Nashville Family Wealth Preservation Lawyers

We spend much of life providing for our families and ourselves so we can be financially secure in the future. We accumulate wealth and assets over a lifetime of work to serve the benefit of our families. However, assets don’t always pass as you might expect when you don’t carefully plan your estate. The Nashville estate planning attorneys at Martin Heller Potempa & Sheppard, PLLC help individuals with family wealth preservation. We protect the life’s work of our clients so in the future it reflects their interests and desires.

Our firm represents all types of clients, regardless of the size of a person’s estate. We assist with planning for all circumstances, including those that may arise from marriages, disability, or death. We work with clients to ensure the proper tools maintain their assets in an efficient and beneficial manner.

Protection from Sources of Potential Liability

Sources of liability that can diminish the assets in an estate may include:

• Ownership of real property 
• Divorce 
• Negligence 
• Auto liability 
• Liability from children, agents, or employees 
• Contractual liability 
• As well as a liability as an officer, or director of a business, or professional malpractice 

Because of the various ways your financial assets may be impacted, trust and entity planning are important aspects of protecting your assets from potential creditors and preserving your wealth for future beneficiaries.

Our firm helps clients evaluate their need for an asset protection plan, develop a legal strategy to secure assets, and minimize tax and transfer penalties. We also assist individuals in preserving their wealth for the next generation with effective generational transfers, as well as charitable gifting facilitation services.

Types of Wealth Preservation Tools and Instruments

We can utilize many strategies and tools to ensure that your assets and wealth are safe. Such options may include:

• Limited liability companies
• Irrevocable trusts
• Multi-generational dynasty trusts
• Beneficiary-controlled trusts

Wealth preservation is usually only one part of a larger wealth management plan. It includes estate planning, will, and trust constructions that work together to meet your interests and goals. We recommend creating trusts as wealth preservation instruments to protect family wealth from: 

• Creditors 
• Legal judgments 
• Bankruptcies 
• Business-enterprise debts

For example, a Tennessee Asset Protection Trust (TAPT), formed pursuant to specifications under the Tennessee Investment Services Act of 2007, allows an individual, or grantor, to contribute assets to a trust that are exempt from the claims of creditors while allowing him or her to retain the right of the economic benefit of the trust. For a trust to qualify under the Act, it must meet five requirements:

• The trust must be governed by Tennessee law;
• The trust must be irrevocable;
• It must have a spendthrift clause preventing the voluntary or involuntary transfer of interest;
• It must appoint a qualified trustee in the state; and
• The trust must contain an affidavit by the grantor with its own requirements stated under the Act.

A TAPT grants protection to the grantor’s assets, making it a valuable tool in family wealth preservation. Each wealth preservation plan is unique and tailored to the desires and needs of an individual. A seasoned attorney can help you evaluate your financial position and future interests.

Business Succession Planning for Wealth Preservation

If you have a business your family has run for generations, you might worry about what will happen to it when you pass. As part of managing your assets and estates, you may want to consider business succession planning as part of that plan.

By deciding early what you want to happen to your business, you have control over the future. You will want to:

• Select and train your successor
• Create a timeline if you plan to retire
• Share your business plans with the successor and key parties at play

The best action to take is often being transparent with all parties who have a hand in your business. It helps protect you, while also preparing them for the next phase.

Our Estate Planning Attorneys Can Help Preserve Your Family’s Wealth

Ethical rules, as well as both state and federal law, govern asset protection planning. Representing clients in and beyond the Franklin area, the estate lawyers at Martin Heller Potempa & Sheppard, PLLC are familiar with these regulations. We are focused on conforming your plan to these ethical considerations while helping you protect your family’s wealth.

Please contact us if you need legal assistance regarding family wealth preservation or other estate planning services.