Judges find foreign or offshore asset protection trusts contemptible. These trusts can provide powerful asset protection, leaving your assets out of the reach of U.S. courts and judgment creditors. However, judges can punish and coerce you as the grantor of the trust with jail or prison if you refuse to hand over those assets.

Offshore trusts can powerfully protect the assets of a U.S. citizen, but they can’t protect the citizen. In several cases, judges have jailed defendants for contempt of court when assets in offshore trusts were not returned to satisfy the court’s judgment. For example, one defendant spent 14 years in jail for refusing to turn over $2.5 million that the judge believed was hidden in an offshore trust. What’s the lesson? Judges are extremely powerful. If a judge believes that you’ve purposely hidden assets offshore to avoid the court’s authority, the judge may punish and attempt to coerce you into obeying with imprisonment under a contempt order. Take warning! Don’t do anything that will provoke a judge and carefully consider any offshore trust provisions that might leave you in jail for contempt, unable to satisfy a judgment against you.