Asset Protection Attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana
Todd M. Villarrubia, Board Certified in Estate Planning & Administration, Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization
Asset protection in Louisiana works only when it is in place before a claim exists. Wealth Planning Law Group is a New Orleans law firm handling estate planning, tax, asset protection and business succession for owners of operating businesses in Louisiana and across the country. Todd M. Villarrubia is Board Certified in Estate Planning & Administration by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, holds an LL.M. in Taxation from Emory University, and has more than 30 years of experience.
The work is lawful, prospective planning: arranging how your businesses, properties, trusts and insurance are held so that a future claim reaches as little as possible. Clients include physicians, landlords, contractors and business owners in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes and the River Parishes.
Asset protection has to come before the claim
Louisiana lets a creditor undo transfers made too late. Under Civil Code article 2036, a creditor can ask a court to annul an act of the debtor, made after the creditor’s right arose, that causes or increases the debtor’s insolvency.
A gift is easier to undo than a sale. Under article 2039, a gratuitous transfer can be annulled whether or not the person who received it knew about the debt. Under article 2041, the creditor has one year from learning of the transfer, and never more than three years from the transfer itself, to bring the action.
So moving assets to a spouse, a child or a trust after a claim arises can undo the protection instead of creating it. The date that matters is when the creditor’s right arose, which can come before any lawsuit is filed.
A claim you already have limits what can be done about that claim. It doesn’t stop planning for the next one. A demand letter, a pending suit or a new personal guarantee is often what starts the work, and the work stays lawful as long as each step is checked against the claim that already exists.
What Louisiana law already protects
Some assets are out of a creditor’s reach before any planning starts. Knowing which ones comes first, because it decides what, if anything, needs to move.
Asset
What is protected
The limit
Statute
Owner-occupied homestead
Up to $35,000 in value, exempt from seizure
Exceptions for certain debts, such as taxes and certain mortgages and loans
La. R.S. 20:1
Qualified retirement accounts
Exempt to the extent they are tax-exempt
Contributions made less than a year before a seizure or bankruptcy filing are not exempt
La. R.S. 13:3881
Life insurance proceeds and cash value
Exempt from the insured’s debts
Cash value above $35,000 is not protected for a policy issued within nine months before a seizure or bankruptcy filing
La. R.S. 22:912
The tools, and what each one does not do
No single entity or trust protects everything. Each tool covers one kind of risk, and claims get through in the gaps between them.
Tool
What it protects against
What it does not do
Separate LLCs, one per property or business line
A claim at one property or business reaching the others
Shield you from your own conduct, or from a debt you personally guaranteed
Entity upkeep: separate leases, bank accounts and records
Arguments that the LLC and its owner are the same
Fix a structure after a claim has arisen
Liability, umbrella, malpractice and D&O insurance
A covered claim, up to the policy limits, including defense costs
Cover excluded claims or amounts above the limits
Spendthrift trusts for your children and family (La. R.S. 9:2007)
A beneficiary’s creditors reaching that beneficiary’s interest
Protect assets you keep for yourself
Trusts governed by Delaware or Nevada law
Assets held for the person who created the trust, under those states’ self-settled trust statutes, which Louisiana does not have
Protect transfers made after a claim; federal bankruptcy law can reach transfers to a self-settled trust made within 10 years with intent to defraud (11 U.S.C. § 548(e))
Titling and matrimonial agreements
Deciding what is community and what is separate property, which sets what one spouse’s creditor can reach (Civil Code art. 2345)
Change ownership after the fact against an existing creditor
Negotiated personal guarantee terms
A guarantee capped in amount or time, or limited to one loan
Undo a guarantee already signed
Moving property into an entity or a trust can also carry gift tax reporting and change the cost basis your heirs receive, and a mortgage or insurance policy may require consent before retitling. Every step is checked against the tax plan. Our pages on trust vs. LLC protection, avoiding veil piercing and entity maintenance go deeper on each piece, and the key concepts of asset protection video series walks through the approach.
Who we work with
The planning changes with the risk. These are the situations we see most:
Physicians and surgeons in Slidell, Metairie and New Orleans, often after a demand letter or a malpractice claim: what exceeds coverage, what is already exempt, and how practice and personal assets are held.
Landlords with rental units in Metairie, Mandeville and across the North Shore: whether a patchwork of LLCs actually separates the properties, and how the entities fit the estate plan.
Business owners in Jefferson Parish and Covington whose lenders want personal guarantees: the guarantee terms, and what sits outside a lender’s reach before the next signature.
Contractors in Kenner and other high-liability trades after a threatened claim: company structure, insurance and the family estate plan, reviewed together.
New Orleans founders offered a board seat: indemnification, D&O coverage, entity structure and trusts.
Owners in LaPlace and the River Parishes whose hurricane-related liabilities exposed how their properties are titled.
Entrepreneurs with several high-liability ventures: one structure across the ventures instead of one entity at a time.
Inventory the exposure. Claims made or threatened, personal guarantees, leases, entity documents and insurance limits.
Map what is already protected. Homestead, retirement accounts and life insurance, under the statutes above.
Restructure. Entities, titling, trusts and insurance, each step checked against any existing claim and against gift tax, income tax and cost basis.
Keep it maintained. Entities and trusts protect only while they are run as separate. After signing, Fountainhead Global, the firm’s family office, handles execution.
Who should you hire for asset protection in Louisiana?
Ask for three things by name.
Board certification. The Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization certifies lawyers in fields including estate planning and administration. It is an independent credential, not a description a lawyer writes about himself.
Graduate tax training. Every transfer into an entity or trust has gift tax, income tax and basis consequences, so look for an LL.M. in Taxation.
One plan, not pieces. One lawyer should review the business, the trusts, the insurance and the estate plan together, and the work should be lawful, prospective planning, not a transfer made after a claim.
Todd M. Villarrubia meets all three. He is Board Certified in Estate Planning & Administration by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, holds an LL.M. in Taxation from Emory University, and reviews the business, the trusts and the insurance strategy together with your estate plan. For a wider view, see who to hire for high-net-worth estate planning in Louisiana.
Can I still protect my assets after a demand letter or a lawsuit?
Not from that claim by moving assets. Under Louisiana Civil Code article 2036, a creditor can annul a transfer made after the creditor’s right arose that causes or increases your insolvency. You can still plan for future claims, as long as each step is checked against the claim you already have.
Does Louisiana allow asset protection trusts?
Louisiana recognizes spendthrift trusts, which protect a beneficiary’s interest from that beneficiary’s creditors. It has no statute that protects a trust you create for your own benefit. Delaware and Nevada do, so some Louisiana residents use a trust governed by one of those states’ laws. Federal bankruptcy law can still reach transfers to such a trust made within 10 years with intent to defraud.
Does an LLC protect my personal assets?
It generally keeps the company’s debts away from your personal assets. It does not protect you from a claim based on your own conduct or from a debt you personally guaranteed. And a creditor of yours can ask a court to charge your LLC interest under La. R.S. 12:1331.
What assets does Louisiana already protect from creditors?
Up to $35,000 in value of an owner-occupied homestead (La. R.S. 20:1), qualified retirement accounts to the extent they are tax-exempt (La. R.S. 13:3881), and life insurance proceeds and cash value (La. R.S. 22:912). Each has limits, such as recent retirement contributions and newly issued policies.
I’ve already signed personal guarantees. Can I still separate my family’s assets from business risk?
Yes, for future risk. The lender is already your creditor on the guaranteed debt, so each step has to be checked against those guarantees. Before your next guarantee, negotiate its scope and cap with your lawyer.
Who should I hire for asset protection in New Orleans?
Look for board certification from the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, an LL.M. in Taxation, and one lawyer who reviews the business, trusts, insurance and estate plan together. Todd M. Villarrubia of Wealth Planning Law Group meets all three.
