If someone comes after me, be it an attorney or one of several alphabet agencies, can they get your stuff because they are coming after me? "Of course not! That is silly." you might say. But there is an important point in asking. Did you ever stop and think why someone cant get your stuff for my liabilities? This addresses a very fundamental right recognized even by today's government. And that is the right to own property, i.e. private ownership. If it is mine it can't be yours. (assuming there isn't joint ownership). You and I are seperate legal entities.

Now let's take things a step further. The law also recognizes trust as seperate legal entities. They can own things just like you and I. Whatever you can own, a Constitutional Pure Trust can also own. And what belongs to the trust is the trust, what is mine is mine and the twain shall never meet.

So the first and most fundamental elements of assets protection is seperation. When property is held in a irrevocable trust it is the property of that trust and not my property. A trust is it's own seperate entity  and owns it's own property just like you and I. No one owns a trust. To restate it simply, property that belongs to "someone" else isn't mine, it can't be taken from me. 

The second principle of asset protection addresses the extent of seperation. If I own property in my name and my wife owns property in her name, someone coming after me may try to get her stuff (even though it is hers and not mine) simply because we are connected by marriage even though seperate persons. However if we are talking about property and mine, there is no chance of that happening. Simply because you and I have no connection whatsoever. The extent of the seperation between you and I is greater than the seperation between my wife and I.