Asset Protection Attorney in Denver, Colorado
Meurer & Potter Law Office, Denver, Colorado
You have spent years building wealth through your business, career, investments, and real estate. An asset protection attorney makes sure one lawsuit, one creditor, one bad break doesn’t wipe it out. At Meurer & Potter, P.C., our Denver asset protection lawyers have been helping individuals, families, and business owners shield what they’ve built since 1991. We use a layered approach that combines Colorado exemptions, LLC entity structuring, and advanced trust strategies, including Wyoming Domestic Asset Protection Trusts, to create plans that are difficult for creditors to penetrate and expensive for plaintiffs to pursue.
The most important thing to understand about asset protection is timing. Every strategy we implement must be in place before a claim arises. Transferring assets after a lawsuit is filed or reasonably anticipated can be challenged as a fraudulent conveyance under Colorado and federal law. The time to protect your assets is now, before you need to.
A Layered Approach to Asset Protection
Build real protection layer by layer so your wealth stays yours when it matters most.
There is no single document or entity that makes your assets untouchable. Effective asset protection uses multiple layers, each designed to create friction for anyone attempting to reach your wealth. We build plans in three tiers:
Tier 1: Foundation—Insurance and Basic Planning
The first layer is the one most people already have, but rarely optimize. Adequate liability insurance—including an umbrella policy well above state minimums—is your first line of defense. Beyond insurance, a properly drafted revocable living trust keeps your assets out of probate and ensures someone you trust can manage your affairs if you become incapacitated. We also review Colorado’s statutory exemptions—including the homestead exemption (up to $250,000 for most homeowners), vehicle equity protections, retirement account shields, and personal property allowances—to ensure your assets are positioned to take advantage of available protections.
Tier 2: Entity Structuring—LLCs and Business Protection
For business owners, real estate investors, and professionals in high-liability fields, the next layer involves separating personal assets from business risk through LLC and entity structuring. A properly formed and maintained LLC creates a legal firewall: if something goes wrong inside the business, your personal assets—your home, your savings, your retirement—are not exposed. We often use multi-entity structures, such as a holding company LLC that owns operating subsidiaries, to isolate different risk categories. Wyoming LLCs are particularly effective because Wyoming provides sole-member charging order protection, meaning a creditor who obtains a judgment against you personally cannot force distributions from your Wyoming LLC, foreclose on your membership interest, or access the LLC’s underlying assets. In practice, a creditor holding a charging order may be left waiting indefinitely for a distribution that never materializes, which tends to encourage favorable settlements.
Tier 3: Wyoming Domestic Asset Protection Trusts – DAPT
The most advanced layer of protection involves a Wyoming Domestic Asset Protection Trust—technically called a Qualified Spendthrift Trust (QST) under Wyoming statute. Wyoming is one of the strongest domestic jurisdictions for self-settled asset protection trusts in the United States, and for good reason: Wyoming law allows you to create an irrevocable trust, name yourself as a beneficiary, retain investment advisory control through a directed trust structure, and still protect those assets from most future creditors after a statutory waiting period.
Key advantages of Wyoming DAPTs include: no state income, estate, or capital gains tax on trust assets; trust duration of up to 1,000 years (making it suitable for dynasty planning across multiple generations); strong privacy protections with no public registration of the trust; no requirement that you live in Wyoming or visit the state; and the ability to use a Private Trust Company—which can be a Wyoming LLC that you control—as the trustee. When a Wyoming DAPT holds assets through a Wyoming LLC, you get dual-layer protection: the trust shields the assets from outside creditors, and the LLC’s charging order protection prevents creditors from reaching inside.
Our firm offers Wyoming asset protection strategies through its specialized practice, the Asset Protection Law Center. We handle everything from initial planning through trust formation, LLC structuring, and ongoing administration, all coordinated with your broader estate plan.
Want to know if a Wyoming Asset Protection Trust is right for your situation? Call 303-991-3544 for a free consultation.
Who Needs Asset Protection?
Asset protection is not only for the ultra-wealthy. Anyone with meaningful assets and exposure to liability should have a plan. We regularly work with: business owners facing commercial, contractual, or employment-related risk; physicians, surgeons, and healthcare professionals exposed to malpractice claims; real estate investors and landlords managing tenant liability across multiple properties; attorneys, CPAs, architects, engineers, and other professionals in high-liability fields; individuals approaching or in retirement who want to protect savings from long-term care costs and Medicaid spend-down; families transferring wealth across generations who need to protect inheritances from beneficiaries’ creditors, divorces, and financial mismanagement.
For families concerned about Medicaid eligibility and long-term care costs, specific irrevocable trust strategies—including Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts—can help preserve assets while navigating Colorado’s Medicaid look-back requirements. We coordinate these strategies with our elder law practice to ensure your asset protection and Medicaid plans work together.
Colorado Asset Protection Tools
Everything stays legal, compliant, and built for real protection.
In addition to Wyoming trust and LLC strategies, we use a range of Colorado-specific and general asset protection tools depending on your situation: Lifetime Access Trusts that allow married couples to protect assets while retaining beneficial access; Lockbox Trusts designed to hold and protect specific high-value assets; Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs) that remove your home from your taxable estate while you continue to live in it; pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements that strategically allocate assets between spouses to reduce exposure; Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) and Family LLCs that combine asset protection with estate and gift tax savings; and offshore trusts for complex situations where domestic protection alone may not be sufficient.
We also address the often-overlooked distinction between privacy and anonymity. Privacy means your financial affairs are not easily discoverable through public records—Wyoming’s trust and LLC statutes are designed to maximize this. Anonymity—attempting to hide your identity entirely—is neither the goal nor legally sustainable. The strategies we implement are fully compliant with federal tax reporting requirements while making it significantly more difficult for predatory litigants to identify and target your assets.
Serving Denver and Colorado’s Front Range
Our office is located in Greenwood Village at 5347 South Valentia Way, near the Denver Tech Center. We serve clients throughout the Denver metro area, including Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Parker, Lakewood, Arvada, Aurora, and Boulder, as well as Colorado Springs and communities along the entire Front Range. Because Wyoming asset protection strategies do not require residency in Wyoming, clients anywhere in Colorado—or nationwide—can benefit from these tools.
Frequently Asked Questions About Asset Protection
Insights to help you make informed decisions about asset protection
Our FAQs offer practical guidance on asset protection strategies and processes. They are written to help you stay informed, not overwhelmed.
An asset protection attorney helps you legally structure your assets—through trusts, LLCs, insurance, and other tools—to make them difficult for creditors, plaintiffs, and judgment holders to reach. The goal is not to hide assets but to create legal barriers that discourage lawsuits and force favorable settlements. At Meurer & Potter, we specialize in layered strategies that combine Colorado planning with Wyoming trust and LLC structures.
Costs depend on the complexity of your situation. Basic planning, including insurance review and entity structuring, may start at a few thousand dollars. A comprehensive plan involving Wyoming DAPTs, LLC formation, and multi-entity structuring typically ranges from $5,000 to $15,000 or more. We discuss all fees during your free initial consultation.
A Wyoming Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT), formally called a Qualified Spendthrift Trust, is an irrevocable trust governed by Wyoming law that allows you to be both the creator and a beneficiary while protecting assets from most future creditors. Wyoming is one of the strongest domestic jurisdictions for this type of planning, offering no state income tax, 1,000-year trust duration, and strong charging order protection for associated LLCs.
Yes. Asset protection is a legitimate, well-established area of law. The key requirement is that planning must be done proactively—before any claims, lawsuits, or creditor actions arise. Transferring assets after a claim exists or is reasonably anticipated can be challenged as a fraudulent conveyance. This is why working with an experienced attorney who understands timing and compliance is essential.
Yes, through specific irrevocable trust strategies designed to comply with Medicaid’s look-back rules. Colorado has a five-year look-back period for Medicaid eligibility. A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, when established early enough, can preserve significant assets while ensuring you qualify for long-term care benefits. We coordinate these strategies with our elder law practice.
Wyoming provides sole-member LLC charging order protection, which means a creditor cannot force distributions, foreclose on your membership interest, or access the LLC’s assets. Colorado’s LLC statute does not explicitly extend charging order protection to single-member LLCs, leaving them potentially vulnerable. For asset protection purposes, Wyoming LLCs offer a stronger shield.
No. Wyoming imposes no residency requirement for trust settlors or beneficiaries. You can live anywhere in the United States—including Colorado—and establish a Wyoming DAPT. The trust must have a Wyoming-based trustee or co-trustee, which can be a Private Trust Company formed as a Wyoming LLC.
Now. The single biggest mistake people make is waiting until they are already facing a lawsuit or creditor action. At that point, your options are severely limited. Proactive planning—done while you are financially stable and not under threat—gives you the widest range of tools and the strongest legal footing. If you own a business, hold real estate, work in a high-liability profession, or have accumulated significant personal wealth, you should have an asset protection plan in place today.