1. The Business of Medicine:
Asset Protection Strategies for Physicians
Mark C. Doyle, Esq.
LLM Master of Law Taxation
Tredway Lumsdaine & Doyle, LLP
1920 Main Street, Suite 1000
Irvine, California 92614
949-756-0684
mdoyle@tldlaw.com
Presented By:
Bill Black
Exit & Retirement Strategies, Inc.
333 City Blvd. West, Suite 2050
Orange, California 92868
866-370-3774
billblack@exit-retire.com

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AGENDA
I. The Problem – Creditors & Predators
II. The Solutions
III. Tactics
IV. Fraudulent Conveyance
V. Action Plan – Risk Analysis Rating &
Recommendations

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The Problem - Creditors
• Medical Professionals
 High risk occupation
 Deep pockets
 Personal Liability
• Third Parties ie tenants, bicyclists, etc
• Future Spouse/ Significant Other
• Super Creditor – IRS
I.

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The Problem - Predators
• More suits are filed in the United States than in all other
countries in the world combined.
• Why?
 Attorneys can be engaged on “contingency” basis.
 Losing party in litigation is not responsible for payment of
attorney’s fees incurred by winning party.
 Excessive jury verdicts are highly publicized (e.g. verdict in
McDonald’s coffee case: $160,000 compensatory damages
+ $2,700,000 of punitive damages to woman who spilled
scalding coffee on her lap.) See Simpson v. UCI
I.

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• Realistic expectations
 Unrealistic: To expect creditors to “run
for the hills and disappear.”
Realistic: compare the probable
outcome of litigation if an Asset
Protection Plan had not been
established with the probable outcome
with an Asset Protection Plan in place.
II. The Solution:
Planning, Risk Analysis and Response

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“The Three Legged Stool”
Protection
Financial
Planning
Asset
Protection
Planning
Estate
Planning
II.



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The Solutions:
Design Alternatives
Control
II.
Protection
Nest Egg
$
in toto
$$$
Considerations for Asset Protection
Plans

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Asset Protection Ladder
Title Assets
II.
Domestic Asset Protection Trust
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
Exemption Planning
Offshore Asset Protection Trust
Estate Planning

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Estate Planning
• Liability Insurance
Professional, Auto, Home & Umbrella
• Credit Shelter Trust-A/B Trust
• Lifetime Benefit Trust
• Irrevocable Trust
III.

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Titling Assets:
Inter-spousal Transfers
• Separate Property of One Spouse not used to
satisfied debts of the other spouse
• Community Debts Joint Liability of Spouse
• Create Separate Property by Agreement:
• Equal Split but Can Select Asset for each spouse ie
med practice to dr. house to spouse
Caveat: “What is good for the Goose is good for
the Gander” – Jamie v. Frank McCourt
III.

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Exemption Planning
• Federal and state law exempt certain
assets from claims of creditors.
• Always better to own exempt assets,
rather than non-exempt assets.
• Homestead Exemption
• Retirement Plan Account
• Life Insurance / Annuity
III.

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Converting Non-Exempt
Assets into Exempt Assets
a) Stripping Equity
b) Venue Shopping
a) Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust
(IDGT)
b) Qualified Personal Residence Trust
(QPRT)
III.

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Family Limited Partnerships
and LLCs
• Single Member LLC- disregarded for tax purpose, but
provides liability protection.
• Particularly effective for Investment Real Estate.
• Most states only allow a creditor to obtain a charging
order. Creditors cannot seize an ownership interest in
the LLC/LP Assets.
• Minority discounts and ease of transferability to family.
III.

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Asset Protection Trusts
• What is an Asset Protection Trust?
 An Asset Protection Trust is an irrevocable, self-
settled trust, i.e. a trust in which the settlor of
the trust is also a beneficiary of the trust.
 distributions to the settlor, or any other trust
beneficiary are within the sole and absolute
discretion of the trustee the trustees pay
obligations owed by the settlor to third parties
(i.e. credit cards), or to purchase assets
(vacation home) settlor can use.
 Available only in select states not California
III.

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Asset Protection Trusts:
Offshore v. Domestic
• The case of using Domestic Trusts
 Easier for the settlor and the beneficiaries of a
domestic trust to be in contact with the trustee
(geographic proximity)
 Usually less expensive to establish and
administer
 Does not carry the negative connotations
associated with offshore Asset Protection trusts.
 Full Faith and Credit US Constitution
--judgment in California recognized in
Delaware.
III.

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Offshore Asset Protection
Trusts: Advantages
• Usually provide features that domestic Asset Protection
trusts do not. These include:
 A shorter limitation period for bringing claims
 A higher burden of proof for proving fraudulent
transfers (must be proven beyond a reasonable
doubt)
 Non-recognition of US judgments
• Creditors do not have the right to execute upon
the U.S. judgment and attach assets of the
offshore trust. They must litigate the claim in the
offshore jurisdiction (even if the claim has
already been litigated in a U.S. court.)
III.

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Revocable Living Trust
Home &
Savings/retirement
Accounts
Business
(i.e. Medical
Corporation)
Investment Property
Rental Property
(i.e. LLC)

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Offshore Trusts:
How They Work
III.
Beneficiaries
ASSETSProtector
Offshore
Trustee
Domestic
Trustee

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Modular Structuring
The Modular Structure
III.
DAPT
Or
FAPT
LLC#1 LLC#2
5% Member5% Member
Liquid InvestmentsReal Property
95% Member95% Member

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Offshore Trust:
Misconceptions
• Are established to hide assets from
creditors
• Are established in tax haven jurisdictions
to avoid income taxes
• Will be effective only if all trust assets are
located offshore
III.

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Fraudulent Conveyances
• Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act
As a general premise, creditors cannot
seize assets that you don’t own.
Exception: creditors can seize assets
that you transferred to a third party with
intent to defraud, hinder or delay
creditors.
This means do planning before a
Creditor or Predator arrives.
IV.

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Asset Protection Planning
An Asset Protection Plan is
like the American Express card…
“You shouldn’t leave home without it!”

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Thank You
Please take advantage of our free
Risk Analysis and Rating
Mark C. Doyle, Esq.
Tredway, Lumsdaine & Doyle, LLP
mdoyle@tldlaw.com
(949) 756-0684