Asset Protection
The time to protect your assets is before anyone has a claim against them. We help Pacific Northwest families, professionals, and business owners put legitimate structures in place ahead of trouble, exemptions, entities, and trusts, so a future lawsuit or judgment can't reach everything you've built.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
3
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Asset protection lawyers for Bellevue and Seattle families and business owners
Oseran Hahn helps clients shield what they've earned from the lawsuits, judgments, and creditor claims that no one sees coming. Good asset protection is built early and out in the open: it starts with the exemptions Washington law already gives you, adds business entities that wall off liability, and, where it fits, uses trusts that put assets beyond a future creditor's reach. It has to be done before a claim arises, not after, and it has to coordinate with your estate plan and your insurance. We build protection that is strong because it is legitimate.
Asset protection works in layers, and the strongest plans are built before there's ever a claim. We start with the exemptions Washington and federal law already give you, the homestead, retirement accounts, and more. We use LLCs and limited partnerships to wall off liability and add charging-order protection. We weigh domestic and offshore asset-protection trusts for assets that need more. We stay on the right side of the fraudulent-transfer rules. And we coordinate the whole plan with your insurance, your estate plan, and your family agreements.
Exemption planning and the Washington homestead
Before you build anything, some of your assets are already protected, and the first step is to use those protections fully. Washington's homestead exemption (RCW 6.13) shields equity in your home automatically, now tied to county median home prices rather than a flat figure, and a set of personal-property exemptions (RCW 6.15) covers other essentials. Retirement accounts carry strong protection of their own, ERISA plans under federal law and IRAs by statute, and life insurance and annuities have their own Washington exemption (RCW 48.18.430). Because Washington is a community property state, which spouse owns an asset and whether a debt is community or separate (RCW 26.16) can decide whether a creditor reaches it at all. We map what's already safe before recommending anything more.
Business entities and charging-order protection
For business owners and investors, the entity is the workhorse of asset protection. A properly formed and properly run LLC or limited partnership separates business liabilities from your personal assets (RCW 25.15.061), and it works the other way too: when a creditor comes after you personally, a charging order is generally their only remedy against your interest in a multi-member LLC (RCW 25.15.256), which keeps them from seizing the company itself. We separate operating businesses from the real estate and other valuable assets they use, structure holding entities where it makes sense, and keep the formalities tight, because an entity that's ignored is an entity a court will look straight through.
Asset-protection trusts, domestic and offshore
When exemptions and entities aren't enough, an irrevocable trust can put assets beyond the reach of a future creditor. Washington hasn't enacted a self-settled asset-protection-trust statute, so clients who want to protect their own assets in trust generally use a domestic trust in a state that allows them (Alaska, Nevada, Delaware, and others) or an offshore jurisdiction like the Cook Islands or Nevis. Protecting what you leave your children is more straightforward: a third-party trust with a spendthrift provision (RCW 11.98.070) keeps an inheritance safe from your beneficiary's creditors, divorces, and lawsuits. We tell you honestly which of these fits, and which are oversold.
Staying on the right side of the fraudulent-transfer line
This is the rule that decides whether any of it works: asset protection has to happen before a claim exists, not after. Moving assets to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor is a voidable transfer under Washington's Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (RCW 19.40), and courts unwind those transfers, looking at timing and a list of telltale 'badges of fraud.' A plan built years ahead, for legitimate reasons, holds up. A scramble after the lawsuit arrives does not, and it can make things worse. We won't help anyone move assets out of reach of a known or threatened claim, and we document the legitimate purpose behind the planning we do.
Coordinating protection with insurance, your estate plan, and family agreements
Asset protection is a set of layers, not a single document, and the first layer is usually the simplest: adequate liability, umbrella, and professional coverage, so insurance absorbs the claim before your assets are ever in question. From there we coordinate the entities and trusts with the estate plan you already have, so protecting an asset doesn't quietly break your dispositive plan or your tax planning. We use prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and community property agreements (RCW 26.16.120) to characterize what's separate and what's shared, and we protect the inheritances you leave behind by routing them through trusts rather than handing them over outright.
Sixty years of Pacific Northwest planning, and the candor to tell you what asset protection can and can't do. We build the layers that actually hold, early, legitimate, and coordinated with the rest of your plan, instead of the aggressive structures that collapse the moment they're tested.
Protection only works if it's early.
The single biggest factor is timing. A plan built before a claim exists holds up; one built after rarely does. We help you put protection in place while it's still a planning decision, not a reaction.
We'd rather be honest than aggressive.
Some asset-protection structures are oversold and crumble under scrutiny. We tell you which tools fit your real exposure and which are marketing, so you don't pay for a false sense of security.
One plan, not competing ones.
Protection that ignores your estate plan, your taxes, or your marriage creates new problems while solving one. We coordinate every layer so the pieces work together instead of against each other.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Isn't asset protection just hiding money from people you owe?
No, and that's the line that matters. Legitimate asset protection is planning you do before any claim exists, using exemptions, entities, and trusts the law provides. Hiding assets from a creditor who already has a claim is a fraudulent transfer, and courts unwind it. We do the first and won't do the second. The difference is almost entirely about timing and intent.
When is it too late to protect my assets?
Once a claim exists, or is clearly coming, the window has mostly closed. Transfers made to dodge a known or threatened creditor are voidable under Washington law, and trying can make your position worse. That's why this is planning you do when the skies are clear, years before you ever need it. The best time is before there's any reason to think you'll be sued.
Does putting my house in an LLC protect it?
Usually not your home, and sometimes it backfires. Your primary residence is already protected by Washington's homestead exemption, and moving it into an LLC can cost you that protection plus tax benefits. LLCs are powerful for rental and business real estate, not for the house you live in. We match the right tool to each asset rather than forcing everything into an entity.
Do I need an offshore trust?
Most people don't. Offshore asset-protection trusts are real tools for a narrow set of high-exposure clients, but they're expensive, complex, and oversold. For most families, fully using exemptions, the right entities, adequate insurance, and a domestic trust accomplishes the goal at a fraction of the cost and complexity. We'll tell you honestly if your situation is one of the few that warrants going offshore.
Can asset protection also protect what I leave my kids?
Yes, and this is one of the most effective and least controversial parts of it. Leaving an inheritance in a trust with a spendthrift provision, rather than outright, keeps it out of reach of your child's future creditors, lawsuits, and divorce. The money is there for them, but it isn't exposed the way an outright gift would be. We build this into the estate plan as a matter of course.
When should I talk to a lawyer about asset protection?
Before you need it. The right moments are when you start a business, buy investment real estate, enter a high-liability profession, build significant wealth, or marry. Once a lawsuit or creditor is on the horizon, your options shrink fast. If your net worth or your exposure has grown and your protection hasn't kept up, that's the moment to plan, while it's still a choice.
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Legitimate, early asset-protection planning for Pacific Northwest families, professionals, and business owners.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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