Business Succession and Family Wealth Planning

In addition to estate planning services, we offer business owners the following specific services:

• Planning for management succession and asset conservation through multiple generations at a minimum tax cost
• Assisting business owners in allocating benefits among their children regardless of their involvement in the business
• Counseling on the short- and long-term estate implications of selling a business or restructuring it
• Counseling on recapitalizations, gift programs and other techniques for shifting value during an owner's lifetime or separating control from value
• Developing and implementing exit strategies from the business for inactive family members
• Planning for liquidity in the event of an owner's death
• Preparing buy/sell, restrictive stock and employment agreements
• Structuring life insurance and benefit programs to minimize tax costs

The possibilities of documents used in your estate plan are endless, but you can be sure that every action taken is in your best interest. Numerous state and federal laws can also complicate the estate planning process. Yet, despite the complexities, we will take the time to help you understand how the various laws affect you and exactly how each document affects your estate.

FAMILY WEALTH PLANNING

We believe that true Family Wealth Planning addresses questions of ultimate intimacy - profound questions directed to the wealth owner regarding self, family, and community. Thus, we focus on people: their desires, their motivations, their strengths and weaknesses, their relationships with each other, as well as their relationships with money. Although many of these questions are not new to most, professionally they frequently are touched upon only briefly and casually in an integrated wealth planning context, if at all. Sometimes the wealth owner is so busy creating wealth, he or she fails to stop and ask "Why? Why am I creating wealth? For whom and for what purpose?" Sometimes there are deep-seeded, intra-family conflicts or individual personal issues that people think are best left hidden and unaddressed. Sometimes the wealth owner subconsciously feels that contemplating and planning for his or her own demise will only serve to hasten it. The planning process then stalls before even beginning. Whatever the initial hesitations, however, clients who have participated in these intimate discussions have found them ultimately to be insightful, healthy for their family, and richly rewarding for all concerned.  

Our wealth planning professionals have extensive experience working with affluent families to manage and sustain multigenerational wealth. These services address complex issues, including:

• Family legacies and liquidity needs of current and future generations
• Ownership and key decision-making, governance and communication
• Business and investment assets
• Charitable objectives and future business and investment plans
• Insurance needs
• Income, gift, estate and generation-skipping taxes

We work closely with families to ensure that their plans address the family's values, mission, philosophy and long-term goals. For owners and operators of existing businesses, we also take into account the special challenges they face, such as ownership and management, succession planning, strategic development and taxation of the business.

While each situation is different, an attorney who regularly practices in the field of wills, trusts, probate and estate planning is able to provide you with sound legal advice as you put your estate plan into place. Of equal importance is the need to annually review our clients’ estate plans and asset protection strategies to account for changes in law or the acquisition or disposition of assets. The costs of failing to periodically review and update are typically greater than the costs of keeping your estate plan and asset protection strategies current.

Don't delay planning for your future and the future of your family. Please feel free to contact our office if you or a family member would like legal assistance to create a will, trust and other estate planning documents that are tailored for your needs, and would like to set a consultation to have your situation evaluated.

For client convenience, flexible scheduling is available including day, evening and weekend appointments. Home and hospital visits are aslo available. We look forward to assisting you with your estate planning needs.