Houston Asset Protection Attorney for Rental Owners, Business Owners, and Families
Asset protection is legal planning that organizes what you own so one lawsuit or creditor can't reach everything. In Texas, it has two sides: structuring your business and rental property in LLCs, series LLCs, or corporations, and protecting your homestead and personal wealth through trust and estate planning, all before any claim exists.
Maybe you own a few rentals in Montrose, run a business in the Energy Corridor, or just watched a friend get sued over an injury at a rental house. You worked hard for what you have, and you want it to stay yours. The Law Offices of Francisca Manchac, PLLC builds Texas asset protection plans for a flat fee of $6,000 for one person or $8,000 for a couple. Francisca F. Manchac brings more than 17 years of experience, including general counsel work for small and large companies. Call (832) 263-0935 to book a free 30-minute virtual consultation.
Francisca F. Manchac, Esq., Managing Attorney | Licensed in Texas since 2009 | Last Updated: October 2026
Key Takeaways
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Texas protects your homestead from most creditors with no dollar limit, only an acreage limit: 10 acres in a city, or 100 acres for a single adult and 200 acres for a family in a rural area.
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In Texas, a charging order is the only remedy a member's personal creditor has against an LLC interest, so that creditor can't seize the property inside the LLC.
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The firm's Business & Asset Protection Plan combines a revocable trust, an LLC, deeds of rental property into the LLC, and lease assignments in one flat-fee package.
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Texas doesn't recognize self-settled asset protection trusts, so a trust you create for your own benefit won't shield your assets from your own creditors.
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Under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, a court can undo transfers made to avoid a creditor, generally for up to four years, so planning has to happen before a claim arises.
Who Needs Asset Protection in Houston?
Anyone in Houston with assets a lawsuit or creditor could reach needs asset protection, and landlords and business owners need it most. Rental property owners face tenant injury claims. Business owners face contract disputes, employee claims, and personal guarantees. Doctors, engineers, and other professionals carry liability tied to their work. Families with savings to pass down want them protected from a future lawsuit. Investors buying their second or third rental need a structure before the portfolio grows. If you've ever said "I should probably put that in an LLC," this planning is built for you.
Asset protection is planning done before a claim. If you're already being sued or a creditor is collecting, you need a litigation attorney, and the firm can refer you to one.
Houston Asset Protection Services
Asset protection at the firm covers two areas: business and entity structuring, and personal trust and homestead planning. Both are built around the Texas rules that decide what creditors can reach. Two services have their own pages, and the rest are explained below.
Asset Protection Trust Structuring
Trusts protect assets you leave to others far better than assets you keep for yourself. Texas doesn't recognize self-settled asset protection trusts. It does enforce spendthrift provisions in trusts you create for your children and grandchildren, so their inheritance stays out of reach of their creditors. Francisca also uses irrevocable trusts for long-term care planning and life insurance.
LLC and Entity Structuring for Rental Property
An LLC puts a legal wall between each rental and the rest of your life. If a tenant sues over an injury at one property, the claim usually stays limited to what that LLC owns. Texas also allows series LLCs, where one LLC holds a separate series for each property, as long as each series keeps its own records. Francisca files the Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State and drafts your Company Agreement.
Asset Titling and Ownership Alignment
A structure only works if your assets are titled to match it. Francisca reviews how each property, account, and business interest is owned today, then prepares the deeds and assignments to close the gaps. Rentals move into the LLC with a deed recorded with the Harris, Fort Bend, or Montgomery County Clerk. Your membership interest moves into your revocable trust. Your homestead stays in your name or your trust, never the LLC, because LLC-owned property can't claim Texas homestead protection.
Separating Personal and Business Assets
Mixing personal and business money is the fastest way to weaken LLC protection. When an owner pays personal bills from the company account, a creditor gains grounds to ask a court to disregard the LLC and reach the owner's personal assets. Francisca builds the separation in from the start. That means a separate EIN, a Company Agreement that matches how you actually run things, organizational resolutions, and clear rules for moving money between you and the company. Your CPA and bookkeeper then keep it that way.
Asset Protection Risk Assessment
Every plan starts with a review of where you're exposed. Francisca looks at your rentals, business interests, professional risk, debts, and how each asset is titled today. She also asks about your current liability insurance, since insurance is the first layer of protection, and coordinates with your insurance professional where gaps appear. You leave with a clear picture of what to fix first.Every plan starts with a review of where you're exposed. Francisca looks at your rentals, business interests, professional risk, debts, and how each asset is titled today. She also asks about your current liability insurance, since insurance is the first layer of protection, and coordinates with your insurance professional where gaps appear. You leave with a clear picture of what to fix first.
Wealth Preservation Planning
Professionals and business owners with growing wealth need a plan that holds up for decades. That can include dynasty trusts that hold wealth across several generations, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, and succession provisions so a business or property portfolio keeps running if something happens to you. Francisca works alongside your CPA and financial advisor so the legal structure fits your tax and investment planning. Learn about irrevocable trusts.
Families planning for a disabled loved one or for nursing home costs can also use special needs trusts and Medicaid and long-term care planning.
Why Choose The Law Offices of Francisca Manchac, PLLC for Asset Protection
Many asset protection plans break down where the trust, the LLC, and the deeds are supposed to meet. The firm's Business & Asset Protection Plan handles all three for one flat fee. You get a revocable living trust, an LLC formed with the Texas Secretary of State, deeds of your rentals into the LLC, assignments of your existing leases, and a trust-LLC management agreement. That agreement lets your successor trustee run the properties without probate.
Francisca F. Manchac handles every step herself. Her general counsel work for small and large companies shapes how she drafts Company Agreements and succession provisions, so they fit the way businesses actually operate. Everything is explained in plain language, and your fee is set before work begins. Already have an estate plan? See how estate planning for business owners connects the pieces.
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Why Hiring an Asset Protection Attorney Matters
The costliest asset protection mistake is a structure that exists on paper but not in practice. An LLC formed online with the rental still deeded in your personal name protects nothing. A company account used for personal expenses can give a creditor grounds to ask a court to disregard the LLC. A lease still signed in your own name keeps you personally on the hook to the tenant. A series LLC without separate records for each series can lose the separation that made it worth forming.
Timing matters just as much. Transfers made after a claim arises can be undone under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. Some owners also learn too late that a revocable trust offers no creditor protection at all.
An attorney builds the structure, moves the assets into it, and explains the habits that keep it working. That's the difference between a plan that holds up when someone sues and one that falls apart on the first challenge.
What Does an Asset Protection Attorney Do in Houston?
An asset protection attorney reviews where you're exposed, builds the trusts and entities that separate your risks, and moves your assets into them so the structure works. Several people and offices play a part.
It starts with you. You share your assets and goals, then sign the documents and fund the plan. Francisca designs the plan, drafts every document, and prepares the deeds and assignments that move your assets into it.
Several offices handle the filings. The Texas Secretary of State files the Certificate of Formation for each LLC, and the IRS issues the LLC's EIN at the same time. A registered agent receives legal papers on the LLC's behalf for as long as it exists. After you sign, the county clerk records the deeds that move your rentals into the LLC.
A few others play a part too. If a rental has a mortgage, the loan may include a due-on-sale clause, so it should be reviewed before the property moves. Your tenants get notice that their lease now belongs to the LLC. Your CPA, financial advisor, and insurance professional keep your tax, investment, and insurance planning in line with the new structure. And if you become incapacitated or die, your successor trustee steps in to manage your LLC interest.
How Can You Protect Your Assets From a Lawsuit in Texas?
You protect assets in Texas by using the exemptions state law already gives you, then holding your riskier assets in separate LLCs owned by your trust. The firm's Business & Asset Protection Plan costs $6,000 for one person or $8,000 for a couple. It includes everything in the Trust Plan, plus the documents below.
First comes the LLC itself. Francisca files the Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State and sets up your registered agent. She drafts a Company Agreement that sets ownership, management, and how money moves in and out. Organizational resolutions and an EIN establish the LLC as a separate entity for banking and taxes.
Next, your assets move into it. A deed takes each rental out of your personal name and places it in the LLC. An assignment of your existing leases makes the LLC, not you, the landlord.
Last, the LLC connects to your trust. An assignment of your membership interest to the trust lets the LLC pass to your heirs without probate. A trust-LLC management agreement lets your successor trustee manage the LLC if you can't. Succession and management provisions keep the business or portfolio running after incapacity or death.
A finished plan does more than check boxes. A claim at one rental stays with that rental. Your personal creditors can't seize property inside your LLC. Your homestead keeps its full Texas protection. Your family inherits the business or portfolio without probate. If you become incapacitated, someone you chose can step in and keep things running. The structure sits inside your Houston estate plan, so nothing works against anything else.
What Assets Are Protected From a Lawsuit in Texas?
Texas protects your homestead, retirement accounts, current wages, and a set amount of personal property from most creditors. These exemptions are among the broadest in the country, and good planning builds on them first.
Unlimited Value: Your Texas Homestead
Your homestead is protected from most creditors no matter what it's worth, under Chapter 41 of the Texas Property Code. The limit is acreage: 10 acres in a city, town, or village, or 100 acres for a single adult and 200 acres for a family in a rural area. Mortgage lenders, property taxes, and a few other debts listed in the Texas Constitution can still reach it. The home must be owned by you or a qualifying trust, not an LLC.
$50,000 or $100,000: Personal Property
Texas protects personal property such as vehicles, furniture, and tools of a trade up to $50,000 for a single adult or $100,000 for a family. These limits cover the total value of the protected items, not each item.Texas protects personal property such as vehicles, furniture, and tools of a trade up to $50,000 for a single adult or $100,000 for a family. These limits cover the total value of the protected items, not each item.
Retirement Accounts, Wages, and Life Insurance
Qualified retirement plans and IRAs are generally exempt from creditors in Texas. Current wages for personal services are protected from garnishment, except for debts such as child support. The cash value of life insurance and annuities is also protected.
Charging Order: The Only Remedy Against Your LLC Interest
When a personal creditor wins a judgment against you, the charging order is the exclusive remedy against your LLC interest. The creditor can collect distributions the LLC chooses to make, but can't take the property or run the company.
4 Years: The Fraudulent Transfer Window
Under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, a creditor can ask a court to undo transfers made to hinder, delay, or defraud them. Claims generally must be brought within four years of the transfer, or within one year after it could reasonably have been discovered. That's why planning only works when it's done before a claim arises.
Not Recognized: Self-Settled Asset Protection Trusts
Texas doesn't recognize trusts you create for your own benefit as protection from your own creditors. Protection comes instead from exemptions, LLCs, and trusts you set up for other people.
What Happens After You Call The Law
Offices of Francisca Manchac, PLLC
Your first step is a free 30-minute virtual consultation. Then you get a flat-fee quote, custom documents, and help moving your assets into the structure.
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Book a Consultation
Call or text (832) 263-0935 or book online. Complete the Client Intake Form at least 24 hours before your call. Upload any deeds, leases, or entity documents you already have. The consultation doesn't create an attorney-client relationship.
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Review & Price Quote
Francisca walks through your rentals, business interests, and how each asset is titled today. She recommends a structure and confirms your flat fee before drafting begins. Representation starts once you sign the engagement agreement.
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Form the LLC & Draft Documents
Francisca files your Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State and drafts your trust, Company Agreement, deeds, and lease assignments. She explains every document in plain language before anything is signed.
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Sign, Record, and Fund
We schedule your signing with a notary and witnesses where Texas law requires them. Francisca records the deeds with the county clerk where each property sits. She then coordinates with your CPA and insurance professional so the structure stays aligned.
Common Questions About Asset Protection in Houston
Something else on your mind? Call or text (832) 263-0935.
Does a revocable living trust protect my assets from a lawsuit?
No. You control a revocable trust and can cancel it at any time, so Texas treats its assets as yours, and your creditors can reach them. A revocable trust's job is to avoid probate and plan for incapacity. Creditor protection comes from Texas exemptions, LLCs, and trusts you create for other people. That's why the firm's Business & Asset Protection Plan pairs a revocable living trust with an LLC. The trust handles who inherits and who manages. The LLC holds the risk.
Does an LLC protect my personal assets in Texas?
Yes, for claims that arise inside the business, as long as you keep the LLC truly separate. Protection works in two directions. A claim against the LLC usually stays with the LLC's assets. A personal creditor of yours is limited to a charging order against your LLC interest. An LLC won't protect you from your own personal negligence, though. If you personally cause an injury, you can still be sued. That's why liability insurance remains the first layer of any plan.
How much does an asset protection attorney cost in Houston?
The firm's Business & Asset Protection Plan costs a flat $6,000 for one person or $8,000 for a couple. That fee includes a full trust-based estate plan, LLC formation, a Company Agreement, an EIN, deeds of rental property into the LLC, lease assignments, and a trust-LLC management agreement. A flat fee means one set price for the work listed in your engagement agreement, with no hourly billing for calls or emails. Your exact fee is confirmed during your free consultation, before any work begins.
Can I protect my assets after I've been sued?
New transfers made after a claim arises usually won't hold up. The Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act lets a court undo transfers made to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor. It also covers transfers made for less than fair value while you couldn't pay your debts. Exemptions you already have, such as your homestead and retirement accounts, still apply. The firm focuses on planning before a claim exists and doesn't represent clients in lawsuits. If you're already facing one, the firm can refer you to a litigation attorney.
Can a trust protect my assets from a nursing home in Texas?
A revocable trust can't, but an irrevocable Medicaid planning trust can help when it's set up early. Texas HHSC reviews asset transfers made in the five years before a long-term care Medicaid application, so a trust funded inside that window can delay eligibility. Texas's Medicaid Estate Recovery Program recovers only from the probate estate, which also shapes how a plan is built. The firm handles the planning but doesn't file Medicaid applications. See Medicaid and long-term care planning for details.
Does a prenup protect my assets in a divorce?
Yes. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is the main tool for protecting assets in a divorce, and an LLC or trust doesn't replace it. In Texas, income from your separate property, such as rent from a rental you owned before marriage, becomes community property unless an agreement says otherwise. A marital agreement can keep that income separate and protect a business you're building. Learn more about prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in Houston.
Can I use a domestic asset protection trust in Texas?
No. Texas doesn't recognize self-settled asset protection trusts, which are trusts you create and fund for your own benefit while trying to keep them away from your own creditors. Some other states allow them, but Texas law doesn't. Francisca focuses on the tools Texas law supports: homestead and retirement exemptions, LLCs and series LLCs for rentals and business assets, spendthrift trusts for your heirs, and irrevocable trusts for specific goals such as long-term care or life insurance.
Can I just form an LLC online?
You can file an LLC online, but filing is the easy part. A filing service creates the certificate. It doesn't deed your rental into the LLC, assign your leases, draft a Company Agreement that fits your properties, or connect the LLC to your trust. Without those steps, your property stays in your personal name and the LLC protects nothing. If you already formed one, Francisca can review it and fill the gaps.
Areas We Serve
The firm's Houston office at 3333 Allen Parkway serves rental owners and business owners across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties. That includes investors with rentals in Montrose, the Heights, and Midtown, business owners in the Galleria area and the Energy Corridor, and families in Katy, Cypress, Sugar Land, Missouri City, The Woodlands, and Conroe. Consultations happen online. Deeds into your LLC are recorded with the clerk in the county where each property sits.
Speak With an Asset Protection Attorney in Houston
Asset protection only works if it's in place before someone files a claim. Call or text (832) 263-0935 to book a free 30-minute virtual consultation with Francisca F. Manchac. You'll leave with a clear picture of where you're exposed and a flat-fee quote for your plan, with no obligation to move forward.