The families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to wrap up Alex Jones’ bankruptcy proceedings by liquidating the right wing talk show host’s assets.

  • residentmarchant@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Even if they can trace it, can they take it? Let’s say he puts his house in a trust and makes some family members the owner of the trust, that would no longer be his property, no?

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      This article has the best breakdown I’ve ever read in a single source, but, from what I understand as a non-expert or even expert-adjacent, it doesn’t work that way.

      If you put things in a living trust and name others as the beneficiary and then file for bankruptcy, you still own those trusts. So they take the assets.

      If you put your assets in an irrevocable trust around the time that you file for bankruptcy and the recipient gives you something in return, the courts take the something you got in return. If you get nothing in return, then the auditors say “this smells like bullshit” and then the courts go, “yup, that’s definitely a coverup,” and then they reverse the trust and give you an extra punishment. If you’d established that trust well before filing for bankruptcy, then you didn’t have the money anyway, so nothing to take. But if the person who owns the trust is using the trust to financially support you, then the court will yoink the money before you spend it or they’ll spank you after you’ve spent it.

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      If he puts it in a Swiss bank or caiman islands then they won’t release it for seizure or even admit it’s there. Everyone will know and he would likely be jailed for hiding it but once he got out it would be there still