Protecting Your Wealth: Real-Life Negligence Lawsuit Examples and Strategies

Negligence Lawsuits Home Blog How Financial Health and Medicare Planning Work Hand in Hand Negligence Lawsuits Dangers to Your Wealth Negligence Examples The following are a few real-world examples of lawsuits that could happen to you and, in turn, take your wealth. These are meant to motivate you to act now to protect your wealth. If you would like help mapping out your asset protection plan, please click here to email us or phone 812-774-5829. To sign up for a free consultation or to just get more information click here. Boats, Automobiles, Snowmobiles, Planes (other toys) If you own a boat or Wave Runner, an automobile, snowmobile, plane, or other toy (4Runner), then you have the normal liability problems that go along with negligent driving of each. Examples: Drunk Driving While we all know it is not right to drink and drive, many people do it. This probably rings true for many people with wealth who like to go to dinner and have a bottle of wine. With blood-alcohol legal limits going down each year, it does not take much to be seen as legally drunk in the eyes of the law. Clients with wealth should not stick their heads in the sand and have the “it won’t happen to me” syndrome when thinking about all these examples. If you drink and drive and have an accident, you will more than likely be sued personally and your assets will all be at risk. If you simply drive negligently and cause harm to another, you will more than likely be sued and your assets will be at risk. This is not an issue for someone who rents or lives in a $75,000 home and has a net worth of less than $50,000. Negligent actions are a problem for clients with wealth. Teenage Driver If your teenage dependent is driving in a negligent manner and causes harm to another person, the owner and driver of the automobile, boat, Wave Runner, snowmobile, etc., is more than likely going to get sued with the same damage potential and shortfall of insurance problems illustrated in the previous examples. Roccy DeFrancesco, JD, author of Retiring Without Risk had a very wealthy family friend who had a teenage child, a snowmobile, vacant property, and a big problem. The problem came from the fact that the child took a friend out for a ride on the snowmobile, hit a tree, and killed the friend. The parent had the typical $1,000,000 commercial liability coverage, but the lawsuit was for multi-millions. The parent ultimately had to dip into his own pocket and pay an additional $2,000,000 to settle the lawsuit and keep it from going to trial, where a jury verdict could have been much higher. Homeowner Liability Most people with wealth who have asset protection worries own their own home. Homes cause unique liability problems that many clients are not aware of; and, if they were, those clients would implement an asset protection plan. Example: 1) As a homeowner, you will typically throw a few parties for your friends each year. If you serve alcohol at those parties and one of your guests leaves the party after drinking too much, gets into a car accident, and kills the three passengers (or worse turns them into quadriplegics), guess who is going to get sued for negligence? You, the homeowner. Most people think that an umbrella liability policy of one million dollars will protect them; but, if you can be linked to a death or serious injury via negligence, your one-million-dollar umbrella is not going to go very far. After your insurance pays one million of the three–million-dollar verdict, the attorney for the plaintiff is going to go after all your personal assets. 2) While most homeowners think their property is in good repair, many times it is not. How many homeowners have repairs that have been put off for years? Many. If you have guests over to your home, you have a “duty” to keep the premises in “good repair.” This duty is heightened if you run a business out of your home. If you have a faulty handrail or other defects that could cause harm to a visitor, you have personal liability that is real and could put all of your assets at risk from a negligence suit. Vacation Rentals It seems to be in vogue today to diversify one’s portfolio into real estate. When the stock market goes flat, investors look to real estate (many times rental property) as a way to spread out their investments. Vacation rentals are nice to have, but they create a significant liability problem for the owners. As previously mentioned, when property is commercial in nature (operating a business in a building or owning a rental property), there is an increased duty of the property owner to keep the property in good repair. Depending in which part of the country you live, you will have different problems. If you live in the northern part of the country, you may have the duty to make sure the property is in good repair when it comes to snow or ice removal, which creates the typical slip-and-fall personal injury case. If you live in California and your rental property has gone through an earthquake, the stability of the home might be an issue which could result in several defective conditions that could cause injury to your tenant. Most clients own (title) their rental property in their own name; and if there is an injury to a tenant or someone visiting a tenant, the lawsuit will be against the client personally, which will put all of the client’s personal assets at risk. Teenage Children The following is a classic example that we tell when doing asset protection seminars. It always brings a smile to the audience because they can all relate, but the liability is real and one that needs to be protected against. Example: If you have teenage children, chances are at some point you will go out of town and your children you leave at home (the 15-17 year olds) will have a party or have friends over. Imagine telling your teenage child on Friday
Lawsuit Risk Management Strategies to Safeguard Your Assets

Is a Lawsuit Lying in Wait for You? Home Blog Is a Lawsuit Lying in Wait for You? Woman Sues Husband For Loss Of Virginity As ridiculous as that headline sounds, it’s based upon a true case…and raises the question… With healthcare costs continually rising, ensuring that your retirement funds can support your medical needs is essential. This article highlights the important connection between financial health planning and Medicare planning, and how to integrate them for a financially stable retirement. What could someone sue you for that could potentially bankrupt you? Answer: Almost anything And lawsuits are just one of multiple assaults that could make mincemeat of your lifetime of savings and hard work. The ability to be sued has nothing to do with the merit of the case but has more do to with the offended party finding a lawyer to take their case. It could be about almost anything…from someone claiming they tripped and hurt themselves on your property to results from a minor automobile accident. And even if you think you have little to protect, you are still at risk. The question that comes up then is …what could they collect from you — even if you are completely in the right? You see, you can be perfectly in the right; but the jury could rule against you. Or the cost of defending yourself against the lawsuit could be so prohibitive it would be cheaper to settle out of court. Nothing is certain, and a lot depends upon the lawyers on each side, the judge, and the jury. In our very litigious society, protecting one´s assets is no longer just the province of the very wealthy. Anyone who has set a nest egg away for retirement, or has experienced home appreciation, could see their lifetime of hard work and savings end up in someone else’s bank account. And that´s just one way that your fortunes could be subject to lawsuit damages. If you own a business, lawsuits can come, not just from offended people, but from government organizations who feel you are in violation of their rules, or groups like environmental organizations who’ve decided to target you for alleged pollution issues or other environmental sins. Professionals have unique liability f you’re a professional (doctor, lawyer, CPA, engineer, etc.), you probably already know the risks. You can be personally sued for any action you take as part of your profession, regardless of your business structure. In other words, professionals can’t hide behind the limited liability of work performed through corporations, P.C.s, or LLCs (and, therefore, all of your personal assets that are not protected are at risk). Protecting your assets — whether you work for a corporation or have your own business (or both), it is truly a legal minefield out there. Proper asset protection helps you navigate that minefield safely and come out on the other side with your wealth intact. You want an asset protection plan so solid that an opposing attorney can see exactly what you have set up and then have him walk away shaking his head, saying, “It’s not even worth trying.” Since no two situations are the same, we offer a variety of strategies to protect your assets. When you are ready for that level of confident security, please click here to email us or phone 812-774-5829. To sign up for a free consultation or to just get more information click here. Related Post Negligence Lawsuits Negligence Lawsuits Home Blog How Financial Health and Medicare Planning… Read More Jonathan MorenoOctober 5, 2024 Is a Lawsuit Lying in Wait for You? Is a Lawsuit Lying in Wait for You? Home Blog… Read More Jonathan MorenoOctober 5, 2024