As a business owner, self-employed professional or investor, you carry a considerable personal liability risk. If your business fails or you end up in a legal dispute, your entire private wealth can be at risk.
Even if you run a limited company or another corporate vehicle, there are many situations in which you can be held personally liable. They include personal guarantees, tax debts, social security contributions and many other obligations.
What is personal liability?
Personal liability means that you answer with your entire private wealth for the debts and obligations of your business or for your own actions. That can include your house, your savings, your car and other valuable assets.
How can we help?
Asset protection for business owners starts now, not once a claim has arisen. It is practically impossible to protect your assets once the liability has materialised. The right asset protection strategy has to be in place years beforehand, so that the transfer of assets is not exposed to the risk of being unwound.
There are a number of ways we can support business owners with asset protection. One of them is transferring assets, or your business, to a family holding company in which you hold all the voting rights and therefore keep full control, but in which you have no share in the company's assets.
Moving abroad is, of course, also an excellent strategy for protecting yourself and your wealth. You are not on the run and you are not hiding, and in theory claims against you can be enforced abroad too. But experience shows that a residence abroad and a foreign legal system tend to deter potential creditors.