Being Sued… Going after what you’ve built
I messed up, now I am being sued
Certain occupations and professions inherently attract a greater likelihood of being litigated against. There are no shortage of stories of physicians being sued for mal-practice or a construction company failing to inspect equipment, materials, design or worker safety only to have a building or structure fail leading to catastrophic events. Unfortunately, there are also individuals looking to capitalize from minor oversights with no imparted physical or financial damage done unto them. Creditors and predators alike will often make a claim towards a small business owner’s general liability insurance, mal-practice insurance and/or personal or corporate owned assets.
Your liability insurance may
not be enough or worse – may
not cover you at all
There can be occasions where your general liability or mal-practice carrier may not cover certain scenarios or perhaps provide only partial coverage for litigation. In these cases, the claimant’s defence team may or may not recover losses via personally owned assets such as: your principal residence, recreational property, your TFSA’s, investments, savings, material assets and including corporate owned investments.
Wrapping your assets in
creditor proof Kevlar
To protect what you have spent all your life building requires the assistance of legal experts who can assess whether certain corporate structures (ie. trusts, holding companies, etc) may offer additional protection or not. Often choosing or diversifying assets into vehicles which have strong, reinforced government acts can provide additional protection against creditors. Investments like Segregated Funds and Life Insurance (including those with cash values) offer creditor protection. Coupling these tools with the consultation of legal experts can ensure you’ve built a moat and surrounding stone wall around your lifetime’s work. To ignore this possibility is to take a chance with the courts deciding your fate.
Alberta, British Columbia & Nova Scotia