An Overview of Asset Protection in Texas

Although many estate planners think that “asset protection” is a relatively new concept that is distinct from “estate planning,” limited liability has always been a fundamental part of our legal system and a core estate-planning concept. The fundamental nature of asset protection in our legal system and in our field of practice can be seen most clearly in each state’s statutory and common-law opportunities for sheltering assets from creditors’ claims. For example, corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, retirement plans, life insurance, annuities, homestead, and spendthrift trusts are all time-honored estate-planning and wealth-protective vehicles. In short, estate planning by its very nature has always been an exercise in asset protection planning, as its goal is to preserve and distribute wealth from generation to generation.