
🚨 Avoid Lawsuits with the Trust Strategy Nobody Tells You! 🚨 Tune in as Sean Kelly dives into an eye-opening conversation with Gene Boyen Jr. on the Digital Social Hour Podcast. 💡 Discover how to protect your assets, create a playbook for...
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A
Ate up. And the more you got, the more they see just like my client's situation that she was in before she came to us, before she saw me on social media, 14 GS. They saw that her husband had a business, and they were like, well, let me see if he paid his taxes, because we're going to get ours. They say death and taxes, right?
B
Yep.
A
Well, not if it's done right, because this is the government's number one loophole.
B
All right, guys, Gene Boykin Jr. Here from Houston. Let's go. Texas represent.
A
Yeah, Houston, Texas, man. Love it there, dude.
B
How long you been out there?
A
I've been in Houston for about two years now. Yeah, two years. I had to get to a bigger market. I'm from Iowa, so, you know, doing real estate and what I do, helping people with trust. I needed to be around movers and shakers.
B
When did you start your first trust? How old were you?
A
Well, just four years ago, man. Yeah, I started. I learned this four years ago, wanting to change my circumstances. Right. I was disgusted with my circumstances. I was running a landscaping company, and creative financing and subject to in real estate was my way out. It was like the keys to the kingdom, dude. I found out I could buy houses without credit checks and taking over the mortgage. So that's what got me started. And we do it with trust. So it just evolved, man, from there to, you know, now I'm an expert in asset protection and estate planning. I help people to protect their assets and really to create a playbook, dude, while they're here. And then to plan, protect, and pass down, you know, that playbook instead of passing their family problems. You know what I mean?
B
Absolutely.
A
Yeah. It's great.
B
I sleep good at night with my trust, man.
A
Yeah, you got one?
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
Okay. Well, I heard you talking to Edward Collins the other day, and you had mentioned that you've been sued.
B
I have been multiple times now.
A
You just started this in 2023.
B
Yeah, this wasn't for the pod, but, yeah, I've been sued for other businesses.
A
Okay. How much did it cost you, man? Are we on anyone?
B
So the first one was. So it's all relative, right? So I was pretty broke during the first one, so I ended up settling. And it was five figures. But that was a lot for me at the time. When I was 21, dude, it was almost percentage wise. Almost 100 of what I had in my name.
A
Yes.
B
And the next. When was the next one? I think there was one or two more. And, yeah, six figures. I mean, it only Gets higher.
A
Right. With lawyer fees and then the. The judgment and what you. Yeah, so. So I help people to become invisible. Right. If you own it, then. Then you can be sued. It can be taken. Right. But if you just control it and you don't own it, then they can't sue what they can't see. So your LLC that was sued when you were 21. What we do is we help people to make a trust that have the ownership interest or managing member of that llc. And now they're invisible. They just went invisible. So if I sue you, Sean Kelly, you don't have anything. Your LLC doesn't have anything either. So if you segregate those assets. So what the problem is, though, is people wait till it's too late. Right. Like, if you'd have came to me and wanting to trust after you're already getting sued, it's basically too late at that point. You know what I mean? So it's better to prevent those problems than to solve them.
B
Yeah.
A
And cost six figures, five figures on your first one at 21, that would have knocked most people out of the game, bro.
B
It wrecked me for months. Not even just financially, but mentally.
A
Right.
B
And want to go back to business, man. No one teaches you how to deal with a lawsuit when you're in college or high school.
A
Yeah. Or protect yourself from it. Prevent it. Yeah.
B
That should be a class.
A
Absolutely. It's the number one. We're the number one country in the world for litigation. The average lawsuit costs small businesses $54,000.
B
Most people can't afford that.
A
Right. It puts you out of business. So. So why put yourself in a position to have that taken? And even, like, if you have a partnership and your partner gets sued for something outside of your business together, then your problem. His. His problems just became your problems.
B
Facts.
A
Yeah. If they get divorced, guess what part of your assets are involved in that partnership.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah.
B
So some of that goes, she owns.
A
50% or he owns 50% of each other's interests. So if they're 50, 50 with you, that she or he owns 25% of your business. And you didn't even know that. So if they get divorced, then that's gonna tie up your situation, man.
B
Choose your partners wisely.
A
Yeah. Choose your partners wisely or protect your assets wisely. Going in. Right. And create that playbook. It's better. It's so much easier to operate when you know that you're invincible. Right. And here's my thing, man. Like, I. I help people around the country, dude. Around the world to do this. And again, the only people that that are upset about getting a trust is because they waited too late. But you gotta have the right trust, too. You know what I mean? Revocable Living Trust or Living Revocable Trust. That's estate planning, but that is not asset protection. And so for the people that do have it, I can almost guarantee that it's named their name. Living Trust.
B
Yeah.
A
You know what I mean? That gives away the anonymity right there.
B
A lot of people believe an LLC is enough to protection.
A
It's not, dude. And it's not. So think about it. With an LLC that's a creature of the government, right? And hope is not a plan here. And because it's called limited liability, company or corporation, it is limited liability.
B
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A
But if you sign a document wrong. If you've transferred money from your personal account to your business account or your business account to your personal account wrong. They can pierce that corporate veil.
B
Damn.
A
And then it goes to probate, too. If something were to happen to me, if I don't get home tonight and I've just got my millions of dollars in assets in an llc, now that's going to be tied up in probate funds, frozen in probate, all of that, dude. Or if my business partner gets a divorce, gets sued, I'm on the chopping block. Damn right. Yeah. People don't know that. So these are problems that we don't know, that we have, that we can avoid by utilizing. We use. Utilize land trust for real estate and then personal property trust for any other asset, businesses, bank accounts. Dude, we make our. My money's invisible. Like I don't own anything. And I. And I talk to people about houses that I've worked on but. And control all over. And so if you look me up, I don't own a thing, man. So I'm litigation proof, you know what I mean? And it's a good feeling to have and it's one piece of the game. Like Edward Collins was talking about the tax operation and how you operate to get those tax write offs and to utilize that strategy. Deferred losses. Right. Things like that. That's one component of your business. But having your business in a trust and planned and protected is the component that now allows you to have a playbook. Because what. What's also involved in that? Dude, I help people like me and you do. You got started with this. I don't know if you borrow money from a family member, if you use credit or whatever, but if I would have went to my aunt to start a podcast and she has 20,000. Most times when family members borrow money to each other, even if my aunt's confident in me, if, if it's just an agreement that I'm going to pay that back, it's going to cost her a lot of money to enforce that. And if I lose the money, she's not secured in any way. So they come to the Go Getter family and Gene, we're going to create a promissory note with the payments that are supposed to be made and then a security instrument maybe on my car. Right. So that way if. And hey, nephew, it's not anything against you, it's just business. I love you. I believe in you. That's why I'm going to borrow you this money. But I want to be protected. So now we allow people to make something out of what they got instead of just putting it in a bank too.
B
Yeah. So do you believe even with friends and family, you should always sign a.
A
Contract, a promissory note, and then have a security instrument so that way your money is secured. Yes, 100%.
B
I've gotten wrecked lending money out to friends and family.
A
Oh, wow, dude.
B
Because I don't. I put trust in them and then.
A
Right. And it destroys the relationship.
B
Oh yeah. It's never the same.
A
Right. Right. Dude. So if that agreement is there and it's easy and then it's all in a trust. So if. If something happens with that family member and they're sued or they don't come home, you're. You're not hung out to dry, you know what I mean? Or you're not on the chopping block with them where their problems just became your problems and it's relatively easy to do. People just don't know about it. They didn't teach this for a reason.
B
What's the worst situation you've seen where you just saw someone get wrecked?
A
Oh, man. So we have a client I was telling Charlie about, man. We have a client, and I won't say the state, but his son stole one of his guns that were locked up. Yeah, right. And it was locked up, put away, but his son stole the gun and. And was hanging with two other friends. And whatever happened between them, he ended up shooting the other friend. I don't know if it was an accident. Intentional, whatever. Right. And now, though, the government is going after the dad's house. Damn. For negligence. And going after his retirement account. Right? So think about it, dude. You're just chilling. You're at work. Whatever, man. And you go home from work. You don't think that day when you get home from work that your house is going to be on the chopping block and your retirement.
B
So if he had the house in.
A
A trust, there's nothing to sue. He doesn't own anything. Wow. Right? So even if he got sued for negligence and there was a judgment against him, he doesn't own the asset. So if his bank account is in a trust, if his retirement account has a trust as the beneficiary, then he doesn't own that asset, he just controls it. And he can be the beneficiary of that trust. So it's like putting a shield. Like, dude, when you get an iPhone, you get a case to protect it, you drop it. Having this home in a land trust, that's the case.
B
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A
That's great. Except that was there is to an iPhone.
B
Is there any ways around that to pierce the trust?
A
There are, there are many ways that you can try to pierce a trust, but a trust, the right ones and these are revocable trusts that we deal with. So our layer is land trust, if you own real estate, personal property trust for your bank account, investment accounts, any other asset, cars, boats, trailer, home, and then that's the asset protection piece, the privacy. And then living trust is who gets what, when and how. And so that's called a layering strategy. It's almost like the holding company strategy, but a hundred times better. Right, because. And what was your original question? I went down and piercing trust. Yes, piercing a trust. So there's strategy behind it. So your trustee's name will be on public record and it'll say the trust owns that house. Yeah. So we put our trustee's initials on public record, right? Yes. So the trustee guys and I don't want to get too nerdy, but the trustee holds title and then we as the beneficiary, we own the beneficial interest, the earnings, avails and proceeds, the good stuff, the good shit. None of the management responsibility, none of the tax obligations, none of the liability. You know what I mean? So if it's pierced ours, it will cost you six figures to figure out who owns it. Because if it's just the trustee's initials, well, is, is S.M. kelly, is that Sarah Marie Kelly? Right. Or is that Sean Mike? Right. I don't know. So now I have to track down who that trustee is. So I don't know who to sue, you know, and that costs money. So I always tell people, my clients, you should never end up in court. And it's for two reasons. If you're wrong, make it right. I don't make you invincible just to go out there and screw people. But if you're not wrong, they're going to regret the day that they tried to sue you. You know what I mean? Now when it's the government, they've got an endless amount of money like our client, but we were able to help him. We were able to move that house and then move the his retirement account.
B
So you were able to move it?
A
Yeah, absolutely. So now he doesn't. Yeah. And so with the layering, with there's technicalities in there. This is why you Just can't go to LegalZone. Like everybody needs a trust, but don't get one from LegalZoom, right? You're going to be screwed. And if you go to a lawyer and they say, let's name it your name, Living trust run the other way. Yeah, for sure.
B
Because that's like the opposite of why you make a trust. You make a trust for privacy reasons.
A
Privacy, Yep. And asset protection. And people don't know that living trusts are not asset protection. That's estate planning. And they don't tell us that nuance, but it matters, you know, and so when we have the both of them with that layer and it's simple to set up, dude, we set it up all the time and for us it's a template. So that's why we can do it. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not an accountant. We connect you with lawyers in your market after we help you get the right paperwork and let them know, like if they try to change anything, just come talk to us real quick, you know what I mean? And because they're not trained in these creative ways, they're trained in the matrix system to check it off. Because trusts are the number one tool that you can use to operate your business and pass down your wealth seamlessly and avoid probate. Dude, the death tax when you die. But your CPA is not going to tell you about it. Your bank's not going to tell you about it and your lawyers typically are not going to tell you about it because it doesn't make sense for them because they can't get any money out of you. I had another client, dude, and I'm talking to mile a minute, but this shit's important. He was a real estate broker and owned three rentals, right. He wanted to get into ownership, so one of his renters, he had to keep the deposit. They had a phone. He called him, told him and the renter was, oh yeah, man, it's cool. Yeah, you had to clean it or whatever. So it was all good. He said A month later a law firm called him and began litigation on him. Because they bought his tenants litigation rights.
B
What?
A
Yes, exactly. People don't know that these problems exist. This law firm, and there's law firms around the country that do this, that buy debt, that by litigation rights. So they looked up the property on public record. They saw it was low hanging fruit. Yeah, Sean, Mike Kelly owns that property. It's in his name. There's $100,000 in equity. Oh, look, he owns two more properties. Okay, we're going to buy that tenants litigation rights, sue him, get a little bit of money.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah.
B
The tenant fell?
A
No, the tenant didn't even fall. He kept his deposit. And the tenant was like, okay, keep it. And the law firm reached out to the tenant. Hey, we see you had a, had some, a rental agreement with X. Yeah. Did you, do you have any problems with him? Well, yeah, he kept my deposit. Okay, we'll buy your litigation rights for 25% of that. Wow. Yep. And so I wasn't getting anything if I'm the tenant. So yeah, here. Sure.
B
Might as well.
A
Yeah, yeah, let me get, you know, 300, 400 bucks. Well, that ended up costing my client, he's now my client, $10,000.
B
Geez.
A
Right.
B
That's the whole profit for the year on that property probably.
A
Exactly, exactly. That's what I said, dude. Like he's probably negative equity on that thing because of it. So if you own a house, it should be in a land trust because if that would have happened, two things would have took place. That law firm would have looked up that address and seen that a trust owned it. And then if you, if you came to us, it would have been the trustees initials and they're like, oh shit, there's nothing here for us. We don't know who owns it. We're not going to spend the time, effort, energy or money to find out because it's not. The cost benefit analysis doesn't work for them, so they move on. Or if the tenant would have went to them, they would have said, okay, hey, hold on. In the waiting room, we're going to do a little research and we'll come back and talk to you. They go look up the ownership and they see that a trust owns it, they're going to come back out there and either tell them they don't, they're not going to take his case because he doesn't have one, or if they do, they're going to need a $10,000 retainer because a trust owns it now. What? Yeah. What tenant has 10 GS?
B
No one.
A
Right?
B
Not at that level at least.
A
Yeah. Wow.
B
I need to check if my trust is in my initials. You got me thinking, dude.
A
Yeah. If it's your name. Living trust.
B
No, the, the trust name isn't my name. But.
A
But you're the trustee of it. If you're trustee living. Yeah, if it's a living trust, you should be the trustee of that because it's different from a trust. So we have a different trustee. They're just a figurehead dude. We control it because we are the beneficiary and the beneficiary controls that trust.
B
Wow.
A
So with the. And the beneficiary's private legally, so with a living trust, you're the trustee, dude. So. Yes, I can guarantee you if it owns your anything, then your name is on that as trustee.
B
Damn.
A
Exposure.
B
So I gotta change that.
A
Well, it's just estate planning, so you might have to change the living trust, but you definitely have to change the ownership. Transferring it from that trust to a land trust that you've named, I don't know, Las Vegas Community Preservation Land Trust. Yeah. Like. Oh, shit. They're a charitable organization. I don't want to sue them. Right. It's strategic.
B
Yeah.
A
You know what I mean?
B
When do you think the right time to open a trust is shit?
A
Today.
B
Even if you're broke.
A
Yes. If you own. If you have anything in your name. Right. So with cars, if there's debt on it, then you have to ask the financing company permission. So don't trip. Right. But I mean, it's still worth a shot. Even. Even so, but if you own that car outright, it should be in a trust. If you have a house with a mortgage on it, it should be in a trust and transferred into a trust. You get to keep any of your tax exemptions when you transfer it into a trust for estate planning purposes. Tax exemptions, your homestead, if you have any veterans tax exemptions, things like that, you keep them. Yeah, sometimes we. We get to twist the county's arm because, you know, employees, they may not know about it or they want to give people a hard time. Well, when you have an expert working with you, we hop on the phone with them, let them know about the Garn St. Germain act and what it says about keeping tax exemptions and file our shit. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's glorious.
B
Dude, you mentioned the death tax earlier. Does this trust help with that?
A
Absolutely. A trust, dude, is the only entity that avoids probate. And everybody dies. That's the thing.
B
Everybody.
A
Yes.
B
And what's the death tax? What is it?
A
It's probate court. So we had a client. Dude, this is crazy. So everybody goes to probate if you have assets, because it's a creditor's court. So it's now made public record that you own a home and you're passing it to X, your son or your daughter. Right. And you have these other assets, a bank account and whatever else, dude. And now creditors get to come that you owed and get what they're Owed. There's that part. But we had a client, too, that had. Now attorneys are involved. So there's fees, right. There's hourly rates and all that stuff. And we had a client, dude, that her attorney. Because her husband owned a business. And. And her husband was like, what Jay Z said, I'm not a businessman. I'm the business man. You know what I mean? And so he was the business. So when he died, there was no more money. Well, her attorney hires a forensic accountant to see what was going on, because now he knows there's. There's probably some shit in the game. And come to find out, her husband hadn't paid the past three years of taxes before he died.
B
Jeez.
A
So now she's on, On. On the hook because she can't transfer her house. She can only transfer 50% interest ownership because her husband owned half.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah. So. So trust. Avoid probate. You don't even go to probate. So this would have never happened, but 14,000 in back taxes for those three years and eight GS for the fucking forensic auditor that her attorney hired. So I'm like, dude, you talk about thugs on the corner snatching your purse. These are. These are the thugger, thuggish type of thugs that I know because they're dressed like this. And they just got you to pay an extra 14 GS and made you pay the expert that got you to pay the extra 14 GS. If that's not highway robbery, they tipped her upside down and shook the chains out of her pockets.
B
Did he have a will or no?
A
If he did, doesn't matter.
B
Damn.
A
Because a will has to be probated.
B
Oh, really?
A
Yeah. And a will. Yes, a will must be probated.
B
Oh, wow. I didn't know that.
A
Yeah, it has to. Most people don't. Damn it has to go through probate court, dude. And a will just says, who gets what.
B
Yeah.
A
So if you. If I'm saying Sean gets my house, but it has to go to probate court. What's the point? You know what I mean?
B
Yeah.
A
And then it doesn't say, you know, one. There's that tax and all the fees. It's going to cost you maybe up to 10% of your estate. Well, you can't access the money now. The bank's going to give you a hard time paying that mortgage. Yeah. So most people go into default or sell that asset to pay the probate court, the fees and the taxes that are owed, and they sell it for pennies on the dollar. Yeah, yeah, that's how we as middle class people or people that are just trying to do just come up a little bit, man. In America, hell, like, what the fuck? That's how they get it back.
B
That's crazy.
A
It's insane, man.
B
I know that.
A
Right. Most people don't.
B
So it's almost like pointless to write a will then?
A
Pretty much. I mean, it is. It can be contested. It just says who gets what. And it has to go through probate, man. So whatever you got is going to get ate up. And the more you got, the more they see. Just like my client's situation that she was in before she came to us, before she saw me on social media, 14 GS. They saw that her husband had a business and they were like, well, let me see if he paid his taxes, because we're going to get ours. They say death and taxes, right?
B
Yep.
A
Well, not if it's done right. Because this is the government's number one loophole. Like I said, banks, CPAs and attorneys usually aren't going to tell you about this, so. So you don't have to pay as much taxes, at least depending on what type of trust you have. Yeah, yeah.
B
I've been looking into, like, because I want to have kids soon, like, how to transfer the wealth.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
B
Have you seen any good strategies for that within the trust?
A
Absolutely, man. And you said you, you have a fiance too, so you're getting married. Yeah. So the trusts are the best tool to protect your kids from themselves. Because you're creating a blessing, dude. Like, you guys have an amazing podcast. You've only been doing it for two years, the podcast part, and have had, you know, crazy growth. Right. So you're creating this as a blessing. You don't want. You want to pass them down. Peace, not problems. Right. So if you have kids with your assets, what you're building your bank account, dude, that's going to get frozen. So there's.
B
When you die, it gets frozen.
A
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 100%.
B
I didn't know.
A
Yeah, yeah. If you, if you couldn't, you can have some things in place with the bank to pass that down or to let somebody else take that over. But most people don't have that.
B
Yeah.
A
So it's going to get frozen. Right. And now you don't have access to that money to pay the mortgage or to pay the debt. That's on whatever assets, business assets you have. Right. So. And then people come out of nowhere, you know, hey, I'm Sean's, you know, daughter from before. Before Sean Was even born type of shit. Right. But that's going to cost money if somebody does that. So. So, trust, you circumvent probate, you get to. We can't take anything with us, but we get to control it from the grave. I can say my son gets 5% a year. We've got a client that waterfall over it. Yep, yep. Yeah, we have a client that gives their son 5,000 a year to donate to charity and directs them to look for a family member first to give it to. Then when he gets his first car, he's allotted a certain amount. When he goes to college, he's allotted a certain amount per month. And this is just of the income asset of the trust, not the principal asset that's making the money. The trustees control that. Right. So now your kids can't trick off what you work so hard to build. You know what I mean? You're controlling it for them. So, like, go out and get your own. But dad's got a hand up for you that I worked hard for if I'm not here. You know what I mean?
B
Yeah.
A
So what happens tonight if we don't get home? How are we sitting with what we built? We've built some shit. I know what my daughter's set to get. Right. And so that's an important question.
B
Yeah, yeah. I just had to sign all that in the trust. Kind of surreal at a young age, but you need a plan. You never know, right? You know?
A
Absolutely. But I mean, shit, you're at where you're at at a young age, right? So you got to think about things like that. You know what I mean? But I would definitely take a look at that. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that living trust. It's just that it's a living trust alone. So there's no asset protection, but there is estate planning. So you avoid probate, you avoid the death tax, essentially. Right. But your assets are pooled together in that living trust. So now that means that one can be attached and affect and infect the other if you get sued for this. And then you've got a house in there, you've got cars, you've got stock accounts.
B
Yeah.
A
Those can have that judgment attached to them.
B
Damn.
A
Yes.
B
So you could get a judgment against your stock portfolio.
A
Yeah, absolutely. 100. Yeah. Dude, what the gut? Yeah. The government can come take money out of that for child support, for taxes. Oh, yeah.
B
Wow.
A
Absolutely.
B
That's nuts.
A
Yeah. It's insane, right?
B
You're making that money on your own.
A
Yeah, yeah. Well, we got to protect it, dude.
B
Yeah.
A
And see, so I've evolved into like I had a client, they've got a multimillion dollar business on multimillion dollar. Real estate is glamping, right. So they're building a bunch of stuff, but a family member is going to give them 200,000. So, so we protected that as well. Right. And it's just, it's with paperwork. So we help people to create more out of what they got. Turn a, turn, turn a dime out of a nickel. Right. Double it up, but be protected and do it right. You, you know what I mean? So now we don't have to go to the banks and try to get credit and figure it out. We can do it with each other. We've got private investors that converted their IRA to a self directed IRA and then invested the 50 with us on a property. We create a promissory note, put a security instrument against the property. Now if we don't pay or something happens, they've got security so they can get it out of that property.
B
Yeah, there's no risk on there, right?
A
There's no risk, dude. And it's growing faster. But in their ira, dude, stock is just paper. So they can come and say, oh yeah, we lost 30% this year. It was a tough market and you're just like walking out droopy, dude. You got no recourse, right?
B
Yeah.
A
So if you're a regular person, you know, knowing this is the way to go. Right. To protect yourself and to do more, have a playbook.
B
Now, you studied the top elite families, you studied the Rockefellers, the Trumps. What were some things you noticed they.
A
Had in common that they all use trust. I just heard some people talking about, I think it was on social media somewhere or maybe somewhere here in Vegas, man, there's so many movers and shakers that when Trump showed his, his taxes, I think it was on your interview as a matter of fact, that there was a zero on there. Yeah, yeah. And he couldn't say, see a trust, trust have certain provisions where, and then there's, there's even legislation because the administration of a trust can only be dictated by the judiciary and statutory code. Right. The government trusts are common law for the most part. So he couldn't say who owned it or how much money it had. He could be sued for that if he knew that. Right. He couldn't say that. So when he was saying, I can't give you my taxes, right. And then the zero, he's not making that money. The trust Is. And it's converted, dude. From money from real estate to personal property. When it goes into a Trust, they're playing 4D chess with this loophole, man. Their best loophole.
B
Yeah.
A
We're playing checkers. So. So Trump having his assets in a trust, he's able to say he makes zero dollars. He's able to not pay as many taxes as the. The. As us. Right. 30%. Right. We're. We're counting on that. You know, so there's. That's where the power lies.
B
And it's funny because you see people saying to tax the rich more, but that wouldn't even matter.
A
Yeah.
B
Because they don't pay to begin with.
A
Exactly. They're not rich. Understand that. So when you, You. You don't hear about, like, the Rockefellers or the Kennedys when one of them pass away, you don't hear about their estate being contested and there's a fight over money. And, you know, all of this. They've been married several times, have had blended families, and there's no arguments over their wealth or their assets. When one of them dies, it's because their assets are in trust. Yeah. So they're passing down a game plan. And rich people don't pass down real estate. They pass down trust. Yeah. So that's why you don't hear about it. But Michael Jackson, on the other hand, who this information was suppressed from, and he was around people that had this type of knowledge. His estate has had probate open on it since 2009 when he died. It's still open today. Yeah.
B
So he didn't have the right structure.
A
No, he had a will that left everything to a trust.
B
Okay.
A
Yeah, that's backwards. Because the will has to go through probate now.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah. So it was backwards, man. And there was. There's controversy surrounding that. They said Michael Jackson was in Los Angeles when the will was signed and notarized in New York.
B
What the hell.
A
Right. Exactly. So. And we found this all on public record, me and my trust specialist. Yeah. And so. So they said that was forged. And then Michael Jackson owned half a Sony at one time.
B
Holy crap.
A
Yes. Most people don't know this.
B
Yeah.
A
I didn't know that he owned Bob Dylan's rights. Right. He owned Elvis Presley, Eminem, Beyonce, the Beatles. Yeah, yeah. Michael Jackson. So those were worth billions, dude. To the music industry. So he hated people in the music industry. I mean, this is widely known knowledge that he did not like them. Well, that will that they said was fraudulently done named a music executive as the executor and a music attorney. Yeah, right. An attorney that Michael Jackson had just fired.
B
Wow.
A
Exactly. So here's the thing. Now, since that will has to be in probate, they get to do what they want with it as the executors, and then the money and stuff goes into a trust. So now that's private, but there's that thing in the middle. So they sold those interests back to Sony, those music interests for Michael Jackson.
B
That is a fishy death.
A
Exactly.
B
Now that I know this, I already thought it was fishy, but I didn't know this backstory. That's right.
A
And this is all on public record. And then, yeah, he's paid over 100 million in probate fees alone. Yes.
B
My God.
A
Yep. So all that stuff that was said about him in the media and stuff like that, like, I thought it was Cap. Yeah, I mean, it definitely was definitely Cap for sure. Right. And. And there was all of these music catalogs that he owned and controlled, and those people needed those. They needed them, but he wouldn't sell them. He didn't give a fuck about the money, because you can collateralize that and get debt from banks and get whatever you want. That's why he was in stores. Like. Yeah, yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that also because he had it, bro. And they took it, dude. They took it. Yeah, his kids are, like, cool. You know, they're well off, but they should be better off. And his legacy should be way better off. Yeah.
B
So did his kids get anything or. Oh, they got some.
A
Yeah, they do. They get a monthly stipend, so they get about 3 million a year.
B
Okay.
A
Yep. And then his mom gets taken care of. They pay for her house and some other ancillary things, so she's taken care of.
B
But at least he had that in there.
A
Yeah. Yeah, they did that. They had to kind of do that to, you know, make it look righteous. Right? Like, you can't just. Yeah. You can't just leave mom on the streets, leave the kids on the streets, and then sell his music catalog and keep it pushing. So, like, okay, yeah, they're cool, they're comfortable. It looks good on the surface, but we pull the strings. We have the ownership and control, and that's what that trust allows, too. So once we got to that, we couldn't find any more information. But the will part and it being in probate gave us all that information. So for people like us, we want to be moved privately. We don't need our shit on public record. And if you Think about that on a smaller scale. We get picked apart every day, dude.
B
Oh, yeah.
A
It's a scourge on many communities. Probate court.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
I don't want to be in probate court.
A
Right. You shouldn't. You don't have to, man. So right now, as it sits, you're not. But you're not protected, though. There's no asset protection.
B
Well, I used to have the mindset of like, if you do good business, you won't get sued, but that's so not true.
A
Right.
B
If you have money, you're getting sued no matter what.
A
No question.
B
No question.
A
There's no doubt there's a 90% chance as a LLC or small business owner that you will get sued during the life of that LLC. 90%? Yeah. That was 20, 23 statistic. That's crazy insane, bro. 54,000 is the average cost. Damn.
B
Yeah. You got to stay protected.
A
Absolutely.
B
I mean, you could a charity and get sued.
A
Yeah, yeah. And an llc, dude. If they pierce the corporate veil, if you sign a document wrong, like just your name, the corporate veil could be pierced. An argument could be made for that. Right. If you transfer the money wrong from business count to personal or personal to business, corporate veil can be pierced. So now my house, that's at risk, my car, my other personal bank account at risk. Right. And so people are like, well, my LLC owns everything. Well, guess what? That's just all my stuff. So if that gets sued, now all that's at risk. So we help people to segregate those assets. They're owned in individual trusts, dude. We got, man, we help people to move, man. Rock solid out here, right? Yeah. And it's reasonable, man. Like, there's different levels to this, but it's reasonable. You know, anybody can afford it. So, I mean, and then learning, kind of learning what you have. So we have a community too, that I've built, and I call it the Harvard of real estate. The Harvard of asset protection, where our clients come in there afterwards and they're part of that community. There's extra information in there so you don't have have to become a trust expert. Right. But understanding how you can now operate this playbook that you have, signing a management agreement with your trustee that allows you to run your business, be the face of it even, but have no risk, no liability, and always there's always a higher power. Hey, I got to clear it with my board of trustees. Sorry I got to charge you this late fee or I got to charge this amount. It's not up to Me. It's up to the board of trustees. Well, the board of trustees can be the voices in your head. Mm. Yeah. It's beautiful, dude. It's glorious, man. I love it. It's fun, man.
B
You could sleep at night.
A
Yes. Yes.
B
Has anyone tried suing you?
A
Yeah. Yeah, they have. Before I had a trust. Before I had a Trust, I had 70,000 in a bank account that was frozen, tied up from a lawsuit from a mistake I made when I first started out in real estate and I couldn't afford a mentor, man. You know what I mean? Like, I was buying information from here, there, and piecing it together. YouTube University. So I wasn't utilizing the trust structure properly yet. And I forgot a document, man, on a lease option that I was doing on a property. Selling the disposition of a property. Right. But keeping it rent to own type thing.
B
Yeah.
A
And my. My buyer gave me a $40,000 down payment. It was an option fee, but me not having it in a trust, that had me at risk. It was for my llc, dude. So we were. We were going through that problem, and that money got frozen. You know what I mean? Yes. And I'm like, dude, all right. I'm going to give him his 40,000, man. Shit. Like, let my 70 go. You know what I mean? I was on a business trip and everything. I had to pay my team that Friday. Like, what the fuck? Damn.
B
So that almost put you out of business?
A
Yeah, that would. And the good thing was, was that, man, dude, there's been many mistakes, but it did. That mistake didn't catch up with me for, like, nine months. If it would have caught up with me two weeks later, I'd have been out of the game, bro. Damn right. So then, because I had this information in front of me, but I was still growing and trying to move and learn, like. But so I'm like, dude, I got to get into this, right? And so I dug into that more, man. And there's been. Yeah, people, dude, they. It's your paperwork. I get letters from potential tenants that have to say they want one of my houses. They pay me, like, earnest money, and then we approve them. They come back and they say they don't want it. And we're like, okay, well, that's cool. You don't have to have it. But we get to keep this earnest money. It's part of the paperwork you signed. It's a reservation fee. And so the lawyer will reach out to me. I got an email, hey, they want their money back. You're going to give it to Them, you know, talking that tough guy shit. And I said. And I said, well, apparently they didn't show you the reservation agreement, and so it's attached to this email, and I haven't heard back from them since.
B
Yeah, I love that.
A
Yeah. And I'm signing everything, comma, as Agent Gene Boykin Jr. Right. Gene Boykin Jr. Comma, as agent. My management agreement that I sign with my trust that own my assets, whether it's my LLCs or my real estate assets or my bank account. Dude, I'm an agent for that trust that gets to do any and everything that an owner can do. Collateralize it, management, manage it, open a bank account, pull money out of that bank account, pay bills, apply for credit, all of that. But if I get sued, I'm not. It's whatever asset the trust has that's at risk.
B
Nice.
A
Right? And I only put one asset per trust, so. Yeah, man, so it's. People have tried to sue, but if you're wrong again, stay out of court. Make it right, man.
B
Yeah, I'm with you on that. Don't be out here scamming. But.
A
Right.
B
You're doing good business. Just fix it. Yeah, move on.
A
Move on, dude. But if they're. If you're not, like you said, you said, just doing good business. Well, hope isn't a plan. Right. And a lot of people have that. And unfortunately, people aren't. Everybody's not like me and you. They're not just going to do good business.
B
Yeah.
A
And they're going to come back and sue you, man.
B
And you're easily. I mean, I dealt with a nasty lawsuit last year.
A
Really? Yeah.
B
They wanted, like half a mil at first, which I didn't even have at the time, but they just see how many views I get and stuff. I have millions. But, yeah, if I didn't. I didn't have a trust.
A
Damn.
B
You know, So I got wrecked. I had to settle for six figures.
A
Oh, I was going to ask you if you had to settle, man.
B
No, that's why I made a trust, like a week after. I was like, yeah, that's not happening again.
A
We got to talk, bro. Because that living trust isn't going to help that.
B
Okay. Yeah, I'd love to have you review my setup.
A
Yeah. Yeah. It's just not going to help it. You know, it'll help for the planning afterwards. Right. We can't take it with us, but we can control it from the grave. Living trust, protect us while we're here. Give us an invisibility cloak, man, like that Damn Harry Potter, you know what I mean? Like throw that thing on you run around tapping people on the shoulder. They don't know what the fuck. That's what a trust is when you're doing business, bro. Like they don't know who to sue, so they don't know who owns it. It would cost too much. It's going to cost at least six figures. With our structure and our layering strategy to find out who owns it. Yeah, it's. We put another trust as the first beneficiary. Yeah, yeah. And so now when they've paid to find out who that trustee is, and we recommend using an out of state trustee so that way if they have to be deposed, they have the right to jurisdiction. So they have to go to them. Guess what they're gonna have to pay to go to them.
B
Pick someone in Alaska or something.
A
Wherever, man. Yeah. If I own a house in Texas, then my trustee's in Florida. If I get sued in Texas about that house, they've got to pay to fly to Florida to find out who owns it from the trustee with a court order. That's the only way they can say it. Right. So then if the trustee says, well, it's the legacy personal property trust, that's the beneficiary of this land trust. That lawyer's going to say, yeah, like whoever did this is smart. And then like, do I want to do this again? Because that personal property trust has initials as the trustee and the last name. So I got to do it all over again. And that's fucking tough. So I respect attorneys, man. I respect accountants, I respect them all. But you're not going to get any money off me frivolously, that's for goddamn sure. I'm not a meal man. I eat.
B
Where can people get in touch with you and learn more about trust?
A
Yeah. So. Well, I have a free webinar once a month, right, where I go over trust, personal property trust, how that works for people. That's April 17th coming up. And that's I go the go getterfamily.com go to the go getterfamily.
B
We'll link it in the video too.
A
Yeah, that'll be dope, man.
B
Yeah, yeah. Anything else you want to close off with that?
A
Yeah, don't you? Now that you know about it, you got a lot of listeners. So this is to the listeners. Now that you guys know about it. Don't wait until it's too late. Those are the only people that regret getting a trust is waiting until it's too late to get a trust. You're already being sued. Don't go to probate court. Pass your family peace instead of problems, all right? And hope is not a plan. So let's make it happen. We make it for the everyday people, man. For the everyday people. So come talk to us and we'll at least get you some information.
B
Oh, yeah. Check out the website guys below. Thanks for coming on, man. That was fun.
A
Right on. Thank you.
B
See you guys.
Title: Avoid Lawsuits: The Trust Strategy Nobody Tells You | Gene Boykin Jr. DSH #1304
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Gene Boykin Jr.
Release Date: April 7, 2025
In Episode #1304 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a deep and unfiltered conversation with Gene Boykin Jr., a Houston-based expert in asset protection and estate planning. Gene shares his personal journey from running a landscaping business to becoming a trusted authority in using trusts to safeguard assets and avoid lawsuits. The discussion delves into the intricacies of trust structures, real-life case studies, and the critical importance of proactive asset protection.
Gene opens up about his transition from Iowa to Houston to tap into a larger market, highlighting his pivot from real estate and creative financing to specializing in asset protection trusts.
[00:35] Gene: "I was running a landscaping company, and creative financing and subject to in real estate was my way out. It was like the keys to the kingdom, dude."
Four years ago, disillusioned with his circumstances, Gene discovered how trusts could enable asset protection, allowing him to buy properties without traditional credit checks and manage liabilities effectively.
Gene shares his firsthand experiences with lawsuits, emphasizing the financial and emotional toll they can take on small business owners.
[01:43] Gene: "I have been sued multiple times now. The first one was a five-figure settlement, which was almost 100% of what I had in my name at the time."
He recounts being sued at the age of 21, resulting in substantial financial setbacks that nearly derailed his business aspirations.
[02:03] Gene: "It wrecked me for months. Not even just financially, but mentally."
Gene elaborates on the distinction between Living Trusts and Land Trusts, clarifying their respective roles in estate planning and asset protection.
[02:59] Gene: "It's better to prevent those problems than to solve them."
He explains how trusts can render assets "invisible" to potential litigants, thereby safeguarding personal and business properties from lawsuits and creditor claims.
[03:16] Gene: "The average lawsuit costs small businesses $54,000. Most people can't afford that."
The conversation delves into specific cases where trusts played a pivotal role in protecting assets:
Client with Stolen Gun and Liability:
A client faced negligence lawsuits after his son stole a gun and an incident resulted in injury. Gene explains how placing the house in a trust could have prevented the government's access to his retirement accounts and property.
[09:31] Gene: "If your house is in a land trust, there's nothing to sue. You don't own anything."
Michael Jackson’s Estate Issues:
Gene discusses the complexities of Michael Jackson’s estate, highlighting how improper trust setups led to prolonged probate and significant financial drain.
[28:04] Gene: "A will has to be probated. So a living trust alone is not enough for asset protection."
Gene emphasizes the necessity of specialized trust structures to ensure maximum protection. Key recommendations include:
Layered Trust Structures:
Utilizing land trusts for real estate and personal property trusts for other assets to segregate and protect each asset individually.
[05:00] Gene: "Living trusts are not asset protection. They are for estate planning, but you need to layer them with other trusts."
Using Out-of-State Trustees:
Selecting trustees from different states to complicate the process of identifying asset ownership for potential litigants.
[37:21] Gene: "If I own a house in Texas, then my trustee's in Florida. They have to pay to fly to Florida to find out who owns it."
Avoiding Common Pitfalls:
Gene warns against using generic services like LegalZoom for trust creation, suggesting that improperly set up trusts can fail to offer the desired protection.
[12:45] Gene: "If you go to LegalZoom, you're going to be screwed. You need the right kind of trust."
Both Sean and Gene discuss the pervasive threat of litigation in America, especially for small business owners, and how it can lead to severe financial and emotional distress.
[31:25] Sean: "There's a 90% chance as an LLC or small business owner that you will get sued during the life of that LLC."
Gene reinforces this by sharing his own near-business ruin experience due to a lawsuit before establishing proper asset protection.
[33:10] Gene: "If it had caught up with me two weeks later, I'd have been out of the game, bro."
Gene touches on the significance of trusts in wealth transfer, ensuring that assets are passed down to children without legal complications or unnecessary taxation.
[22:16] Gene: "We're creating this as a blessing. You don't want to pass them down problems. Trusts protect your kids from themselves by controlling asset distribution."
He shares strategies on how trusts can manage and allocate funds to beneficiaries responsibly, preventing misuse and preserving family wealth.
In the concluding segments, Gene urges listeners to act proactively in setting up trusts to protect their assets and ensure smooth wealth transfer. He highlights upcoming resources, including a free webinar on April 17th, and directs listeners to his website for more information.
[38:25] Gene: "Don't wait until it's too late. Those are the only people that regret getting a trust is waiting until it's too late to get a trust."
Sean and Gene wrap up the episode by emphasizing the importance of informed asset protection and encouraging listeners to seek expert guidance to safeguard their financial futures.
This episode of Digital Social Hour serves as a crucial guide for entrepreneurs and individuals seeking to protect their assets from unforeseen legal challenges. Gene Boykin Jr.'s insights offer a comprehensive understanding of trust structures and their practical applications in safeguarding wealth and ensuring legacy longevity. Listeners are encouraged to take immediate action to implement these strategies and secure their financial well-being.