Lesson #1 Checklist Starting at the Beginning ***This condensed version of the main lesson is for review purposes only. For an in-depth explanation of each of the items listed here, please refer to the main PDF file or the MP3 audio version. Millions of Americans deserve a second chance. If done right, they will be financially secure for the rest of their lives. In this first lesson, we re going to talk about: what actions you need to take to assure your home is protected from unscrupulous money grabbers and frivolous lawsuits. In this first lesson, we re going to talk about: exactly what a trust is and the major differences between the two basic types. You will learn what perils might be ahead for you if you don't take action now to protect what you have and what you will have in the future. We'll be making some important decisions with the information from this first lesson. You'll be learning the difference between owning your
For some, this concept is difficult to understand but the rich use it all the time business versus retaining full control of it although it is technically owned by a Fresh Start Trust. There are a lot of different types of trusts established for many different reasons. You need to know specifically why a Fresh Start Trust is designed the way it is if you want to fully protect your business and other assets. There are five important parts to any trust. When you finish this first lesson, you will know the differences. Once you have that information you'll understand other important concepts that go into creating your own Fresh Start Trust. What you will learn is not based on legal theory. Asset protection has been around for centuries. The rich use it all of the time so that they are not sued. These concepts have been tested in many court cases and by putting your Fresh Start Trust together following the step-by-step directions you'll be given, yours will stand up in court if need be. You'll be ready to start planning your future as soon as you finish this first eclass By the end of this very first lesson on Fresh Start Trusts, you will have the tools and knowledge you need to take immediate action. You won't need to wait to complete the entire ecourse. After this first lesson, you'll sleep better knowing you no longer need to worry about putting a bunch of hard work into a new business just to lose it in a lawsuit. 2
When it comes to trusts, one size does not fit all You will need to share what you learn with an attorney specialized in setting up trusts THIS eclass OBJECTIVE - Over the entire ecourse you'll be learning everything you need to know about protecting all of your assets. Both personal and business related. Al lot of people are familiar with the concept of using trusts to protect assets but very few understant the important aspects of trusts that actually accomplish this. If the trust is not created correctly it will not accomplish its primary objective of protecting your assets. A court will simply declare the trust dissolvable to allow creditors access to the assets. Correctly structuring your Fresh Start Trust is the primary objective of this ecourse. Throughout the modules, you will be given detailed instructions about exactly what you need to do to accomplish this important task. There will be variations depending on the laws in your state. You will use the concepts and instructions from this ecourse to work with an attorney that specializes in the trust law of your particular state. The specific objective of this first module is to make you familiar with the two primary differences in trusts. The Fresh Start Trust is an irrevocable trust. That is critical to asset protection. By the end of this module you will understand the primary elements of an irrevocable trust and the roles each one plays. 3
By the end of your first eclass, you will be prepared to begin taking immediate action. Specifically, you ll have the following things in place You will establish a business owned not by you but by a Fresh Start Trust Knowledge of why you want to take all the equity in your business out of your name. Each of the five important elements that go into a Fresh Start Trust and the important role each of them has. Grantor Intention of the grantor (Trust document) Trustee Beneficiary Trust subject matter The big difference between revocable and irrevocable trusts and why making the Fresh Start Trust irrevocable makes all the difference from revocable trusts that offer no protection from lawsuits. What the big lenders are doing behind the scenes that could be disastrous for you if your business becomes successful and you don't have asset protection in place. The knowledge and tools you need to become an immediate action taker and be rewarded for being proactive. 4
Some will tell you that you need an off- shore trust but you don't Major assets are always vulnerable to lawsuits. A great deal of free information about asset protection planning can be found on the internet. Most of it is simply wrong. Exactly What a Trust Is We hear the word Trust quite often in reference to protecting assets and minimizing taxes, but what is a trust exactly and how is it legally structured? Keep in mind that we are speaking in general terms here because of the many variations in trusts, state laws, and how different courts view them. General Description of a Trust There are four primary players or elements to a trust. They are: The Grantor The Trustee The Beneficiary The Trust Subject Matter Although you will benefit from the trust, you and it are legally separate The trust is a legal and separate entity from all the others. Some people find it easier to understand this concept by thinking of the trust as an "artificial person". 5
People set up trusts for a variety of reasons. The three main reasons are to avoid an inheritance estate from having to go through probate, to minimize taxes, and to protect assets. The Fresh Start Trust ecourse primarily deals with asset protection although it also touches on estate planning and taxes where appropriate. You will not be the Grantor that is key to asset protection A trust is essentially a contract between the Grantor (sometimes called a settlor) and beneficiary that is administered by the trustee. The grantor initiates the trust by drawing up the contract and placing specific assets inside the trust. The contract is known as the "Trust Document" or "trust agreement". It specifies the who, what, where, when, why, and other conditions and terms for managing the assets. As you can see, there is enormous variation between individual trusts. This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all concept. The Trustee is an individual or law firm (many states allow it to be any competent adult) that the grantor entrusts the assets to. The trustee must follow the instructions established in the trust document. Generally, the trustee is obligated to manage the assets in the best interest of the beneficiaries. State statutes may or may not address the duties of the trustee. However, most of the law covering trustee's requirements is found in state case law or court opinions. 6
In many cases it is the grantor and their family but not in the Fresh Start Trust The Beneficiaries are the people or thing that the trustee administers the contract for the benefit of. There are no restrictions on who the beneficiary is. It can be the grantor or their children, spouse, grandchildren or a charitable organization or a university. The beneficiaries are the people that the trust distributes assets to (usually money) according to the trust document. The Trust Subject Matter. This is the asset the grantor places into the trust. It can be anything of value. Often it is money or stocks and bonds. But it doesn't have to be. It can be a valuable stamp collection or an operating business. It can change over time as the trustee follows the instructions in the trust document. Money in the trust can be invested in an operating business as an example. That is the model the Fresh Start Trust uses. The grantor places seed capital into the trust and the trustee is instructed to use the capital to create an operating business. The size of the business is irrelevant. It can be a small start up with a single 7
employee or it can be a huge investment with hundreds of employees. We'll go into that later. As you can see, the grantor and the trust document control what can and cannot be done with the assets within the trust. This gives the grantor great flexibility in what they dictate to the trustee. Some trusts are revocable and others are not. The Fresh Start Trust is an irrevocable trust. You can also do estate and tax planning with an irrevocable trust Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts A revocable trust is associated with what many people know as a living trust. This is done for estate planning and tax purposes. It offers no asset protection at all. What makes a trust irrevocable is that changes cannot be made once the grantor signs the trust documents and places the title to assets inside the trust. Ownership of any assets placed in the trust will remain with the trust until they are distributed according to the trust document. And the assets have to be distributed to the beneficiaries. That's were you come in. You can be the sole 8
This is the main objective of the Fresh Start Trust Fresh Start Trust beneficiary or you can have multiple beneficiaries to include your spouse and children or whomever you want. Asset Protection The concept behind an irrevocable trust is one put forward by the Rockefeller family for generations. Asset protection is accomplished when you "Own Nothing But Control Everything". Joe Q. and Josephine Q. Public want to own lots of valuable assets. That sets them up for all kinds of lawsuits when they have deep pockets. The rich know that controlling lots of assets that they benefit from is a much safer way to go. The world is transparent today. Almost anyone can learn what anyone else owns if it's of any real value like real estate or an operating business. If you own real estate in your name, I could more than likely gather a bunch of information about it without getting out of the chair in front of my computer. All I probably have to do is go to the website of your county recorder where I can look up your real estate records. At that site, I can learn how much real estate you own and get a good idea what it's worth from the assessed value. I can also see how long you have owned it, which gives me a good idea of how much equity you have in it. It's that simple in today's world. 9
These are very good reasons for setting up your Fresh Start Trust Same thing for any business you own in your name. Businesses are typically licensed by the state and local governments. I can go to their websites to look up information about your business if it is registered in your name. It really is a transparent world. Once I know that you have lots of assets, I can decide to sue you. Or if you already have creditors that you owe, they can use the same time saving techniques to get a quick picture of your worth. Then they will hire a private investigator to dig deep and really find out what you are worth. Really scary stuff so why take any chance of ending up there when you don't need to. If you don't own the assets they can't try to take them away for you. The truly rich use laws to protect their assets. They use Trusts and Limited Liability Companies and Corporations that they control and profit from to own their assets. These laws apply to everyone, not just the rich. 10
Here is a big advantage of having a Fresh Start Trust Trusts are a great way to protect assets. These are not public records. No website where creditors or ambulance chasers can go look at what assets you are protecting inside an irrevocable trust. The irrevocable trust documents are kept secure in an attorney's office. You'll probably want to keep your copy in a safe or safe deposit box. Instruct the trustee to do the same. The rich do it this way to control frivolous and real lawsuits. When the assets are owned by the trust, they can't be taken away by a court. Own Nothing but Control Everything! Concept of the Fresh Start Trust Okay, let's tie all of the information from this first lesson together. At the beginning of the lesson, we documented how millions and tens of millions of people have been financially ruined, 11
If this happened to you, you can stop it from ever happening again And you can protect yourself if you are still vulnerable to creditors often through no fault of their own. They were laid off, had their house foreclosed, and to rub salt in the wounds, the banks and other lenders are threatening to sue them. They probably would sue but these people don't have anything to go after even if the big lenders win the lawsuit. The lenders are smart people, they must be, they earn $10 million bonuses every year even when their company is on the verge of bankruptcy. They know that most of the people that owe them money don't have any right now. They also know these same hardworking Americans will soon be pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Soon they will buy a home again. Some of the unemployed will decide to start their own business. Some of these people will make it big time. They could easily start earning six and even seven figure incomes by owning and running their own business. I hope one of them is you. But watch out. These multi-million dollar executives are waiting for exactly that to happen. These cold-hearted bankers will wait until there is something to go after before filing a lawsuit to recover deficiencies from foreclosures and short sales. People with tens of thousands in credit card debt they thought the lenders wrote off will start getting calls from collection agencies again threatening to take them to court to snatch the few assets they've been able to build up 12
again. I don't want that to be you. I have a better idea that I want to share with you. It's the Fresh Start Trust. Over the next several lessons, I will share with you how the rich protect their assets. Now that, you understand how an irrevocable trust works, you will be shown step-by-step how to set one up that will protect a business that you work for but the Fresh Start Trust actually owns. You will control everything. You will be the beneficiary of your Fresh Start Trust. Besides your business, you can control and protect a home and other valuable assets inside your Fresh Start Trust. You Will Have Your Fresh Start and Your Old Creditors Won't Be Able to Ruin It For You! Your Assignment for This Module Read and familiarize yourself with the additional materials provided with this module. There is important information in those documents that you will want to know before starting your own business. Begin today to think about what type of business you will want to start based on what you believe a close relative will grant to your Fresh Start Trust. Send any questions or comments about the material to: support@getrapidhelp.com Richard Geller Publisher, Fresh Start Trust 13
P.S. Be sure to review all of the materials that are included with this curriculum package. You should have received three other files: 1. Fresh Start Trust Module 1 Start at the Beginning 2. Fresh Start Trust Module 1 What You Need to Know About Protecting Your Intellectual Property 3. Fresh Start Trust Module 1 Avoid Being Sued as a Small Business 14