Asset Protection:

Mr. Oshins: A beneficiary controlled trust is a trust in which the primary beneficiary is either the sole trustee or a co-trustee, and in either case has the ability to remove and replace the trustees. The trust agreement also includes provisions opting out of the prudent person or prudent man standard so that the primary beneficiary, as trustee, can invest in anything he or she desires just as such individual would be able to do with outright ownership. The primary beneficiary is also given a broad non-general power of appointment that can eliminate any potential interference by remote beneficiaries since a complaining remote beneficiary can be cut out by the primary beneficiary entirely.

from: ASSET PROTECTION AND THE SPENDTHRIFT TRUST

Richard Oshins could be called the father of the Beneficiary Controlled Trust. I believe Stephen is his son, but I’m not positive.

Anyone interested in asset protection should read what they have to say. If you would like to learn the basics first, check out my articles:

Beneficiary Controlled Trust Fact Sheet

and

Asset Protection From the Beneficiary Controlled Trust Up

===

Charles Lamm is a retired attorney and owner of Trustee and RA Services, Inc., in Coral Springs, Florida. He is now a legal/technology consultant for Accessible Communication for the Deaf.

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Mar

16

To Republishers of Slip Knots

Filed Under Asset Protection, Assets, Beneficiary Controlled Trusts, Corporations, Divorce, Gay Marriage, Lesbian Marriage, Limited Liability Companies, Marriage, Plural Marriage, Post Nuptial Agreements, Prenuptial Agreement, Trusts | Leave a Comment

I received an email from Matt Fondel claiming a trademark to the term “Relationship LLC”. The mark exists.

I don’t believe my use of the term in the context of my article violates trademark law, and it certainly caused no damages. However, to be on the safe side, I did take any reference to “Relationship LLC” out of the article and reposted it on my blog:

corp-llc-bct.com/2008/03/16/slip-knots-alternatives-to-marriage/

While I was writing in a generic sense of the term relationship LLC, and do not sell any product or service by that name, I have removed the term from articles I posted on my blogs and in article banks.

If you could remove “Relationship LLC” from the title on your site, I would appreciate it.

If you choose to remove the article itself, I understand.

My business is trusts. I do not set up or form LLCs for others. For whatever reason, I hit on a hot topic that was picked up by hundreds of republishers. Maybe I should be in this business, but I am not.

I am sorry for any inconvenience. If any good came out of this, I at least got to visit your site, and I appreciate you republishing the article.

Thank you.

Charles Lamm
caketrust@gmail.com
www.corp-llc-bct.com

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Mar

16

Slip Knots - Alternatives to Marriage

Filed Under Asset Protection, Assets, Beneficiary Controlled Trusts, Corporations, Divorce, Gay Marriage, Lesbian Marriage, Marriage, Plural Marriage, Post Nuptial Agreements, Prenuptial Agreement, Trusts | 1 Comment

You don’t have to be gay to understand the frustration committed same-sex partners have with not being able to be recognized as a legal couple through marriage.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. You might get it.

First, in legal terms, marriage is an unconscionable contract. Over 50% now end in divorce. The split up rate for gay and lesbian partners is even higher. If less than half work out, why do we need marriage at all?

The marriage contract is a three-party contract - husband, wife, and state. The state holds all the cards. The state determines who can and cannot marry, and decides if and under what terms the marriage can be dissolved.

What I suggest for couples or groups who cannot legally marry is to construct their own relationships using LLCs to define those relationships according to their own desires. An LLC cannot be set up to circumvent state laws or to legitimize an illegal sexual arrangement, but many other aspects of traditional marriage such as joint ownership of property and health insurance can be addressed quite nicely by the LLC.

For example, if the LLC provides health coverage for the members, and the relationship breaks up, the LLC will continue to insure the individual members. When a divorce takes place, if the insurance was in one spouse’s name at work, the ex-spouse will likely lose their insurance.

Joint property via an LLC is an even better proposition. Membership can be apportioned according to the contributions each made to the LLC. If the relationship dissolves, you still retain your ownership percentage through the LLC instead of having a family court judge divide the property according to how the court wants to apportion it.

An LLC lets you control the “divorce”, and works better than a prenuptial or post nuptial agreement, which can be modified or ignored by the court.

Prenuptial agreements are flawed in regard to children. For traditional couples, a prenuptial cannot contract away the rights of the unborn. The one thing all states will do is bend the divorce decree to favor the payment of child support, no matter what the financial situation of the parents. The state, quite simply, does not want to pick up the welfare tab for your failed marriage.

An LLC can include children as members. Children can have their own say in family/LLC affairs. Assets such as the family home can remain in the LLC and survive the breakup of the marriage.

And finally, husbands and wives destroy each other’s credit all the time. Members in an LLC are treated like partners for tax purposes, and their percentages of the profits pass through to their individual tax returns, while members retain the limited liability protection of a corporation.

Members of the LLC are not individually liable for the debts of the LLC, and they are not liable for the debts of other members. One LLC member cannot ruin the credit of another, as husband and wife can.

For gay and lesbian couples, plural “marriages”, and other unconventional relationships, keep the state out of your affairs with a Limited Liability Company. Instead of tying the knot, use a slip knot to have the relationship you desire, plus the ability to change that relationship without the permission of the nanny state.

===

Charles Lamm is a retired attorney who owns Trustee and RA Services Inc. in Coral Springs, Florida. He recommends asset protection for all using a no-asset corporation, LLC, and beneficiary controlled trust. Read more at: www.corp-llc-bct.com.

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Mar

16

More on the Slip Knots Hassle

Filed Under Asset Protection, Assets, Beneficiary Controlled Trusts, Corporations, Gay Marriage, Lesbian Marriage, Limited Liability Companies, Marriage, Plural Marriage, Prenuptial Agreement, Trusts | Leave a Comment

I looked up “Relationship LLC” on TESS, the trademarks database. Here is what I found:

===

Typed Drawing

Word Mark	RELATIONSHIP LLC
Goods and Services	IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: brochures and newsletters concerned with filing formation papers for and managing limited liability companies. FIRST USE: 19960819. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960819IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: business consultation services, namely, providing business information on the subject of limited liability companies and issues of interest to couples and family units who have formed limited liability companies, by means of an on-line computer. FIRST USE: 19960819. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960819
Mark Drawing Code	(1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number	75194495
Filing Date	November 7, 1996
Current Filing Basis	1A
Original Filing Basis	1A
Published for Opposition	July 21, 1998
Registration Number	2194661
Registration Date	October 13, 1998
Owner	(REGISTRANT) Relationship, L.L.C. LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE c/o Matt Fondel P.O. Box 6846 New York NEW YORK 10150
Disclaimer	NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “LLC” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark	TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text	SECT 8 (6-YR).
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

===

Matt does have a service mark for “Relationship LLC”.

I am happy to take it out of my article title, and I ask anyone who may have republished the article to do the same.

I would hate to inadvertantly publicize a service he provides, and claims the name of, even though I do not provide any such service myself.

He asked me to remove the name from the articles. No problem. But it did get me researching service marks again.

From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office FAQ:

“What is a service mark?

A service mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services.”

Since I don’t provide this service or product, it’s probably not a violation, unless it is confusing to the public. I doubt much of the community knows this service exists. But just to be safe, I am removing it.

Again, if you reprinted my article, please remove his phrase from the article title and a slightly different version near the end.

I don’t know about you, but I think if he had asked me for a link to his site, it would have been better for him. To each his own.

“REMOVE THE TRADEMARKED PHRASE “RELATIONSHIP LLC” FROM THE TITLEs

AND URLS OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY YOU.

Remove the trademarked phrase "Relationship LLC" from the titles
and urls of articles published by you at
http://corp-llc-bct.com/,
http://corp-llc-bct.com/2008/02/19/slip-knots-the-relationship-llc/,
ezinearticles.com and all other places where you have used the"
phrase."

Happy to.

Charles Lamm

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Oshins and the Beneficiary Controlled Trust

Mar

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To Republishers of Slip Knots

Mar

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Slip Knots - Alternatives to Marriage

Mar

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More on the Slip Knots Hassle