Fate can be Fatal, but proper planning can still save you...Asset Protection Case Study

Gaurav was a fairly wealthy man. He had three beautiful adult children, all of whom were married to great partners. He himself had been married to the same women for 35 years. At the age of 57, Rupali, his still young and beautiful wife, had a car accident that disfigured her face so badly that even plastic surgery did very little to restore her once beautiful countenance.

Gaurav and Rupali  were accustomed to a life that included socializing with what I call "the beautiful people." Some of Rupali’s friends were starlets and quite notable individuals. With the disfigurement resulting from the accident, she never seemed to feel comfortable in the same circles. Ruplai went into a deep depression over this and her Dr. put her on prescription medications for anxiety.

Unfortunately, her withdrawal from the social circles left her home with her feelings and she started turning to alcohol and eventually narcotics as an escape. She started herself in a cycle of being up and down, depending on how much of what substance she had in her. The only time she ventured out of the home was to make a trip to the drive-thru liquor store or to see her "dealer." This was devastating to Gaurav. He couldn't comfort her and she was spinning out of control.

Soon came another car accident - Rupali was inebriated, at fault, and she caused injuries to the other parties. With a DUIA charge under her belt, Gaurav, fearing that the worst was yet to come, set up an asset protection plan making their three children equal beneficiaries.

About eight months passed, Rupali had sought help for her substance abuse and was attending meetings and had been sober for almost six months. Even though her license had been suspended due to accident number two, she still drove to her meetings occasionally, whenever Gaurav or a friend couldn't drive her.

She still struggled with depression but was making what "seemed" like progress. Until one night on her way to a meeting, she decided instead to stop and get a single wine cooler. Tragically, this led to a four-hour relapse and ended in a third automobile accident and the bills soared, as well as the legal fees for her defense and the lawsuits from the victims and their insurance companies.

This story doesn't get any better.

Three months later, Gaurav left town on a business trip and Rupali, so deep in her guilt, shame, depression and loneliness, spent the next four days on a cocaine binge which ended in a cardiac arrest. Gaurav returned from his trip to find his once lovely wife sprawled out on the floor, drugs and paraphernalia scattered about their home.

Suspecting foul play, Gaurav immediately called the paramedics…but it was far too late. Once they pronounced Rupali dead, Gaurav called his oldest son to break the news. The next five hours or so must have been very difficult with the police swarming his home gathering evidence.

Sixteen hours later, when the first of his three children arrived at the house, Gaurav was also dead…his son found him in his study…with an empty bottle of his wife's prescription Klonopin, a half bottle of Kelt Petra "Tour du Monde" on the table in front of him and in his lap…a picture of him and Rupali on their 25th wedding anniversary trip.

This story made the local news and the media had a heyday with it… but none of the judgment creditors were able to access any of Gaurav’s wealth, nobody except his children, because he had set up an ironclad asset protection plan.

Summarising..
This is a story that is so tragic that it's hard to say there were any winners. This story does show the frailty and unpredictability of life. The ONLY positive thing here is that the children weren't further tortured by a long and arduous probate period or watching their parents estate be gobbled up by greedy litigants. The painful loss of both parents was excruciating enough for them.