Tribal LLC

“is the most exciting development
in asset protection in the last 40
years, and the best asset
protection available bar none!”

The Tribal LLC

provides better asset protection than
any state-issued LLC

to schedule a consultation with our
knowledgeable team

A Unique Approach to Asset Protection

A few years ago, I wrote a book on protecting your assets through real estate and entity structures. I covered entity structures such as limited partnerships, S corporations, limited liability companies, nonprofit corporations, private foundations, and offshore trusts. I talked about homesteads, land trusts, and using various entity structures to hold real estate. But of all the strategies I wrote about and all the options I’ve seen in my 30 years of legal practice advising real estate investors and entrepreneurs, the Tribal LLC is quite simply the very best asset protection tool that I have ever seen.

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What Is a Tribal LLC?

The official name for what I am calling a Tribal LLC is a Native Business Enterprise or NBE, but I prefer the term Tribal LLC because it is more familiar and more instantly recognizable for what it is. A Tribal LLC is a limited liability company or corporation that is issued to an individual by a Native American Indian tribe, rather than by the state.

Just like each state has the power to issue Corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLC) to individuals, a Native American Indian tribe also has the ability and authority to issue Corporations and LLCs to individuals.

A Tribal LLC can be used as a holding company for personal property. If you have real estate, you can put the property in a land trust and make the Tribal LLC the beneficiary of the land trust. You could even create multiple Tribal LLCs and make Tribal LLC A the trustee and Tribal LLC B the beneficiary of a trust you create.

Benefits of a Tribal LLC

The asset protection provided by a Tribal LLC is good or better than an offshore trust while being less expensive and easier to set up and maintain. In fact, a Tribal LLC offers superior asset protection over just about any other instrument or strategy out there. For one, Tribal LLCs are extremely difficult to collect from.

Provides Excellent Asset Protection
Simple to Create
Less Expensive Than Offshore Trusts
Inexpensive to Maintain
Minimal Tax Reporting
Easy to Get Your Own Assets

First, creditors and lawsuit plaintiffs have to figure out how to obtain service, then they need to get a tribal attorney licensed to practice in that particular tribal court, and the lawsuit has to be brought in tribal court and tried under tribal law, not state law. The courts require the plaintiffs to put up a $50,000 bond which they lose if they are unsuccessful. These facts taken together can be discouraging to a party wishing to sue you and get ahold of your assets.

How Does a Tribal LLC Work?

A Tribal LLC works the same as an LLC issued by a state, but with many more important benefits than a traditional LLC that make the Tribal LLC far superior to any other state-issued LLC, including LLCs from Nevada and Wyoming, where charging order protection is written into the state statute.

Extremely Difficult to Serve Registered Agent with Lawsuit
Lawsuits Typically Need to Be Brought in Tribal Court
Attorney Must Be Licensed to Practice in Tribal Court
State Court Has No Jurisdiction Over Tribal LLC
Can Have a Single Member for Charging Order Protection

This concept is not entirely new; it is similar to businesses incorporating in Nevada or Delaware because they have favorable corporate laws, even though the corporation is located in an entirely different state and the individuals behind the corporation have never set foot in Nevada or Delaware. What is new is that for the first time Native American tribes are willing to issue business entities and provide trustee services to non-tribal members.

About Marc L. Shapiro, Esq.

Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Attorney Marc Shapiro has been advising and representing real estate investors and entrepreneurs in their transactional dealings for 30 years, including real estate closings, entity structuring, and planning for both tax purposes and asset protection. Marc has been cited in local media and has appeared on local news stations, and he makes frequent appearances on the legal eagle section of the radio show “Real Estate Best Buys.”

Marc frequently delivers seminar presentations and is often asked to speak to groups including several real estate investor groups on various real estate and legal topics.

Book Your Consultation

It’s no surprise if this is the first time you’ve heard of a Tribal LLC, and while this website gives you some basic information, no doubt you’ll want to speak personally with attorney Shapiro to discuss how a Tribal LLC can meet your needs.