A jury in Pasco country Florida decided that Dr. Gunwant Dhaliwal must pay $820,000 in damages ($700,000 in punitive damages and $120,000 in pain and suffering). Without going into the merits of the case, what I found most interesting about the article from an asset protection attorney’s point of view was the plaintiff’s lawyer specifically mentions that he asked the jury to award $409,000 in punitive damages because it represented the price of a condo the doctor purchased in his sister-in-laws name to protect his asset.
Transferring assets to or purchasing them in someone else’s name will not protect you during a lawsuit. This “urban myth” opens up a Pandora’s box of potential issues. Including, but not limited to:
-
Potential judgments for fraudulent conveyances;
-
The property being exposed to the liabilities of the “New” owner; and
-
Due to no longer “owning” the property, estate planning problems.
Remember the best time to start protecting your assets is before being sued and the best way to protect your assets is to talk to an attorney and not rely on strategies that may cause more harm than good.
For more information on this case, see Molly Moorehead, Pasco jury slaps doctor with $820,000 in damages in groping case, St. Petersburg Times, Sept 23, 2011.
Note: LegalJourney Blog posts are designed to provide informational summaries, but do not include all aspects, issues, statutes or legal rulings. If you have additional questions based on what you read on the LegalJourney Blog, please contact the LegalJourney Law Firm or seek the advice of another qualified Florida attorney.