Top Searchlight, NV Asset Protection Lawyers Near You

Are You Considering Creating and Asset Protection Trust?

If you need to protect your assets from overreaching creditors, you may want to hire a Searchlight attorney to set up an asset protection trust for you. Such trusts are not permitted in every state and to be valid the trust must meet specific guidelines. An attorney skilled in creating these trusts can advise you on their legality and prepare a trust to meet your needs.

Trusts Can Shield Assets From Creditors

An asset protection trust is a device that separates a person’s liability from certain assets from his or her benefit from the assets. The trust serves to shield assets from creditors or from valuation in a divorce case. Because the protection of the trust makes it more difficult for creditors to collect debts, only a few states allow asset protection trusts. A lawyer familiar with such trusts, their benefits and limitations, can set up the trust within the parameters of the law and ensure your assets are protected.

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

• How many years have you been practicing law? How long have you practiced law in the local area?
• How many cases similar to mine have you handled in the past?
• What is the likely outcome for my case?

In legal practice, experience matters. An experienced attorney will likely have handled issues similar to yours many, many times. Therefore, after listening to your situation, the attorney should have a reasonable idea of the time line for a case like yours and the likely resolution.

Tips on Approaching an Initial Attorney Consultation

• Use the consultation as a means of gaining a better understanding of your legal situation.
• Ask the attorney how many cases similar to yours he/she has handled. An attorney’s experience and knowledge can speak to their expertise (or lack of) in addressing your situation.
• Your attorney should be able to articulate roughly how long a case like yours will take to resolve and what sort of procedures to expect.
• Determine how comfortable you are working with the lawyer and/or law firm.

How much does it cost to hire an attorney?

In general, how much an attorney costs will often depend on these four factors: billing method and pricing structure, type of legal work performed, law firm prestige, and attorney experience. Depending on the legal issue you are facing, an attorney may bill you by the hour, settle on a flat fee, or enter into a contingency fee agreement. The type of legal work you need help with will also play a role in cost incurred.

Common legal terms explained

Pro se – This Latin term refers to representing yourself in court instead of hiring professional legal counsel. Pro se representation can occur in either criminal or civil cases.

Statute – Refers to a law created by a legislative body. For example, the laws enacted by Congress are statutes.

Subject matter jurisdiction – Requirement that a particular court have authority to hear the claim based on the specific type of issue brought to the court. For example, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court only has subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy filings, therefore it does not have the authority to render binding judgment over other types of cases, such as divorce.