On April 23, 2014 Mississippi became the 15th state to allow for the creation of a “self-settled asset protection trust”.  This new legislation was effective July 1, 2014 and allows the grantor of the trust to transfer assets into trust to protect them against future creditors.  This trust is often referred to as a Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT) and is not available to protect assets from current creditor claims, but can be a very valuable planning tool to protect the assets from future creditors while still allowing the grantor to be the primary beneficiary of the trust.  This could be the perfect planning tool for individuals with high net worth, those who face a greater risk of personal lawsuits due to the nature of their business, or just for gaining some extra peace of mind by creating a barrier to potential creditors.   Please call your JMF tax professional today if you would like some more information or if you think a DAPT may be a good option for you.

Here is the link to the MS Society of CPA’s newsletter article.

http://www.ms-cpa.org/upload/file1831_MSCPAJuly2014Newsletter.pdf