When it comes to dividing property in Florida for a high-asset divorce, the costs and the financial impact can be quite significant. That is why many high-net-worth individuals are anxious about the prospect of divorce. There are methods to protect a person’s assets before they get married so that they can’t be touched if their relationship ends in divorce.
Using trusts to protect assets
As with many legal and financial issues, the answer involves using trusts. Any assets a person has during a marriage are potentially part of a divorce settlement. The best way to shield assets is to place them in an irrevocable trust. These can be set up in the most favorable jurisdictions, and the original owner will no longer own them. They also do not need to be disclosed in a prenup. The beneficiaries can be the children or other relatives or entities connected to the original owner.
The most advanced form of this asset protection strategy uses a trust in an offshore jurisdiction. With the right setup, the trust can be established so that the trustee can add the original owner as a beneficiary to the trust. That means the assets can return to the original owner in the future. This approach is a little more expensive but also more flexible down the line.
It is important to come up with ways to protect assets ahead of divorce, and the best way to do that is to secure them before getting married. This level of protection can lead to major dividends in the future in the unlucky event of a divorce that would otherwise expose those assets to division.
