Wealthy Americans Turn To Trusts To Shield Assets…

So even if Jamie Dimon was completely at fault, you really couldn’t remove him from much of his wealth.

Trusts often are funded with liquid assets such as stocks and bonds, and may be appealing because individuals who establish them may also take distributions if they need to, while the assets are generally out-of-reach from future creditors. They won’t offer protection if a defendant creates a trust after a potential claim has already arisen.

Directors and officers increasingly are being named in investor lawsuits. About 64 percent of federal securities class- action suits filed in 2011 named board members as defendants, compared with about 35 percent in 2008, according to New York- based PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Asset-protection trusts are sometimes used to supplement their liability coverage, also called directors and officers insurance.

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