if you grow...should you put your assets in a trust?

[litebuzz]

Hi Folks!

I was just wondering if there are any legal minded folks that know the answer to that question....does a trust protect your assets when growing?

A guy in the next town just got busted for growing 47 plants on his property and the DEA has seized his assets...froze bank accounts.
That is so fukin ridiculous I know, but I was just wondering if it would behoove growers to put their assets in a trust. Perhaps it doesn't even matter but I really don't feel like losing everything I own for some plants...if I could protect myself better that would be great....not that I'd grow 47 plants.

Anybody have any thoughts on the subject? TIA!

 

[river rat01]

hell, register all your plants and equipment under the trust too, then they cant touch them.
be cool if we could find a loophole like that.
no way its that simple.

 

[Trichromedout]

Stash cash off site.

 

[Hydrosun]

Hi Folks!

I was just wondering if there are any legal minded folks that know the answer to that question....does a trust protect your assets when growing?

A guy in the next town just got busted for growing 47 plants on his property and the DEA has seized his assets...froze bank accounts.
That is so fukin ridiculous I know, but I was just wondering if it would behoove growers to put their assets in a trust. Perhaps it doesn't even matter but I really don't feel like losing everything I own for some plants...if I could protect myself better that would be great....not that I'd grow 47 plants.

Anybody have any thoughts on the subject? TIA!

Yes it would help tremendously. They would have to claim and prove a fraudulent conveyance, the real rub is most of us have mtgs greater than asset value at this point in time, but they can't take assets of a trust with out a finding of wrong doing, unlike their BS unconstitutional takings that happen every day.

 

[krunchbubble]

Stash cash off site.

this....

and make sure you have nothing paid off. they will not go after your property, vehicles if they are not paid off. this is from experience......

 

[rickroller]

cash wins and always have a backup location of cash common fucking sense folks.

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

Safety deposit box under a friends name works wonders.

 

[headiez247]

Trust will do nothing for you if your found guilty, will just take them more time to seize it at first, and they will get around it.

Your best bet is to have it in cash, off site, with someone you trust or underground, don't have any assets fully paid off (even that isn't in concrete)

 

[litebuzz]

thanks for the replies....yeah we have retirements, quite a chunk in the bank and a mortgage. I don't like debt so unfortunately or fortunately(in my eyes) we have little debt...well except for a mortgage. It's not like I sell or anything so I don't have rolls of 100dollar bills but of course I do have a few grand kickin around. Gonna be buying another property(paying cash) soon and just thought perhaps we should put that in a trust. I was really bummed out to learn about that guy...nice family, certainly don't deserve to forfeit their assets. fuking DEA...can't stand these assholes! of course they waited right til harvest time(and it was a perfect growing summer) almost wish I had grown some this summer, then I hear about something like this and I'm glad I didn't. I think someone rolled on him....bummer for them! Our state has one of the worst penalties.

 

[statusquo]

If I were growing large, I would like to have my assets in tangible/concrete things like property, material goods or gold. I don't say cash just because, independently of the issue at hand, I think that, although concrete and tangible, cash has no inherent value. As the feds keep printing and borrowing, the already inherently worthless paper will continue to lose it's value within the economy. It's an arbitrary piece of paper that represents literally nothing; I mean at least back in the day cash was merely a placeholder (aka backed up by) for something with inherent value like gold. So...tangible things with concrete value off location and under someone else's name with no evidence of your connection to the things or the person who's name it's under.

 

[praisehim.]

live like a college student, go to vegas when you wanna "ball out". get a safety deposit box and stash that shit, even though ur not supposed too, but whos watching ? : )

edit: and NO assets. ever. not while growing...

 

[mrpotatohead]

Keep just enough cash in the house for day to day expences, any other cash or assets ( I agree on gold being a safe bet) at a separate location or VERY well hidden spot on your property. Never own an expensive/car!!! I have a fleet of ten year old cars so when one tears up, I have another one ready to go. Be smart!

 

[fishheadbob]

A lot of trusts are set up to shield assets from Medicaid and nursing home expenses, as well as prevent losses if sued. It's a tricky legal issue with most lawyers referring you to specialists in that field rather than trying to figure it out themselves. Mix in your fear of the DEA and you've got a serious legal question. I don't know how many drug lawyers are also good with trusts and estates, it's certainly a different combination. If you're going into growing on anything other than a personal size maybe you want to start with a drug lawyer (free consultation ? Probably not) and see if you can't get a recommendation towards a trust atty with familiarity with your rather unique circumstances.
Since I became affluent - thanks dad - I stopped commercial growing just doing a few hydro plants at a time, hopefully small enough to keep the coppers from bothering if they ever found out. I have too much to lose. Thinking about it, if you were planning on just growing for personal use, the legal fees might be more than what you would pay for weed maybe.

 

[GMT]

If the funds that created the trust were gained illegally, or rather, could't be proved to have been gained legally, then the trust can be removed from the general protections that would otherwise exist. There are far easier options. Such as registering an offshore company in a country that will not co-operate with the officials of your country of origin. And having a bank account in that country to handle the assets of that company. You would have to pay an anual fee for taxation, (typically $400 per year) and an admin fee of around the same. So it all comes down to how much you are making compared to how much it will cost and the duration of protection that you are looking for. If you choose to go that route, the its pretty easy, the hard part is getting the cash into that bank account in the first place. You would normally have to deposit it through a local bank and the transfer it across, Which may draw attention to you in itself. You would need to be seen to be employed by the business and responsible for banking the money generated by its local business activities. Then if you came under the spot light, and the shit hit the fan, only what you are in possession of personally can be removed from your possession. The assets of the company that you own and work for would be separate to your assets, unknowable to anyone else interested, and protected by foreign laws anyway.

Just to be clear, I am not advising that anyone does this for illegal purposes, just as a theoretical discussion it is the solution to the riddle posed.

 

[zenoonez]

If the funds that created the trust were gained illegally, or rather, could't be proved to have been gained legally, then the trust can be removed from the general protections that would otherwise exist. There are far easier options. Such as registering an offshore company in a country that will not co-operate with the officials of your country of origin. And having a bank account in that country to handle the assets of that company. You would have to pay an anual fee for taxation, (typically $400 per year) and an admin fee of around the same. So it all comes down to how much you are making compared to how much it will cost and the duration of protection that you are looking for. If you choose to go that route, the its pretty easy, the hard part is getting the cash into that bank account in the first place. You would normally have to deposit it through a local bank and the transfer it across, Which may draw attention to you in itself. You would need to be seen to be employed by the business and responsible for banking the money generated by its local business activities. Then if you came under the spot light, and the shit hit the fan, only what you are in possession of personally can be removed from your possession. The assets of the company that you own and work for would be separate to your assets, unknowable to anyone else interested, and protected by foreign laws anyway.

Just to be clear, I am not advising that anyone does this for illegal purposes, just as a theoretical discussion it is the solution to the riddle posed.

Hmmm interesting. Do you have any more information on this?

 

[GMT]

If you google "offshore company formation" you'll get a list of companies that offer the service, then you look at the various countries that they offer the service in and select the one that best fits your requirements. There are quite a few differences between the various countries and each have advantages and disadvantages.

 

[rick shaw]

Many people who have been doing this are now being prosecuted. Off shore/shadow banking doesn't exist anymore. I am a bike messenger who delivers for financial institutions. I brought this up while smoking with a couple of them. Part of their job is to document all financial transactions over $1000/with a social security number. UBS Switzerland in June turned over thousands over private files of suspected tax cheats.

 

[ddrew]

Stash cash off site.

Exactly

 

[zenoonez]

Many people who have been doing this are now being prosecuted. Off shore/shadow banking doesn't exist anymore. I am a bike messenger who delivers for financial institutions. I brought this up while smoking with a couple of them. Part of their job is to document all financial transactions over $1000/with a social security number. UBS Switzerland in June turned over thousands over private files of suspected tax cheats.

Yea swiss sold em out. If I were moving that sort of wealth I wouldn't be transferring it. No sense in putting untaxed cash into an institution to track it to somewhere you don't want people to know it exists. The Caribbean and some African countries are still pretty dark as far as the IRS light shining is concerned. Or so I have been told.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

There are still many countries that don't adhere to the federal reserve banking guidelines. Panama, for one, however I wouldn't try an do something like this over the phone or internet because you can get scammed very easily. Feet on the ground in Panama or other countries meeting face to face and talking to their references. Panama has 0 tax on money earned outside of the country, and if you have $40k usd "invested locally" (don't know exactly what that means) you can become a Panamanian citizen with a passport.