To open a bank account that no creditor can touch, a person can (1) use an exempt bank account, (2) establish a bank account in a state that prohibits garnishments, (3) open an offshore bank account, or (4) maintain a wage or government benefits account.
Usually, a debt collector must obtain a court order before accessing your bank account. However, certain federal agencies, including the IRS, may be able to access your bank account without permission from a court.
Certain Assets are Exempt
Certain types of income cannot be garnished or frozen in a bank account. Foremost among these are federal and state benefits, such as Social Security payments.
How to hide your assets is as simple as the repositioning your assets through an irrevocable trust with a true independent trustee. The key to the transfer is the exchange of equal value in return for the asset, or the receipt of a fair market value for the asset transferred.
One of the reasons for setting up a trust is to set aside property as separate from one's personal assets. One of the benefits of this is that assets which are held in a trust are protected from creditors, for example should the settlor become insolvent or be declared bankrupt.
A bank account levy allows a creditor to legally take funds from your bank account. When a bank gets notification of this legal action, it will freeze your account and send the appropriate funds to your creditor. In turn, your creditor uses the funds to pay down the debt you owe.
The first step to stopping debt collectors from calling you is telling them the 11-word phrase - “Please cease and desist all calls and contact with me, immediately.”
The relevant information to focus on here is that California is a community property state, which means that legally married couples jointly own everything – including debt. As a result, it is possible for a creditor to garnish a spouse's bank account if their spouse owes a debt.
A creditor can merely review your past checks or bank drafts to obtain the name of your bank and serve the garnishment order. If a creditor knows where you live, it may also call the banks in your area seeking information about you.
To get into your bank account, the creditor must get a court order. Specifically, this means that the creditor must sue you (take you to court) and win. Only after the judge enters a judgment against you (meaning the creditor won the lawsuit against you) can the creditor have access to your bank account.
If a bill collector cannot locate you, it is allowed to reach out to third parties, such as relatives, neighbors or your employer, but only to find you. They aren't allowed to disclose that you owe a debt or discuss your finances with others.
The anonymous trust structure enables you to hide company ownership by listing your company as a member in your LLC's Articles of Incorporation. Another advantage of an anonymous trust is that you don't have to file it with the state.
In California, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own—real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (it's similar to a will), naming someone to take over as trustee after your death (called a successor trustee).
Yes, it is possible to have a credit score of at least 700 with a collections remark on your credit report, however it is not a common situation. It depends on several contributing factors such as: differences in the scoring models being used.
A creditor or debt collector cannot freeze your bank account unless it has a judgment. Judgment creditors freeze people's bank accounts as a way of pressuring people to make payments.
How Do You Freeze a Bank Account? You can freeze your bank account to prevent any debit transactions from clearing by logging into your online banking platform or mobile banking app (assuming your bank offers the option). Or you can contact customer service and request an account freeze.
The short answer is YES under the right of setoff if you owe that same bank or credit union on a credit card or loan.
Creditors typically can't go after certain assets like your retirement accounts, living trusts or life insurance benefits to pay off debts. These assets go to the named beneficiaries and aren't part of the probate process that settles your estate.
The Short Answer: Yes. The IRS probably already knows about many of your financial accounts, and the IRS can get information on how much is there. But, in reality, the IRS rarely digs deeper into your bank and financial accounts unless you're being audited or the IRS is collecting back taxes from you.