<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Helpless in Santa Ana:
Dear IAAL,
I respect your opinion greatly.Please help me with the following questions.
My son 17 year olds was driving my car in Santa Ana, Orange County and involved in an accident. The other driver has broken leg and hospitalized. My insurance agent had informed me that, I may need an attorney to help me for future law suit, because my liability of 25000 - 50000 may not be enough to cover the injury of the other driver.
My question are:
How do I protect myself ?
What do I need to do to protect my assets ?
Is there any law that protects me ?
Please help.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
My response:
If the Plaintiff does not settle for policy limits, and depending on the size of a lawsuit, you may be entitled to "Cumis Counsel" (Ask your agent about that).
Insofar as your assets are concerned, you should do nothing until a judgment is rendered against you. If the amount of the judgment is much more than your liability limits, then Bankruptcy will be your only way out. A judgment is good for 10 years, and renewable for another 10 years. That's way to much "monkey" on anyone's back.
If you have saving accounts, stocks, bonds, checking accounts, and any valuables, such as jewelry, it may be a good time to see a financial advisor or attorney to give you some ideas on transfer to a trusted friend or relative. In other words, beyond your insurance policy, on paper, you want to appear to be a legal pauper. Do this as soon as possible. Get counseling on starting a family trust, and move all assets to the trust. This could get costly, but it'll be far less cost to you should your assets be attacked.
Now, insofar as your car insurance goes, get better coverage and get an umbrella policy on top of that, for all of your cars. Remember, sometimes lightening does strike in the same place.
Good luck.
IAAL
P.S. Thanks for the compliment, but Lars Coltrane, ALawyer, Tracey, and the others are also very good, and sometimes, they even "trump" me with their great ideas.
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