Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search Products
Filter by Categories
B-BBEE
Blog
Company Secretarial
Featured
General Business
General Interest
Investing in Property
Marketing
Personal Growth
Personal Wealth
Tax
Trusts and Estate Planning
Uncategorized

I often get asked “If assets are owned by my company, are they protected from my creditors?”. The answer is usually no. Why?

If you own the shares in the company, then the shares are assets in your name which can be attacked by your creditors. If they get your shares, they get the assets. So no protection there.

If, on the other hand, you own shares in two companies, the creditors of the one company cannot attack the assets of the other company simply because you’re the shareholder of both. The “Limited” in (Pty) Ltd means that the shareholder’s risk is that of losing his investment in the shares of the company. Creditors of a company cannot go after the shareholder.  They can, of course, go after anyone who has signed surety for the debt.

So, how to protect assets? They must be owned by a living trust or, if they are income earning assets, by a company which is, in turn, owned by a trust.

You do not own trust assets, so they cannot be attached by your creditors.

 

0 comments

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Looking for even more informative content? Check out the books I have written which have proved to be very popular.

Need help with your Trust or Business?

Contact us today or set up a free meeting with our CEO, Derek Springett. We have been offering expert advice and business services since 1971. You can also view see our full list of services.

Do you want to leave your cart?

Your cart is awaiting your next purchase, so please proceed to the Home page and continue shopping. If you are leaving your cart because of problems, why not give us a call on our 24 hr numbers 063 866 8928 or 011 805 0030 (subject to load shedding)? If all else fails, call Derek, our CEO on 082 552 9696. We’ll do what we can to help