Bingo 503

Married couples are particularly at risk, too. Their absolute community of property is liable to pay debts and obligations that were contracted during the marriage for the benefit of the community; those contracted by either spouse without the consent of the other and ante-nuptial debts of one alone and liabilities incurred by either spouse by reason of a crime or tort when the liable spouse has no separate property or is insufficient.
In all cases of liability of the community assets, if the community property is inadequate, the separate properties of the spouses will be solidarity liable. The creditors may sue both or either spouse for the entire amount.
You know you are attractive to lawsuit hounds when you own a house and lot free and clear (or with substantial equity) and you own chattels worth over P1 million. The same is true with persons who act as general partners in high-risk enterprises (such as real estate companies) and those who act as officers and directors of multinational corporations. If your business is leasing equipment (such as industrial machinery and household machines), vehicles, residences, apartments, and other commercial property you stand out in a crowd as a person with a prodigious net worth.
The nature of your business may determine your lawsuit appeal. Businesses involving ultra hazardous activities such as oil exploration, manufacturing of explosives, armaments and pyrotechnics and the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of consumer products such as vehicles, household appliances, medicine, toys, leisure equipment, and others occupy the high end of the list. If your net worth is substantial and you are thinking of marriage or remarriage, you are considered a high risk individual. Paradoxically, people who are insured are objects for target practice by lawyers. Insured owners of businesses and vehicles are viewed as “deep pockets” by litigators. They are more likely to be sued than those who carry little or no liability insurance.

Plans are simply written statements. These are useless if they are not implemented. In some countries there are numerous plans and programs which are very good. But many of them have not been implemented for lack funds.

The entrepreneur as a financial manager should adopt ways of monitoring and evaluating financial performance. Interim budgets may be prepared and compared with interim reports of sales and expenses. Such comparison can pinpoint areas which need additional or revised planning. As a matter of fact, one which need additional or revised planning is that planning must be a continuous process. This means planning should be tailored to the changing needs of buyers, prices of productive resources, and policies of the government. In evaluating financial performance, weaknesses and errors are discovered. In evaluating financial performance. weaknesses and errors are discovered. These can be corrected immediately before they become majoy problems.

Clearly the ottom line of the financial management is the efficient use of funds. This is only possible if individuals with competence, honesty and integrity are employed. However, competence is not enough. There are several stories of excellent fund managers. But they disappeared together with the money of the corporations.

Exposed areas in one’s financial realm may be covered through a process called “judgment proofing.” The term signifies specific acts that provide legal insulation to properties that would otherwise be susceptible to lawsuits. The delicate procedure is analogous to what Achilles’ mother did when she dipped her son in the river Styx or what Siegfried did when he took a bath in the blood of the dragon Fafnir. A person is said to be “judgment-proof” if the properties he holds are either sufficiently sheltered or substantially inadequate to pay for any claim or judgment.
There is life after debt if you were able to “judgment-proof” yourself in a timely and adequate fashion without violating the requirements of fraudulent conveyance statutes. Benjamin F. Dover, author of Back Off (1994), has an intriguing term for judgment proofing. He calls it bulletproofing, or the act of “insulating yourself from financial adversaries such as creditors, debtors, and attorneys.” Dover included simple techniques such as obtaining an unlisted phone number and post office box to more advanced maneuvers such as the use of family trusts and corporations. Most potential plaintiffs look for attachable assets of adversaries before commencing lawsuits. Suing a person who is “judgment-proof” is like playing a game of Trivial Pursuit: it serves no useful purpose to a plaintiff who has serious thoughts about collecting on a favorable judgment. A multi-million-peso judgment
have been won but could not be collected.