Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
Driving my car is the biggest potential threat to my net worth. In addition to buying a large liability policy, what other steps can I take to help protect my assets from a potentially devastating accident of which I'm at fault? Placing the car in a company's name? That sort of thing? Thanks very much. -Rob
3 Answers from Attorneys
That will not help as the driver is responsible. Another solution is to transfer assets out of your name. Good luck.
Do not let anyone drive your car other than yourself, get a umbrella policy. Transferring assets is risky business. Many a spouse has left with a lot of $.
Transferring the auto may not help. The owner of the car can be held liable the same as the driver. First, have sufficient liability limit on the auto policy (don't forget stacked UM - this is Florida and there are a lot of underinsured/uninsured drivers and you do not want to bet on which car you might be injured in). Second, obtain an umbrella policy. After these are in place you can look to asset protection techniques. You can convert some assets in to a form that are protected from creditors (eg homestead, certain annuities, IRAs). There is potentially more that you can do but they all require that you give up some or all control and need careful planning.
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