You spent a lifetime building your wealth. In California, a single lawsuit can take it. A car accident, an employee claim, a personal guarantee, a tenant injury, a business lawsuit, a government investigation: one adverse judgment can reach nearly everything you own, including your home, your practice, your business, your rentals, and your savings. It does not have to. Asset protection is lawful, practical, and far more effective than most people, and most lawyers, believe.

In this fully updated third edition, practicing attorney Jacob Stein explains how creditors actually collect on judgments, which assets are easy to protect and which are nearly impossible, and what a sound plan looks like for each. Every structure comes with both the legal theory and a real, fact-based client story you can see yourself in. The book is easy to listen to and follow and is full of common-sense ideas.

Inside: how California's exemption system works and where it falls short; the voidable transfer rules that can undo any plan, and how to stay on the right side of them; using marriage and transmutation agreements to divide community property; spendthrift and discretionary trusts; why domestic asset protection trusts often fail Californians and what to use instead; offshore trusts and offshore banking, done legally and reported properly; LLCs and the charging order; and asset-by-asset planning for your home, rental real estate, retirement accounts, business interests, crypto, art, and cash.

A dedicated chapter covers the Intelligent Wealth Trust, a single trust that behaves like an ordinary living trust in calm times, hardens when a threat appears, and moves offshore if the threat becomes serious. The book closes with a comprehensive example that builds a complete plan for one California couple, step by step.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.