Latest / Coffeez with Joe Shalaby / Offshore Asset Protection Lawyer Explains Cook Islands Trusts ft. Blake Harris | Coffeez

Transcript

Offshore Asset Protection Lawyer Explains Cook Islands Trusts ft. Blake Harris | Coffeez · Coffeez with Joe Shalaby

0:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Those of us doing business in America, who treats a certain level of success, become very juicy targets for a lawsuit.
0:08
[SPEAKER_01]: In America, if you're successful enough, you can expect to be suited sometime.
0:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to another episode of Coffee.
0:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Joseph, thanks for having me on the show.
0:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's pumped that you're here for many, many reasons now Blake I like to start off the show with every one of our guests with the same questions What's your morning routine?
0:24
[SPEAKER_01]: What's my morning routine?
0:26
[SPEAKER_01]: So I live in Miami Beach, Florida I like to roll out a bed and touch sand.
0:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I like I have a fan of earthing or grounding whatever it's called nowadays So I roll out a bed.
0:36
[SPEAKER_01]: I get down to the beach and then I'll walk about 45 minutes on the beach
0:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Punch kick elbow knee after I do that any anger any frustration.
0:49
[SPEAKER_01]: It's gone.
0:50
[SPEAKER_01]: I've left it on the bag I walk home and then I get to my day nothing that happens is going to upset me once I've done that no client No opposing counsels no issue with family or an employee ever shocks me or ever upset me because I let all out in the morning That I'm calm and ready to go for the day.
1:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, so wait you walk barefoot from your house to the gym for 45 minutes on the beach
1:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Step into the gym, do more Thai barefoot, and 45 minutes back.
1:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm put on some shoes for you today, Joseph, but generally I try to avoid footwear.
1:22
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
1:24
[SPEAKER_00]: What a life.
1:24
[SPEAKER_00]: That sounds like a dream comes true, by the way.
1:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I like it.
1:27
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not for everyone, but for me, I do enjoy it.
1:30
[SPEAKER_00]: That's great.
1:31
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, cool.
1:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's just dive right into it.
1:33
[SPEAKER_00]: So asset protection attorney now.
1:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's dive into who is it that really needs in asset protection attorney?
1:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, those of us doing business in America who've reached a certain level of success become very juicy targets for a lawsuit.
1:49
[SPEAKER_01]: In America, if you're successful enough, you can expect to be suited sometime.
1:52
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a very easy place to bring a lawsuit.
1:55
[SPEAKER_01]: You often don't have to pay me money up front.
1:57
[SPEAKER_01]: You can hire a attorney in a contingency fee.
1:59
[SPEAKER_01]: There are attorneys out there who are advertising, storing up litigation, which would not otherwise be brought.
2:04
[SPEAKER_01]: The biggest misconception the asset protection world is that asset protection is only for the super wealthy, and that's very far from true.
2:12
[SPEAKER_01]: The majority of people being sued have under $2 million in assets.
2:15
[SPEAKER_01]: The majority of our clients have somewhere we're doing about $1 in $10 million in assets.
2:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Now we do have quite a few clients who's net worth is a little bit under a million.
2:23
[SPEAKER_01]: We do have clients who's net worth is significantly more than $10 million.
2:26
[SPEAKER_01]: But the majority of people setting up an asset protection trust with my law firm have somewhere we're doing about $1 in $10 million in assets.
2:35
[SPEAKER_00]: if I like most of our clients here, most of people are listening to the show entrepreneurs, the benefit to doing asset protection here in the US versus overseas, what do you think those differences are?
2:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the benefit of doing in the United States is that it's going to be a little bit less.
2:53
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to cost you a little bit less upfront.
2:55
[SPEAKER_01]: The downside of doing the United States is going to cost you a lot more in the long run when it comes time to actually use your trust to use your asset protection plan.
3:04
[SPEAKER_01]: The difference between a domestic
3:06
[SPEAKER_01]: trust in an offshore trust is very simple.
3:09
[SPEAKER_01]: One of those trust, Joseph, can be broken by US court.
3:13
[SPEAKER_01]: The other trust cannot.
3:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And plaintiff attorneys know this.
3:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you're negotiating and you tell a plaintiff attorney that my assets are at a bank down the street or somewhere here in the United States controlled by a trustee here in the United States, plaintiff attorneys are not quick to back down because they know if they push hard enough, there's a good chance they're going to get the
3:30
[SPEAKER_01]: On the other side, if you can tell a plaintiff of attorneys that you're asked it to control by a foreign trustee in a jurisdiction, such as the Cook Islands, Nevis Reblees and the Money's Hell and Bank account in Switzerland, and no matter what a US court rules here, the assets are not going to be touched.
3:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to have a plaintiff attorney who's much more willing to either drop their case entirely, or take your settlement offer.
3:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, I mean, so it's basically a negotiation play, but it allows you to have a massive upper hand in the negotiation.
4:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a few things.
4:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a tool that gives you power to negotiate, but it's also a tool that even before an negotiation begins, even before a lawsuit has been brought, it brings peace of mind.
4:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And that there is very valuable in it up itself, even if the client never ends up getting sued.
4:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So at what point should an entrepreneur consider setting up asset protection?
4:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So generally, once their network gets to around a million, that's when they should look at setting up some type of asset protection plans.
4:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Certainly, when it gets to around $2 million in assets, they become very appetizing for a plaintiff attorney.
4:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you are in a position where do you have a lot of liability, or do up your attorney, or an engineer?
4:41
[SPEAKER_01]: or you have children who drive a car that you own.
4:44
[SPEAKER_01]: You're at an increased risk, and maybe even before you get to a million, you should be looking at setting up an asset protection plan.
4:49
[SPEAKER_01]: But generally, once your network gets to be one or two million dollars or more, it's definitely wise to do something so that in the position that if you get in-depth, so that if you end up getting sued, you have negotiation power, and you've got the peace of mind.
5:03
[SPEAKER_00]: So what I did when when I was married was we set up we met with an attorney as a protection attorney we put all our properties in the trials we put our death benefits all this and that and it was like eight grand now doing it overseas obviously it's a lot more because you set you set up
5:18
[SPEAKER_00]: overseas bank accounts.
5:19
[SPEAKER_00]: You set up Swiss bank accounts.
5:21
[SPEAKER_00]: You set up all that.
5:21
[SPEAKER_00]: So people have access to these offshore platforms.
5:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so the type of trust that you most likely created is a revocable living trust, which is a great tool for avoiding probate and passing assets to your children after you pass away, but the problem with a revocable living trust is it does not provide you any asset protection while you're alive.
5:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you want to trust it's going to keep your money protected while you're alive, you need to set up what's called an asset protection trust.
5:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And that can be done in the United States, or that can be done offshore, and the fees for those for a domestic trust domestic asset protection trust generally are going to run maybe 10, 15, to around $30,000 and offshore trust is going to run somewhere around $25,000 to $50,000.
6:03
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's a very different pricing model when you're looking at a structure that's going to actually protect you from lawsuits.
6:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're looking for a structure that's going to protect you from lawsuits and work, you're looking at something between $25 and $50,000.
6:15
[SPEAKER_01]: My firm charge around $30,000, we give our clients a very good value.
6:19
[SPEAKER_00]: That's awesome.
6:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Now,
6:22
[SPEAKER_00]: You are one of those attorneys that's always on the move.
6:26
[SPEAKER_00]: You've established like the biggest, not only the biggest firm, but the biggest brand in the space.
6:31
[SPEAKER_00]: How has creating a brand really catapulted your business?
6:35
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's very interesting.
6:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was thinking about this as I was flying out from my name to LA last night, years ago, when I got into the industry, I started traveling.
6:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And because of the traveling, I grew a large client base last year.
6:52
[SPEAKER_01]: by one particular trust company for the most number of Cook Island trust registered in their 40-year history.
6:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And because of my travels and sharing this social media, it is a growing large client-based, the large client-based has been given us a lot of experience, and it has allowed me to build a team all over the world where we've got people who can answer phone calls and respond much more so than a team that's based all here in the United States.
7:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So, no, but it's more, you know, right now you're traveling all over the world, but you have such a big brand in this space, like on social, you got millions of followers social media, how is that?
7:31
[SPEAKER_00]: How is that elevated your business?
7:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Hundreds of thousands of followers, but there have been videos with millions of views, and yes, it's been great for the business in a lot of ways.
7:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, certainly attracting clients.
7:43
[SPEAKER_01]: We are very narrow-focused, are from doesn't do DUI's and divorces and car accidents.
7:49
[SPEAKER_01]: We are very hyper laser focused in this industry.
7:54
[SPEAKER_01]: It's also meant that other people in the industry have reached out to me, international trust attorneys, trust companies, protectors from different places in the world, have reached out to our firm, and it's enabled me to grow what I believe is the largest role decks of anybody in the industry.
8:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's been helpful for finding clients and getting experienced that way on my own just by traveling to more than 40 countries at built up a big network.
8:18
[SPEAKER_01]: But the social media presence has also brought other professionals to me and a big part of the reason clients choose to work with us is because of the network that we have and the ability to say if you need something done
8:36
[SPEAKER_00]: love that so your networks really like insane now actually you and I were talking about that before the show it's like you know podcasting doing this social media dominating like your internet presence really just opens your mind up you're the first attorney I've ever heard or even spoke to said you know like it opens your mind up to a whole new way of thinking as an entrepreneur as a visionary which is so important as an entrepreneur
9:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you or anybody listening or watching the podcast, but the majority of Americans are very narrow-minded and how they think.
9:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Most have never loved America, those who have most have not gone beyond Canada or Mexico, but the entrepreneurs who are going to be the most successful in the decades to come think globally for the solutions to their problems.
9:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's very much what we do.
9:20
[SPEAKER_01]: We bring global solutions to problems that are here in the United States.
9:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's something that's missing.
9:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never spoke to an attorney to give me a global solution.
9:31
[SPEAKER_00]: They always think just here.
9:32
[SPEAKER_00]: But by the time, we're really not protected with the laws here.
9:37
[SPEAKER_00]: You still open yourself up.
9:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we can Bob and Weave and somehow negotiate.
9:42
[SPEAKER_00]: But are we fully protected?
9:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like a full protection strategy.
9:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely not.
9:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Under Article 4, section one of the US Constitution, every state has to give full faith and credit to the judgements of every other state.
9:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So you've set up a great asset protection plan on this state, but you get suit in another state, it's possible that judgment could be enforced here.
9:59
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to worry about that when you go overseas because by law the Cook Islands will disregard a corridor from anywhere in the world other than the Cook Islands.
10:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Unbelievable.
10:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, how do you reconcile like the traditional confidentiality of legal services with the transparency demanded by platforms like TikTok or Instagram or whatever?
10:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure, so I talk a lot about more stories and client success stories on social media, but we never do this in any way that compromises clients protected information.
10:28
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll use different names, we'll tweak certain facts so that we don't reveal anything that
10:36
[SPEAKER_01]: my team's years of experience and seeing cases and how they've played out and share that with the public so we can educate them.
10:44
[SPEAKER_01]: This is my job, I'm interested in growing my business, but I'm passionate about what I do and I believe in it because freedom, which is the most important thing that all of us want and desire in our life, freedom does not exist without protection.
10:57
[SPEAKER_01]: If somebody can take away everything you have, you're not really free until you've taken action to keep yourself and your family's wealth protected, you don't really have any freedom.
11:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And you don't really think about it like that, and it's so true.
11:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's a lot of very successful entrepreneurs out there who built these great businesses, but they've been so laser-focused on building their business.
11:18
[SPEAKER_01]: They haven't thought about the big picture of what happens if I do get sued.
11:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you guys literally specialize in offshore trusts like in the Cook Islands and in the Navy's, right?
11:31
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you address concerns about the ethical implications of offshore asset protection?
11:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's such a taboo subject, right?
11:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Totally, and it goes back to what I was saying about American being there and never minded.
11:43
[SPEAKER_01]: If you start a business, Joseph, the first thing someone's going to say to you is, go register now, I'll see.
11:48
[SPEAKER_01]: If you ask it, start to grow, someone's going to say, well, why don't you set up a trust for your family?
11:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Then someone says, oh, your assets have hit $2 million.
11:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Why don't you set up an offshore trust all the sudden?
11:58
[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't seem right.
11:59
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
12:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't buy this belief that being weak and unprotected is honorable.
12:05
[SPEAKER_01]: I think just the opposite.
12:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I think good people, they do everything they can to make themselves as strong and as protected as possible.
12:13
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't stand up to evil if you are vulnerable.
12:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that using the tools available to keep yourself protected is one of the most ethical things you can do.
12:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And that people don't look at it like that.
12:26
[SPEAKER_01]: They go, oh, offshore.
12:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't do.
12:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
12:29
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got a grown client base who does.
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: There's other people's having up the trust you do.
12:33
[SPEAKER_01]: But a lot of people, they hear offshore and immediately think this is going to be a number to count on Switzerland and that we're hiding from the IRS.
12:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's just the opposite.
12:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Everything we do, we report to the IRS.
12:43
[SPEAKER_01]: We give clients on how to compete the reporting requirements.
12:45
[SPEAKER_01]: But no, there's nothing illegal and it's far from unethical.
12:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's not like they're bank accounts or anything.
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is just asset protection strategy overseas.
12:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it doesn't involve open a foreign bank account.
12:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So the trust typically is registered in the Cook Island.
13:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So we have set up trust in other jurisdictions like Nevis and we do business and police as well and other offshore jurisdictions beyond those three jurisdictions.
13:09
[SPEAKER_01]: But once the trusted registered, we then help clients open a bank account.
13:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And usually we'll help them open a bank account and switch lunch.
13:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So the trust will be registered in the Cook Islands.
13:17
[SPEAKER_01]: the safest jurisdiction for asset protection trust, and then the money would be held in Switzerland, which is the safest place that Americans can routinely open a bank account.
13:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Under the structure, they can invest in stocks, bond, gold, silver, cryptocurrency, anything they can invest in, themselves, they can invest in through the trust.
13:34
[SPEAKER_01]: So we open both the bank account and the trust offshore, and that's where they get the real protection.
13:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me ask you, are there
13:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I wish the trusted self is tax neutral.
13:47
[SPEAKER_01]: It does not increase tax liability.
13:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It does not decrease putting assets in.
13:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Taking assets out, always tax neutral assets can be transferred over in kind.
13:57
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to liquidate your portfolio.
13:58
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to realize any gains.
14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: When you put them into the trust, only if you were to sell them the trust.
14:03
[SPEAKER_00]: It does the same tax implications.
14:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Same exact tax implications.
14:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It does have to be reported to the IRS and Fencing and we give our clients a detailed memorandum on how to complete the reporting requirements.
14:13
[SPEAKER_01]: And they just send that to their accountant and they're on this CPA CPA does their magic.
14:17
[SPEAKER_01]: The paperwork client signs off.
14:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And it does not increase your chance of an audit either.
14:22
[SPEAKER_01]: The IRS sees reporting your off short trust as an active compliance and no way does that raise any red flag or penalize an individual.
14:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because I could see how that's a concern as I are, as I was like, well, let me see the rest of the already reporting everything that's in that account.
14:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Correct.
14:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And the IRS likes to see that you're reporting and likes to see that you're complying and the IRS has plenty of people to go after who aren't even following their taxes or even paying their taxes.
14:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, it's a complex issue for the IRS.
14:49
[SPEAKER_01]: The IRS is very well trained at going after simple matters, but the more complex it is actually, the less likely it is the IRS has to brainpower to go after.
14:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you know, obviously as a lawyer, every lawyer has to pick their niche.
15:02
[SPEAKER_00]: What was that pivot on moment that when you realize that you wanna just basically go all in on asset protection?
15:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So I've been an attorney for about 15 years.
15:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I've always focused my legal career on trust.
15:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It was early in my career.
15:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I had done other types of trust, domestic trust, the revocable trust that you mentioned.
15:23
[SPEAKER_01]: But it was many years ago, after I had set up an asset protection trust, a client came back to me a few years later.
15:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was talking to them in various family members along the way.
15:34
[SPEAKER_01]: The case finally went away.
15:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And I got a call from an individual who
15:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Several years earlier, and I remember the exact words, Blake, the trust work exactly as you said it would.
15:48
[SPEAKER_01]: We were able to keep all of our money.
15:49
[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't even have to pay a settlement.
15:51
[SPEAKER_01]: They were able to keep all of it because of the trust.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And when I heard that I said, you know what, this is the type of feedback I want to hear.
15:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to do anything for the rest of my career other than go exclusively after setting up off short trust.
16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And for several years now, we've done nothing but set up off short trust.
16:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Now to that point, I'd like to ask for the best story.
16:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have a good story that really comes to mind where you're like, I just saved this guy a billion dollars?
16:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So we had a client who sold a business.
16:21
[SPEAKER_01]: will say it's a trucking business.
16:23
[SPEAKER_01]: He'd spent 20 years building this business up.
16:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And then after he stole the business, he got a fee of around $12 million.
16:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Put that money into a cuckail and trust.
16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Many months later, a few months later, the business started taking.
16:37
[SPEAKER_01]: The new owner didn't understand how to operate the business quite as well as my client who built the business from scratch.
16:43
[SPEAKER_01]: the new owner tried to undo the transaction sued our client for $12 million.
16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: This was going to leave our client in debt because of the kind of already since some of that money to the IRS.
16:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Once we revealed that the client had all their funds inside of a cook island's trust and the plaintiff likely was going to get nothing if they proceeded with their case, they plaintiff agreed to settle the case for somewhere around $150,000.
17:06
[SPEAKER_01]: pennies on the dollar.
17:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how the case would have turned out if they did not have the cook outlands trust in place, but I highly doubt it would have looked anything like the result we got then.
17:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's say that 12 million was in a
17:18
[SPEAKER_00]: revocable trust here in the U.S.
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, can they have pierced that trust easily a court could have ordered the client to revoke the trust and hand over the assets with the revoke with trust, typically the client and charging with the client's not in charge, the court will read the documents, say the assets, the trust is revocable, revoked and payer debt on top of that if the assets were in the United States, even if it was an irrevocable trust in the United States, the court could have still gone after that.
17:42
[SPEAKER_01]: asset as long as it sits here in the US.
17:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you want real protection, you do two things.
17:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You get the control offshore, and you get the asset offshore.
17:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And at that time, you're golden.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like I love hearing success stories because at the end of the day,
17:57
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what we're passionate about.
17:58
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what excites us.
17:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we don't live a life of purpose, like what's the point, right?
18:02
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't live a life of purpose in a life with peace of mind, too.
18:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Simply going through a lawsuit is gonna be expensive.
18:09
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be stressful.
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: It's gonna bring some hard times, maybe into your personal life.
18:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It's gonna distract you from running your business, being able to settle a case quickly and move on.
18:21
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of value in that.
18:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, well, I mean, I run a big business.
18:26
[SPEAKER_00]: So lawsuits are just part of the business.
18:28
[SPEAKER_00]: We have stacks of them.
18:29
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we have in house counsel.
18:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, so for me, I'm just used to losses, but when it hits me personally, that I'm not used to like the business, like because we were operating massive one, it's no big deal.
18:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Moths is just part of the game.
18:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Personally, like they're terrifying.
18:42
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not fun, and what I see happen sometimes is individuals get hit with these completely bogus claims, but the individuals are wealthy, and they're busy, and they see how much it costs to defend a claim that they end up just paying settlements as opposed to spending the time, money, and effort, and resources to defend a case, and individuals become victims of legal extortion.
19:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want that to happen to me, and I'm certainly don't want that
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, pivoting a little bit.
19:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you're kind of a big deal online.
19:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You're quoted in tons of publications.
19:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, how do you ensure that your public persona aligns with the serious nature of what you do for work?
19:26
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
19:27
[SPEAKER_01]: what I do for work I take very seriously.
19:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm very careful with who we hire and how we train them.
19:32
[SPEAKER_01]: But I also, in both my personal and professional life, don't consider myself a very stuffy person.
19:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I am very laid back in how I communicate with clients because that's who I am.
19:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Also, it gives clients a lot of confidence.
19:47
[SPEAKER_01]: When I started in the practice of a law 15 years ago, I was wearing a suit and tie every day because I didn't know what I was talking about.
19:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Then I needed to compensate.
19:55
[SPEAKER_01]: As I got more comfort with what I was saying, I'd become more comfortable in how I dress and it's very disarming and clients are much more willing to open up and share with me.
20:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And I want that because that communications very key to successful outcome and it gives clients more peace of mind too.
20:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So while we take our work very seriously, while we only work with the most reputable, while our team is very responsive.
20:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And I say all these great things about my firm.
20:19
[SPEAKER_01]: You can go online yourself and read our reviews.
20:21
[SPEAKER_01]: We have over 70 Google reviews, every single one to five out of five stars.
20:25
[SPEAKER_01]: We do take it very seriously, but at the same time, we want to be approachable.
20:29
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't want clients to feel intimidated when they talk to me or anyone on our team.
20:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
20:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all about delivering an incredible customer experience.
20:38
[SPEAKER_01]: An incredible customer experience where they are comfortable from the first time they contact us until the relationship ends, whether that's much years or decades later.
20:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So like the process of getting asset protection, you walk these guys through, it's not, and it takes several weeks to set something up, right?
20:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Usually clients with all a contact form on our website or they'll give us a call.
21:01
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll then have a call scheduled with one of the attorneys at our firm.
21:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We will then do an evaluation to see whether you'd be a good fit for an asset protection plan with our firm.
21:10
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people contact us and we tell them.
21:13
[SPEAKER_01]: that we're not the right fit or we've sent them in some other direction.
21:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But for those who do fit the criteria, and we think a cook island or an offshore trust of some type would be beneficial, we'll then send them all the information needed to get started.
21:25
[SPEAKER_01]: The initial fees around $30,000 once they've signed our engagement letter and submitted the initial fee.
21:31
[SPEAKER_01]: It takes about 30 days to get the trust to establish.
21:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I've planted a very responsive.
21:36
[SPEAKER_01]: They have a fairly clean background.
21:37
[SPEAKER_01]: We can't expedite that process.
21:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Once that's done, then we start the process of moving assets into the trust.
21:43
[SPEAKER_01]: That typically takes around 30 days to move the assets in, as well as get a bank account open.
21:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So all in about 60 days is what we quote clients.
21:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Though in some circumstances, we have gotten everything set up a bit quicker than that.
21:55
[SPEAKER_01]: now on title and everything you move all the properties into an offshore trust does it say like this is a Switzerland trust on the title and so the primary home will go directly into the trust unless you're in a state like Florida or California where your home is I'm sorry, Florida, Texas where your home's already protected or your home is already covered by home set protection minus any debt
22:19
[SPEAKER_01]: we will then put the home directly into the trust.
22:21
[SPEAKER_01]: If there's any unprotected equity in the home, other real estate should typically be held by an LOC registered in the state and the jurisdiction where the properties located.
22:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Then the LOC will go into the trust and then a bank account will be open directly into the name of the trust.
22:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So either the assets will go directly into the trust or go into an entity which the trust then owns.
22:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Now your firm officers, your firm offers services like crypto asset protection, which is obviously the biggest emerging market right now, how do you navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape of these digital assets like it's like insanely regulated right now.
22:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So it is a changing landscape and finding partners who are willing to hold crypto is something that we have put a lot of effort into at my firm and meeting with the banks custodians of crypto is something that we've made a lot of effort to and I don't think any other asset protection law firm has done as much crypto asset protection as my firm.
23:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I venture to say we probably
23:26
[SPEAKER_01]: We give clients a few options for how they hold their crypto.
23:30
[SPEAKER_01]: If there's no pending litigation, we will assign the crypto to the trust and allow the client to keep the keys.
23:35
[SPEAKER_01]: If there is pending or threatened litigation, we'll have the client to use a third party.
23:39
[SPEAKER_01]: That could be a third party vault.
23:41
[SPEAKER_01]: That could be a family member or friend preferably outside the United States or with one of our banking relationships in Switzerland or Lechensstein that will hold the crypto through their bank.
23:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's a few different ways clients can hold it.
23:53
[SPEAKER_01]: But ultimately, it still tax the same way it would be taxed if you had the crypto yours, crypto yourself.
23:59
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a market that the demand for the swings with the crypto market when Bitcoin goes on bull run, we get a lot more crypto calls, when Bitcoin's tanking.
24:07
[SPEAKER_01]: We still have clients who have crypto's a portion of the portfolio, but it just varies, but we are very well positioned to be the leading crypto asset protection law firm.
24:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, it's great to, great to know, great to hear.
24:22
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, even myself, as I get more involved in the crypto space, like, and I have so many questions about even like the company, like as a corporation, our corporation, you know, who's always just you're being attacked left right and center just the bigger we are the more market share we get the bigger our national platform gets.
24:42
[SPEAKER_01]: the more targets on our back, the larger and paragros, the more vulnerable it becomes to attack, certainly.
24:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like I said at the beginning, a lawsuit is a bad to success.
24:53
[SPEAKER_01]: If you've been successful enough, you can expect to be sued.
24:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Still grow, still become a successful as possible, but have the proper defense in place.
25:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I always refer to King David.
25:03
[SPEAKER_00]: where he would say, Lord, why do all my enemies multiply?
25:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Like why is this happening to me?
25:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Like why do those who afflict me keep multiplying?
25:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like, I don't know where.
25:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And what's like, so for a corporation, is asset protection, you're like,
25:21
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the way to go.
25:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So typically when we set up an offshore trust it's other for an individual or for married couple now often that individual owns or has a large investment in a business and our strategy for protecting a business is one of the following you can put the business directly into the trust.
25:39
[SPEAKER_01]: or you can take as much out of that business as possible.
25:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So, operate the business as thinly capitalized as possible.
25:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And then once you pull the assets out of the business, put that into your offshore trust.
25:50
[SPEAKER_01]: If the business has hard assets, we'd recommend taking the hard assets out of the business, selling them.
25:56
[SPEAKER_01]: maybe leasing them back from a third party, so the business doesn't have a lot for somebody to take, take a poison pill, so to speak, put as much cash into the offshore trust, and all the sudden when the business has very little cash on hand, it becomes less appetizing to sue.
26:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, if the business gets sued, this gives the business leverage to negotiate and say, we don't have a lot of cash on hand for anyone to take.
26:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So, to plead the cash on hand, to plead the cash on hand, remove hard assets and make it as thinly capitalized as possible, run your business lean and lean.
26:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, unfortunately, because we're a bank, we can't really do that.
26:31
[SPEAKER_01]: you would need to keep a little bit more cash on hand.
26:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we have to keep millions on hand.
26:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So in your circumstances, it actually might be a situation we're setting up a Cook Island Trust directly for the business makes sense so you can keep the bulk of the cash in an account offshore that a court can't force you to pull it back from.
26:48
[SPEAKER_01]: We would need to maybe offline have a little bit more of a discussion how often and how much cash you need on hand and how much you could stick away for six months at a time.
26:58
[SPEAKER_01]: You always have access to it.
26:59
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to wait six months at a time.
27:01
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're going to be accessing it within the next 30 days, it doesn't necessarily make sense to put it offshore.
27:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And just to add a curiosity, those offshore accounts like bank accounts here, they're paying 45% they're not paying much over there.
27:12
[SPEAKER_01]: It depends on how you invest the money.
27:15
[SPEAKER_01]: If you are holding it in a dependent on what current which currency you use, whether it's the Swiss Frank or the US dollar or the euro, and then beyond that, you can buy CDs or bonds or T-bills or invest in crypto stocks bonds.
27:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So just to put in on how much risk you wanna take on, you can get whatever aim for whatever return you want.
27:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so it's still the same thing, all of the same investment options you have now, you'll have in the trust as well.
27:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you wrote a book, it's called Asset Protection, don't let a loss of take everything.
27:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, that offers tons of strategies guarding your wealth.
27:50
[SPEAKER_00]: What's a common misconception that readers have after reading it?
27:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what do you, what have you after reading it?
27:57
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't have any misconceptions.
27:59
[SPEAKER_01]: But before reading it, I think some of the misconceptions go back to number one.
28:04
[SPEAKER_01]: the wealth needed to just by setting up an offshore trust.
28:08
[SPEAKER_01]: If you've got an individual or worth
28:11
[SPEAKER_01]: $300 million and they get hit with the $5 million judgment.
28:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not where you're going to have any real effect on the standard living or quality of life, but if there's an individual worth $3.5 million and they're hit with the $5 million judgment, that could have devastating effects on their standard living and quality of life.
28:26
[SPEAKER_01]: So first of all, this conception is that an individual is not worth enough.
28:30
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're a millionaire, you should definitely at least consider
28:35
[SPEAKER_01]: The other big mistake and sometimes one of even having a book caused more people to make this mistake is putting it off.
28:43
[SPEAKER_01]: If you set up the asset protection plan while water shall calm, I can get you a very good result.
28:48
[SPEAKER_01]: If you wait until you've been sued, we may be able to do something to mitigate damage, but the result that you're going to get is not nearly as good as the one who plans ahead.
28:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And now it's a prevention course worth the pound of the cure.
29:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, one thing I love about you is you always talk about the global network.
29:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, how do you vet these international partners?
29:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And how do you ensure they uphold the standards that, you know, I'm looking forward that you're looking for, the firms looking for.
29:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's a couple of ways that I vet.
29:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I get out in the field and meet people in person.
29:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm flying tomorrow morning to Hong Kong to meet with some colleagues there and speak at a conference there.
29:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been to the Cook Islands many times and I've mentioned I've been to dozen of different countries and I travel extensively because there's a big element of, how do you feel about a person when you meet them in person?
29:41
[SPEAKER_01]: That energy of meeting somebody in person?
29:44
[SPEAKER_01]: That's one thing that is very important to me.
29:46
[SPEAKER_01]: what does my gut say?
29:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm a big believer in trusting your gut.
29:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Number two, there are industry reputation.
29:52
[SPEAKER_01]: The more people you know, the industry, the more the easier it is to get feedback on someone else.
29:57
[SPEAKER_01]: See how others have perceived working with this individual.
30:01
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a very important one.
30:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the third is how responsible are they?
30:06
[SPEAKER_01]: My firm, we're extremely responsive.
30:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm on my email,
30:11
[SPEAKER_01]: more than I want to admit and finding people in some of these smaller island countries who are responsive, sometimes can be challenging.
30:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you're a little bit of island time where they're a little bit slower to respond and if they don't respond quick enough, then we're not going to work with somebody who operates in appropriate speeds.
30:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's three things.
30:31
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the gut feeling when you meet somebody in person.
30:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It's their overall reputation from people who I trust in the industry and it is their response time.
30:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Now looking ahead, what do you think are some unconventional strategies you're exploring to keep the law from alive and at the forefront of asset protection?
30:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we are always looking to grow, and what I'm looking to grow more so is vertically.
30:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking to see how we can find trust companies who will mold their process to fit our firms' process so that when clients hire us, we can streamline the onboarding process.
31:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm doing the same thing where after I go to Hong Kong, a few days later, I'm going to Zurich and meeting with some of the banks we work there, and going to be talking about how they can simplify their onboarding process as well.
31:22
[SPEAKER_01]: what I want to deliver from my clients is not only the best value and when I meet with our international partners, I'm negotiating.
31:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to get a better deal for my clients.
31:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm also trying to get a smoother and quicker process.
31:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Long-term, my vision is going to be so, is such that a client hires us.
31:42
[SPEAKER_01]: They submit one intake form.
31:43
[SPEAKER_01]: We run this through our law form.
31:45
[SPEAKER_01]: We run this through the bank.
31:46
[SPEAKER_01]: We run this through the trust company.
31:47
[SPEAKER_01]: and faster than it can take some people to draw a revocable trust.
31:52
[SPEAKER_01]: We're able to set an offshore trust.
31:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe we can already do it probably quicker than anyone else in the industry because the quantity work we do with these trust companies they will often push our clients ahead of other clients but also getting it so that the banks are on board.
32:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So as far as what are we doing that's unconventional, we are partnering and digging deep into the processes of our various offshore partners to streamline the process for our clients.
32:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
32:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Pivoting the show a little bit.
32:21
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about the family.
32:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you got two beautiful children and you know the third one's not so cute.
32:28
[SPEAKER_01]: No, just two children total.
32:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And your kids are growing up in a much more fortunate environment.
32:37
[SPEAKER_00]: How are you making sure that your kids grow up with that same resilience, that same level of grit that you've instilled in your life?
32:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So I was raised by
32:52
[SPEAKER_01]: a father who was an attorney and had his own practice, and it was very much an inspiration in a model, and I feel like I'm doing a lot the same for my children, where they see dad works a lot.
33:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Dad takes time off to be on one-on-one with his children and give them given him his undivided attention, but they understand that
33:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Dad has to travel because Dad's going to go out and do the best thing he can for himself and his career because that pays dividends to the family.
33:20
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think what's very important is being a good role model.
33:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Beyond that, I do like to, to the point that my children show an interest, expose them to the team that I work with.
33:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I've taken them to Switzerland and they've met with some of the bankers we work with.
33:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I
33:37
[SPEAKER_01]: taking them to the past few summers, to nevis, and we have a great time there as well.
33:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And when we travel, I very much put it on my children to figure out how we are going to get from point A to point B.
33:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So we show up at the airport, and I say to the kids, where do we go from here?
33:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, what airline are on?
33:53
[SPEAKER_01]: What, what flight are we on?
33:54
[SPEAKER_01]: They figured out they figured out how to get us through security.
33:56
[SPEAKER_01]: They figured out how to get us onto the plane.
33:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just let them kind of lead the way, because I want them to get comfortable figuring out things on their own.
34:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And
34:06
[SPEAKER_01]: and it's been an it's been wonderful and I encourage everyone who's listening to this if you're on the fence go out and have children children are a wonderful thing they take time they take money but there's no better place to spend your time and money than on your children.
34:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah I've had no regrets about about having children.
34:22
[SPEAKER_00]: best thing never happened to me.
34:23
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
34:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So I want like 20, but you know, I can only afford four so far.
34:28
[SPEAKER_01]: That's that's that's your your head of a lot of people there.
34:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Now a couple last questions this is about goals three prong question.
34:39
[SPEAKER_00]: What's a personal goal that you have for yourself?
34:42
[SPEAKER_00]: a goal that you have for your business, and a goal that you have for your family.
34:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
34:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I will start with my family.
34:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say that I want to make sure that as my children are entering their teenage years, that I continue to have the open relationship
35:02
[SPEAKER_01]: with my children where they are comfortable communicating with me, those teenage years get tough for a variety of different reasons and I want my children to still be very comfortable communicating with me honestly about their fears about their excitement about what they're excited about.
35:27
[SPEAKER_01]: think I've done a very good job at that.
35:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I have a very good relationship with both of them.
35:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And I like that to not change.
35:34
[SPEAKER_01]: As far as the business is concerned, we have worked very hard to maintain the reputation that we have in the industry.
35:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would like to very much preserve that.
35:44
[SPEAKER_01]: We have a team of about 12 or 15 full-time employees right now.
35:48
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't look at that as a metric that I'm necessarily trying to grow at much more interest in growing the number of clients.
35:56
[SPEAKER_01]: We can serve and how well we serve them.
35:59
[SPEAKER_01]: A byproduct of that would be a growing team.
36:01
[SPEAKER_01]: But right now, we have a team that I'm very proud of.
36:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got some very smart, very talented, very detailed oriented, very hardworking.
36:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would like to see the team grow where we don't compromise the level of excellence that we have.
36:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And I could spend a whole another 45 minutes talking about how we employ a former trust officer from a cookout and some of his trust company, how we employ what I think are some of the smartest people in the asset protection field, how we have extremely well trained support step as well.
36:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'd like to really stand course.
36:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'd like to grow the business too, but I'd like to stand course and continue to maintain the brand.
36:41
[SPEAKER_01]: when people think of Blake Harsalom, I went the first thing that comes to their mind beyond offshore asset protection to be integrity.
36:49
[SPEAKER_01]: When we say we're going to do something, we're going to do it.
36:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying that mistakes don't get made, the mistakes are exceedingly rare, but I'm saying that our word is golden.
36:59
[SPEAKER_01]: As far as personal, personal goals, I turn 40 here in a few months.
37:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm quite happy with the life I live.
37:06
[SPEAKER_01]: I have a lot of travel.
37:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I've got a lot of
37:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Friends, I'm in the best physical shape I've been, but I would love to see my Mojtai skills get better.
37:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm still a beginner of that.
37:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe a pro when it comes to acid protection, but I still suck when it comes to my fighting skills.
37:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'd like to see myself get get better in that regard.
37:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe compete or something.
37:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe maybe I've once the blessing of my coach come, I want to get the blessing of my coach.
37:38
[SPEAKER_01]: than I'll do that, but I'll do the next fandom.
37:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd like to avoid any injuries and continue to have fun.
37:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Continue to have fun in what I'm doing with work and continue to enjoy the people I work with.
37:52
[SPEAKER_00]: You're doing it.
37:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Can podcasting, traveling, social media?
37:55
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing it.
37:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there was it's been a lot that's gone on the last 39 years between
38:03
[SPEAKER_01]: schooling and college and law school and a marriage and a divorce and unpaid internships when I was younger and not working for the right people at different time.
38:13
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I was working for the right people because it got me to where I am now and maybe I appreciate it now.
38:18
[SPEAKER_01]: But now at a point where the energy is flowing well and I'm having fun and I feel like I'm surrounded by very loyal team, both in terms of my friends, but also in terms of the team I worked with the Blake Harris law and I want to keep I want to keep going.
38:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Last question.
38:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask everybody this question.
38:37
[SPEAKER_00]: When you're in front of the early gates, what do you think God's gonna tell you?
38:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I think God's gonna tell me that I have left behind wonderful children who will continue to spread God's love for all of humanity after I'm gone.
38:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
38:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Blake Harris, if people wanna find you, how do they do it?
38:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Blake Harris Law.
38:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for coming on this show, thank you for flying in and doing this show, thank you, Blake Harris, the man, the myth, the legend, thank you guys for watching.