Wealth Protection Secrets of a Millionaire Real Estate Investor Book

	Introduction	ix
	A Nationwide Epidemic	ix
	Theories of Liability	x
	Lawsuit and Asset Protection	xi
	Plan Early	xii
	"A"--Avoid Lawsuits and Personal Liability	xii
	"B"--Appear Broke	xiii
	"C"--Control But Don't Own	xv
Section 1	Avoid Lawsuits and Liability
1.	Liabilities Affecting Your Personal and Family Affairs	3
	Owning Property Jointly	3
	Divorce	5
	Improper Use of a Living Trust	7
	Letting Kids Drive Your Car	8
	Failing to Keep Adequate Insurance	9
	Cosigning a Loan	10
	"Social Host" Liability	10
	Dog Bites	11
	Children	11
	Reporting Incidents to the Insurance Company	12
	Failing to "Put It in Writing"	12
	Opening Your Mouth Too Wide	13
2.	Liabilities Affecting Small Businesses	15
	Doing Business as a Sole Proprietor	15
	Doing Business with Partners	16
	Using a Corporation Improperly	17
	Failing to Designate Your Corporate Capacity	18
	Personally Guaranteeing Corporate Liabilities	19
	Allowing Your Spouse to Cosign	20
	Paying Yourself before Covering Your Payroll	20
	Using Copyrighted Material	21
	Failing to Delineate Carefully between Employees and Independent Contractors	21
	Employee Lawsuits	23
3.	Liabilities Affecting Property Owners and Landlords	25
	Owning Real Estate in Your Own Name	25
	Failing to Maintain Your Property and Boundaries	27
	Allowing Someone to Assume Your Loan	28
	Fair Housing Issues	29
	Environmental Liability	30
	Americans with Disabilities Act	31
Section 2	Appear Broke!
4.	Using Trusts for Privacy	35
	Use Land Trusts to Hide Your Real Estate	35
	Personal Property Trusts	38
5.	More Strategies for Appearing Broke	39
	Mortgage Your Real Estate beyond Its Value	39
	Encumber Your Personal and Business Assets	42
	"Devalue" Your Real Property	43
	Convert "Nonexempt" Property to "Exempt" Property	43
	Fractionalize Your Ownership	46
Section 3	Control, Don't Own!
6.	A Comparison of Business Entities	49
	Sole Proprietorship	49
	General Partnership	50
	Limited Liability Partnership	50
	Corporations	51
	Trusts	54
	Limited Partnership	61
	Limited Liability Company	65
	Summary of Legal and Tax Issues	67
7.	Putting the Pieces Together	73
	Separate Assets According to Risk	73
	Separate Personal Assets from Business Assets--and Business Assets from Your Business	75
	Combine Entities for Virtually "Bulletproof" Protection of Your Real Estate	76
	Multiple Corporations for Maximum Protection	78
8.	Sample Asset Protection Plans	81
	The Real Estate Entrepreneur	81
	The Single Professional	83
	The Partnership	84
	The Estate Planner	85
9.	Estate Planning Strategies	87
	Basic Estate Planning Issues	88
	Minimizing Estate Taxes with Gifts of Partnership and LLC Interests	89
	Valuation Discounts	91
	Avoiding Ancillary Probate	93
	Continuity of Business	93
10.	More Legal Issues	95
	Bankruptcy	95
	The IRS as a Creditor	97
	Insurance	98
	Fraudulent Conveyances	100
	What to Do Next	102
	Appendix	105
	State Homestead Law Exemptions	105
	Federal Bankruptcy Exemptions	109
	Excerpts from Sample Fraudulent Transfer Law	111
	Excerpts from California Community Property Law	114
	Abusive Trust Tax Evasion Schemes (IRS Article)	115
	Sample Independent Contractor Agreement	121
	Sample Agreement to Convert Community Property	123
	Sample Joint Venture Agreement	126
	Sample Land Trust Agreement	128
	Sample Living Trust Agreement	132
	Sample Family Limited Partnership Agreement	146
	Sample Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement (Short Form)	152
	State of Nevada Domestic Corporations Filing Packet	154
	IRS Form SS-4 Application for Employer Identification Number	163
	IRS Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation	171
	IRS Form SS-8 Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding	177
	UCC Financing Statement	182
	Glossary	187
	Resources	191
	Incorporation Resource Directory	191
	Department of Corporations/Secretary of State Offices and Web Sites	193
	Suggested Reading	200
	LegalWiz	201
	Index	203