questions asking for specific legal advice are off topic, so I'm not going to tell you what you should do or how you should do it. However, I'll address some misconceptions that you have:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to protect me against potential lawsuits and future divorce</p>
</blockquote>
<p>None of the scenarios will protect you from these. If you are a beneficiary of the trust then you own the beneficial interest. A beneficial interest is (for most purposes) an asset like any other and can be bought, sold, or taken away from you in a lawsuit.</p>
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<p>I want to make a irrevocable trust</p>
<p>I would be the beneficiary.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These two aspects are mutually incompatible. If you are the beneficiary, then in <a href="/questions/tagged/england-and-wales" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;england-and-wales&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;england-and-wales&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="england-and-wales-container">england-and-wales</a> (and probably in many other jurisdictions), under the rule in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunders_v_Vautier" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Saunders v Vautier</a> you can collapse the trust and merge the beneficial and legal interests. If you have the power to take back the legal interest to all trust assets then it is not irrevocable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Can I put a family member as trustee? How about a company that I am a
part of? How about a company that I am the only owner of?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can generally name anyone you like to the a trustee, including all of the above. The only thing you cannot do is have the trustee(s) be the exact same set of people as the beneficiary(s), because then there isn't a trust at all. This is because the beneficial and legal interests are held by the same people and the trust terms are unenforceable since you cannot sue yourself.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Are these cases still provide the correct protections?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>None of them will provide you with protection against lawsuits and future divorce, for the reason I stated at the start.</p>
<p>Note: my answer is largely based on <a href="/questions/tagged/england-and-wales" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;england-and-wales&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;england-and-wales&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="england-and-wales-container">england-and-wales</a> but with the assumption that it probably applies to most common law systems given that these are basic trust law principles. However, perhaps there are some US jurisdictions where your plan could work. You should seek professional legal advice to determine whether this is the case.</p>
